Gig Review: Arctic Monkeys, Carling Academy, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 16th April 2007
Reviewer: Michelle Annable


It’s hard to believe that it’s only been fifteen months since Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not propelled Sheffield’s Arctic Monkeys into a world of awards ceremony non attendance, Wizard of Oz outfits and, in one case, page three girl girlfriends. With follow up Favourite Worst Nightmare due out in a weeks time there’s a tangible sense of anticipation in the air before tonight’s gig. Will the new material be any good? Will it live up to Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not? Could it, whisper, better it?

The method of ticket sales having ensured that most here tonight are genuine fans almost guarantees that any new material will be well received yet it still takes the band a while to get into their stride. For the first twenty minutes or so they seem a little lacklustre. Competent, but hardly what the hype surrounding Arctic Monkeys would have you believe. Cue a timely rendition of Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor generating a massive reaction from the audience which in turn provides the lift the band desperately needed. From here on in the confidence and swagger which eluded them earlier on is back with a vengeance helping to give the tracks that follow a renewed ferocity and urgency. The new material provides a glimpse of what we can expect from the Monkeys in the future and it would appear that so called second album syndrome has been deftly side-stepped.

Where Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not had a certain innocence to it with it’s tales of teenage love and lust, the new tracks on display tonight show a band whose balls have dropped. It’s darker, the riffs are heavier, the drums faster and Alex Turner’s vocal bilious yet fragile, still capable of the same twisting lyrical somersaults he is famed for. The World War Two style stage set up of searchlights is perfectly matched the blitzkrieg attack of the music, there’s elements of punk mixed up with Sabbath-esque riffs and the occasional snatch of Flea style virtuoso bass.

Mardy Bum and Fake Tales of San Francisco get an airing before some more new material is brought out. One track has more of an electro feel to it but still retains the monstrous riffage which has characterised the other new songs we’ve heard tonight. With Turner having dedicated Scummy Man to a girl in the audience the band then proceed to mash it up with When the Sun Goes Down to glorious effect.

As always with Arctic Monkeys there is no encore. Theirs is a new form of blitzkrieg. A sonically brutal and devastating lightning attack then the swift retreat which leaves you wondering exactly what just happened but panting for more.

Album out April 23 in the UK and April 24 in the US

http://www.myspace.com/arcticmonkeys

http://www.arcticmonkeys.com