Anne WidjajaVerdict: Arctic Monkeys, Palais Theatre
February 1st 2009 13:28
Having seen the band play on the Favourite Worst Nightmare tour in 07' at the vapid, soulless venue that is the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, the magnificent acoustics at the Palais Theatre proved that Melbourne just does it better. The size of the place was no barrier to the epic soundscape of support act Pivot, a three piece prog rock outfit with a lot of equipment on stage and an equivalent amount of head bashing, rocking out. The well synced members are also whizzes at synchronised jumping. Not much vocal action, just three guys thrashing out a dramatic and evocative soundtrack featuring eerie synth/keyboard melodies. Although many were surprised by the choice, (pivot was certainly a departure from Operator Please- please stop making my ears bleed with songs about ping pong) Arctic Monkeys b-sides 'Matador' and 'The Death Ramps' are along a similar strain of experimenting with serious guitar melodies, minimal vocals and heavy drumming.
After Pivot's set wrapped up, following a short interval and a modest few seconds of black out before the band's entrance, despite restrictive allocated seating - which the band themselves were concerned about - the majority of the crowd stood up off their seats to join in warm comradery and welcome the band. Opening with new song 'Pretty Visitors', the audience was somewhat caught off guard. The new track, similar to the often too frenetically paced, rhyme rapping structure of the B-Sides on the Teddy Picker EP, the track was arguably a misplaced choice. Arctic Monkeys were making a bold statement to their audience. They had progressed from a modest, yet widly successful, teenage rock band and now needed to establish to their fans that they are now much cooler. Turner's messy hair, leather jacket and skinny jeans matched the band's introduction to their new progressive, atmospheric yet heavy sound. Far from the catchy riffs and reverb heavy tracks on previous albums about fake ids, the strange treatment of fame and broken hearts, Turner's lyrics are now less street more obscure, beret/skivvy wearing poet. Melodies are not only less cohesive and accessibly catchy but borderline strange.
However, the band's new sound reveals a fresh, more interesting direction for the band. Stand out tracks included 'Dangerous Animals' which invoked a killer, head bopping rythm established by a very catchy base line, and shock horror! a medium tempo track, the smooth and seductive 'Crying Lightning'. ' This House is a Circus' was the first song the band played which was thankfully recognisable to those other than die hard fans downloading illegal bootlegs. The track set the tone of the show at a thumping pace with it's anxious cymbals, speedy drum rhythms and jumpy guitar riffs. The crowd responded accordingly, greeting the track with relieved excitement. Yes, we would actually hear songs that we knew and loved tonight. The first half of the set was mostly the best of Whatever People Say I am That's What I'm Not. For once the band did not fast forward through blistering tracks such as 'Still Take You Home' and the impossibly dance inducing 'Dancing Shoes'. Even 'I bet you look good on the dancefloor' which is usually cut from 2:54 to 30 seconds was played at normal speed and brought the crowd to a climax which would be the craziest frenzy of the evening, almost matched with 'When the Sun Goes Down' where every lyric was yelled back to the band word for word. The set was somewhat jumpy but that can be put to the uniqueness of all the band's individual tracks. Once the band had squeezed the hungry crowd till thundering come during a break which would lead into the encore, 'Fluorescent Adolescent' gave fans false expectations of a return to the classics (finally!): 'Mardy Bum', 'A Certain Romance' and 'Fake Tales of San Francisco'. But alas, they never came. Insert teary emoticon here. The band clearly wanted to establish that they were moving on to bigger, brighter, less radio friendly, potentially pop pigeon hole-able tracks, and honestly for genuine fans it was hugely disappointing. After a very impressive Nick Cave cover of 'Red Right Hand', with red lighting and all, the band finished on...'If You Were There, Beware' (??!!). 70% of the crowd were still in there seats when the band exited the stage, expecting more. There was a hanging air of WTF? Nevertheless, I suppose the old was traded in for the new. So all those who had the privilege to see the band in 2006/2007 should thank the music gods. It pays to get on the band wagon early as 'Fake Tales' did warn us.
From Alex's polite banter with the crowd and his whispers with drummer Matt Helders and guitarist Jamie Cook it was obvious that the group are still grounded in their origins: good mates doing what they love, and damn well, mind you. Considering the Monkeys have record sales that not even the greatest British exports could boast (bar X factor winner Leona Lewis. really England? Really?) the band are still very much a down to earth Sheffield foursome, but admittedly the band's initial shyness is slowly being weeded out by a touch of arty, icy cool.
Nevertheless after the taste of what should be an intriguing 3rd album, one still stands by Arctic Monkeys. Believe the hype.
Watch drummer Matt Helder's tour diary in Melbourne, Alex sings about Margaritas, it's a bit funny
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