Concert review: Arctic Monkeys at Riviera
Three albums into their career and still barely in their twenties, the Arctic Monkeys are dominating the charts and the magazine covers back home in England. Success has come more grudgingly in North America, but not for lack of effort.
Over the summer, the quartet played to a massive crowd of at least 50,000 people at Lollapalooza in Grant Park. On Sunday, the band opened a North American tour at the Riviera before a considerably smaller, but no less enthusiastic audience of nearly 2,500.As singer-guitarist Alex Turner walked on, the crowd pushed toward the stage. With his wiry frame packed into skin-tight jeans and hair cascading to his shoulders, Turner had his rock-star swagger in full effect; his slurred between-songs banter gave the impression that he’d started the show’s after-party a little early.
The 75-minute set saw the band trying to grow musically, pushing beyond the frantic tempos and machine-gun vocal delivery that characterized its first two albums. That sound --- terse guitars, hopped-up exuberance and Turner’s witty twists and turns as a chronicler of night-life misadventure --- produced two chart-topping releases, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" and "Favourite Worst Nightmare." When the band revisited the songs from those albums --- “The View from the Afternoon,” “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” “Brianstorm” ---the fans shouted back choruses and bobbed up and down in place like corks in a stormy ocean.
The concert’s most frantic moments were amplified by strobe lights and defined by Matt Helders’ furious drumming. The percussionist did double duty as a backing vocalist, turning to shout into a microphone placed off his left shoulder so it wouldn’t interfere with his two-fisted assault. He was by far the most animated band member on stage; the others hunched over their instruments beneath veils of hair while a tour keyboardist hid beneath a hoodie.
Turner slipped into a more traditional front-man role on the songs from the band’s latest album, “Humbug.” Setting aside his guitar and propping his boot heel atop a stage monitor, he even crooned a bit, as if channeling the voices of the Ink Spots, whose “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” ushered the Monkeys on stage. “My Propeller” flirted with sensuality and “Cornerstone” spun a clever narrative of obsession. The songs gave guitarist Jamie Cook more room to play with tone and texture. On “Crying Lightning,” he conjured a series of counterpoint lines and atmospheric effects on his array of foot pedals.
Yet something was lacking. The slower pacing gave the band a chance to stretch as musicians and singers, but the window-dressing was more interesting than the songs themselves. The performance confirmed that “Humbug” is a transitional album rather than a resounding step forward. But then Turner is all of 23 years old. He’s still got plenty of time to figure out his next move.
greg@gregkot.com
Related:
Arctic Monkeys "Humbug" review
Arctic Monkeys set list Sunday at the Riviera:1. Dance Little Liar
2. Brianstorm
3. The House is a Circus
4. Still Take You Home
5. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
6. Potion Approaching
7. Pretty Visitors
8. Red Right Hand (Nick Cave cover)
9. My Propeller
10. Crying Lightning
11. The View From the Afternoon
12. Cornerstone
13. Fluorescent Adolescent
14. Secret Door
15. Do Me a Favour
16. The Jeweller's Hands
Encore:
17. If You Were There, Beware
18. 505
Greg- I too was at the show, but your set list contains errors. The correct set list can be found on my blog. http://eyegunk.wordpress.com/
Greg replies: Thanks, set list has been fixed
Posted by: A.C. | December 07, 2009 at 09:56 AM
They didn't do Mardy Bum
Greg replies: Set list has been fixed, thanks.
Posted by: dave s, tinley park IL | December 07, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Greg, they didn't play "Mardy Bum" in the encore.
Greg replies: thanks, set list has been fixed.
Posted by: Jake | December 07, 2009 at 10:32 AM
I went to the show last night and I thought it was great, except for the several audio failures with mics all night, especially towards the end. Screaming Females I did not like at all, but the lead singer can definitely rip it on the guitar solos. All and all I plan on seeing them again, hopefully the sound will be better.
Posted by: Ginny | December 07, 2009 at 11:31 AM
I attended the show last night and I thought they put on a great show.If it were lacking anything (which it wasn't) were the songs The bad thing,and Old yellow bricks,and Teddy Picker.Other than that it was great! Oh,and I didn't care for the opening act.
Posted by: Ron | December 07, 2009 at 03:50 PM
Did 50,000 people really watch them at Lolla? That would mean that 2/3 of the entire crowd was watching them
Greg replies: That is correct. Butler Field on the north end of the park was wall to wall people during their set.
Posted by: ted | December 07, 2009 at 08:29 PM
Thanks for posting, Greg. I agree on some points, but I wish you could have explained a little bit more about what exactly was lacking from the songs Sunday night, especially the new ones. "Humbug," in my humble opinion, is the album that turned me on to the band because Turner finally sings less like an ADD teenager, but an actual singer. Just my thought.
Posted by: Mardy Bum | December 08, 2009 at 11:43 PM