Arctic Monkeys: Brixton Academy (26/08/09)
Last night Arctic Monkeys played their first UK show in 18 months as they warmed up for their forthcoming headline slots at Reading and Leeds Festivals by playing to a packed Brixton Academy.
Supporting them were Them Crooked Vultures, the American supergroup consisting of singer and guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and drummer Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters). This was something of a treat, the band only playing their first gig at Chicago Metro two weeks previously. They played for over an hour, all original material. The songs were all very long, with plenty of guitar solos and feedback, a good rocking sounds. The versatile John Paul Jones was playing a bass guitar which had 6 standard guitar strings added to it - I’d never seen an instrument with such a wide neck. Dave Grohl was like a throwback to his Nirvana days, dressed in shorts and perched on an extraordinarily low stool, he had the demeanor of a schoolboy as he pounded his kit. The closing song, which they didn;t reveal the name of, was 8 minutes of epic rock, squalling guitars and feedback, and sounded like an instant classic.
Following Them Crooked Vultures’ excellent and loud set the Arctic Monkeys arrived onstage at 9:30, opening with My Propeller. Unlike anything else Turner has written, I find the euphemisms are a little too unsubtle in this song, but the machine gun stop start section always does it for me. They then launched straight into their cover of Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand, a great song but an unnecessary cover when they have so many classics themselves. Still, the last two minutes of this song are a joy as the Monkeys run free with pounding drums, heavy riffs and solos.
“Hello We’re Arctic Monkeys. Have we got time for one more?” asked Turner as they played the opening riff of current single Crying Lightning, resulting in big cheers from the crowd. This song has an incredibly catchy chorus, and the breakdown before they launch into it again is classic Monkeys. This was followed by the opening thunderous roll of Brianstorm which sent the crowd wild. This was followed up with Still Take You Home, the crowd still singing back every lyric four years after Whatever People Say I am That’s What I’m Not. “Is everyone alright” Turner asked, as clearly a lot of the crowd had been pushed around a lot in the frantic scenes. As resounding yes rang out the Monkeys somehow upped the pace even more by playing Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, which every time I hear live I think must be one of the best singles of the last ten years, if not ever!
The pace was thankfully slowed a little with Potion Approaching, a Doors-esque number which sees Turner abandon his guitar and slouch on the mic stand like the ghost of Jim Morrison. The eerie keyboard intro of Pretty Visitors was next. This is one of my favourite songs on Humbug, quick-fire verses spat out by Turner, including the classic line “Which came first the chicken or the dickhead?” and a the wonderfully-eloquent “tail wrapped up in a gasp”. It’s a difficult song to dance to, the quick-fire verses followed by a lurching and dark chorus, all you can do is move up and down slowly.
This House is a Circus followed, one of their best from Favourite Worst Nightmare and a classic live track. This sounds little different from their new songs, a clear indication of the direction they were heading and Turner’s favourite song from FWN. The chorus beats anything on Humbug though, “Like a search for murder clues, in dead man’s eyes”. During this song it strikes you just how heavy sounding the Monkeys are now, they always had the pounding drums but the guitars have got louder. If You Were There Beware followed, with its classic coda “I don’t know what it is that they want, but I haven’t got it to give” which could somehow be an answer to the fans who are disappointed with the new direction and want more Mardy Bums.
Dangerous Animals is my least favourite track on Humbug. I find the chorus D.A.N.G.E.R.O.U.S. really irritating and live it still does nothing for me. Never mind. Next came The View From The Afternoon, complete with extended break before the final chorus, so long the band-mates took a drink before it all kicked off again. The band hasn’t quite got the hang of playing Cornerstone live yet, a superbly tender song from Humbug with classic Turner lyrics (he apparently wrote it in an afternoon). The vocals were a little drowned out and the subtleties of the studio version were lost, but it is still a great song. “I’d like to take it down even further” said Turner before “Only Ones Who Know”, a real lighters in the air moment and a song they didn’t previously include in their live sets, showing how confident they now are.
The set closed with Do Me a Favour, featuring the great singalong during “She walked away and her shoes were untied and her eyes were all red, you could see that she’d cried…” followed by an extended version of Fluorescent Adolescent, which segued into Dion’s “Only You Know” and back into a rousing chorus of Fluorescent Adolescent. The band left the stage but returned five minutes later for the inevitable encore. “We’;ll do two more, just two more” said Turner as they played the lovely Secret Door, with the wonderful finishing chorus of “Fools on parade”. They then closed with a slightly underwhelming version of 505 - they have played this better before, but nevertheless it is still a fitting song to close with, despite the fact I miss old set-closer A Certain Romance.
A great, sweaty and exciting show then. Their cause wasn’t helped at all by the sound cutting out a number of times - often at crucial moments such as during the climax of 505. Of the new songs I wish they would drop Dangerous Animals and play Dance Little Liar or the Fire and the Thud. It would also be great to hear them play a live version of Jeweller’s Hands, the album closer on Humbug. But these are minor gripes. Whilst Humbug may be a difficult listen, they have taken the hard option rather than the boring safe option, which as to be admired. After a number of listens Humbug starts to reward the listener, it is to be hoped that people have the patience in this day and age when music is so freely available. Where the Arctic Monkeys go from here will be really interesting.