Arctic Monkeys - Don Valley, Sheffield, 10/6/2011

  by Denzil Watson

published: 18 / 5 / 2011

intro

In the first of two home shows in Sheffield in two years, Denzil Watson watches local heroes the Arctic Monkeys play an explosive, yet playful set to promote their new 'Suck It and See' album

It is the Arctic Monkeys first home show since May 2009, and the sense of anticipation in the specially erected big top at Don Valley Bowl is tangible. As always the band do things on their own terms opting for two nights under canvas where over 20,000 people will get to see them, across the way from the more conventional surroundings of the Don Valley Arena. The hand-picked bill includes local lads and Arctics' buddies Dead Sons, who sadly we miss. The tent swells for the Vaccines though as they deliver a sharp and direct set of post-new wave tunes, unsurprisingly revolving around their acclaimed debut 'What Did You Expect From?' Providing excellent bed-partners for the Monkeys with a same ‘all about the music’ ethos, front-man Justin Young looks equally at ease with or without his guitar slung around him. Big cheers greet debut single 'Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)' and the band’s signature tune, 'Post-Break-Up Sex'. The sentiments of their debut LP echo loud, but that’s pkay as the hanging base lines boom, surfy, scuzzing guitars slash in and out and Young’s 60’s inspired melodies float over the top. It’s hard to imagine that the London-based four piece embarked on their first tour as recently as September 2010. Next up, main support Miles Kane cuts a familiar figure with his association with Alex Turner going right back to his Little Flames days and more recently Liverpool based trio the Rascals. He takes his band through a tight and compelling set that oozes confidence and makes it very clear just how much influence Kane has had on Alex Turner, their joint Last Shadow Puppets side project included. His retro-brand of 60's/psychedelic pop goes down a treat as he works the crowd well with his cheeky Scally swagger. Debut solo album 'Colour of the Trap' is given a good work-out; the garagey buzz of 'Inhaler' gets the crowd moving, and 'Quicksand' and it’s ba ba bas shows that retro doesn’t have to be about musical regression. 'Kingcrawler' wouldn’t have been out of place on the aforementioned 'The Last Shadow Puppets' album and the T-Rex-tinged stomp of 'Come closer' also his the mark. Tonight (and tomorrow), however, is all about the Monkeys. The intro tape hints that the band might be in playful mood: Hot Chocolate's 'You Sexy Thing', only tenuously linked to Sheffield via 'The Full Monty' soundtrack. Another, Turner’s donning of a T-shirt emblazoned with ‘Monkeys’ and the Sheffield council logo. They launch into a rip-roaring version of the frenetic and jerking 'View From the Afternoon', seguing seamlessly into the circling guitar vortex of 'Brainstorm'. It’s also clear that tonight Turner is going to take us for an almost nostalgic walk through the band’s whole back catalogue. So much so that it’s five tracks in before the acclaimed new album 'Suck it and See' gets a look in in the shape of the double salvo of 'Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair'” and 'Library Pictures'. Based on the number of people shouting out the line “Going into business with a grizzly bear” on the former, the new LP has been doing brusque business since its release earlier in the week. A taught and powerful version of 'Teddy Picker' shows just why Matt Helders is touted as being one of the best drummers currently pounding the skins. 'Crying Lightning' crawls out and raps itself round some of Turner’s finest and most opaque lyrics to date, belatedly giving that difficult third album a run out. A crowd assisted 'Mardy Bum' ("I've forgotten the words," jokes Turner as emotional fans sing them back at him), and a crunching but compelling 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor' whips the crowd into a frenzy. Gone are the technical problems that dogged previous enormo-gigs (Reading/Leeds 2009) as the band despatch Monkeys' classic after classic. Jamie Cook and the still hairy Nick O’Malley attack their guitars with maximum efficiency and a minimum of fuss, as Turner effortlessly rides the wave of hometown goodwill. The organ-driven 'Pretty Visitors' briefly breaks the guitar monopoly before the band bring the set down to a gentle conclusion with 'Do Me a Favour' and then '505', Turner’s sparing partner Miles Kane joining the band to spread shards of psychedelic guitar over the song’s meandering atmospherics. After nineteen songs Alex bids the crowd farewell, but of course there will be encores. And what encores they are. The final trio of 'When the Sun Goes Down', 'Fluorescent Adolescent” and the first performance of 'A Certain Romance'since 2007 threatens to blow the roof off the tent. “Thank you ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure,” coos Turner. The feeling's completely mutual, and a fitting end to the almost fairytale rise of four local lads that used to practice down the road in their Neepsend rehearsal room to global stadium fillers.

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