Arctic Monkeys (with Miles Kane and Violent Soho), The Riverstage, Saturday 13th of January 2011

I spent a long time anticipating this gig, after my year of Arctic Monkeys obsession (particularly their latest release 'Suck It And See'). So when last Saturday finally came, I was ready, and eager, and anticipatory, and keen, and... where's my thesaurus... 


Myself with Arctic Monkeys Super Fans group turned up at the Riverstage a little before 7 to hear Violent Soho starting their support slot quite early. The usuals ("Love is A Heavy Word", "Scrape It", Jesus Stole My Girlfriend") were played amongst a couple of new songs, during which we were able to easily set ourselves up in the mosh amongst the mostly nonchalant audience. I've been told to tear Violent Soho to shreds in this blog, and also to describe them as "the nail in the coffin of 90's grunge". But instead I'll say that despite Arctic Monkey's stadium rock moments that Violent Soho are completely all about, they really were NOT suited to a support slot for the wide ranging audience of the Monkeys. In some ways it would have made sense, but on the day, it just felt odd, and they may have noticed this also, as I don't think they played for much longer than 25 minutes. 

A bit of a mosh wait later and Miles Kane appeared on the scene. Miles is the other half of Alex Turner's side project the Last Shadow Puppets, and was here with a full band and a very spotty shirt. It was during Miles Kane that I finally realized WHY CROWD SURGES HAPPEN! So many festivals and big scale shows have involved me getting all in a tizz as the mosh pit suddenly experiences a rush from one side to the other, leaving people losing their feet in their wake. It's only taken me a million years but myself and gig buddies managed to take advantage of them by moving along with the surges into their resulting gaps to secure ourselves closer positions. Of course, the people driving them are probably just shoving themselves into people which is dangerous and stupid... but I am now appreciative of shitty crowd behaviour! Particularly as we ended up 3 people back from the front before the main act started. 

Miles' selection of tunes were very pleasing to the ear, being consistently catchy, rock driven songs, backed by an exceptional band and a powerful voice. I hadn't heard any of his work before, but it felt much like later Arctic Monkeys with more of an early Oasis-y feel to it. An enjoyable, inoffensive, and entertaining show, I wish I could have paid more attention (or seen... anything...) while I concentrated on edging closer to the stage. However, it definitely put me in the mood for the Monkeys as well as inspired me to check out more of his music. 

Rushes finalized and position secured, it was finally Monkey time. The members came out with Alex Turner following, and they commenced a thundering opener with "Don't Sit Down or I'll Move Your Chair". As soon as the introduction was over, the crowd was in a frenzy. I was also in a frenzy, which kept me from being completely bowled over and thrown to my death. It was an excellent start, with their signature guitar jangles strong and piercing, as was Alex's clear and heartfelt voice. As the songs continued, it was all pure rock, from their debut hits "View from the Afternoon" and "Still Take You Home"; "Teddy Picker" and "Brianstorm" from 'Your Favourite Worst Nightmare' and 'Humbug''s "Crying Lightning". The songs rolled off the band members effortlessly, with drum sticks flying and guitar solos whipped out in a blur. Pauses in the songs (for example, just after "SEE YOU LATER INNOVATOR" in "Brianstorm") were drawn out so that when the finale of the song came it was an unpredictable explosion. During these numbers I was barely standing as I got into the music as well as being knocked around from spot to spot with the crowd. Alex tried his best to be charming and appropriately 'rockstar' with his "HOW YOU DOIN' BRISBANE!" calls, and sometimes it worked, assisted by his James Dean style attire and hairdo, and perchance for pointing in an "I Want You" fashion...

Other times it kind of felt like he was trying too hard to be engaging, when he is obviously more comfortable as the quiet, tortured genius type. It was also a little disappointing to hear that at their Sydney show two nights prior, which a few gig buddies attended, he had engaged in the exact same banter without any variance, like a script he was set to follow. 
It was however, easy to forgive Alex's odd connection with the audience, when he and his bandmates treated us to such faultless productions of their best crafted songs. The Monkeys became massive very quickly, and having stayed that way as a band they sound massive and full bodied to complement their fame. 
A few slower moments occurred, particularly those tracks from the new album that I had a soft spot for (e.g. "Black Treacle", "She's Thunderstorms"). They were beautifully executed however, despite not really being melancholy tunes, they did let the momentum down a little. This was to be expected as thanks to the new album's maturity, the Monkey's have improved on their range- however, it kind of felt like they had slowed things down a little too much somehow. Other rockier songs from 'Suck it and See' travelled quite well, including the drummer Matt Helder's vocal spot in "Brick By Brick" and rollicking "Library Pictures" (with perhaps the worst line of their career: "well ip, dip, dog shit rock and roll", screamed by everyone up front). 

Miles Kane joined the band for a number I hadn't heard before, "Little Illusion Machine (Wirral Rider)", and added a little more charisma to the stage, working quite well with Alex and looking dapper in a velvet burgundy suit. After a fantastic helping of songs, they powerfully ripped through "When the Sun Goes Down" and left the stage without much ado. Their encore was short and sweet, commencing with the lyrical gem "Suck It and See", and then one of my favourites, "Fluorescent Adolescent", Alex spitting out the words without a hitch. They ended with Miles Kane's assistance again on "505", which, as a darker song I am not too familiar with, felt a little flat as a final send off. 

I'd seen Sydney's setlist prior to the show (as the travelling gig buddies managed to obtain a torn up copy) and it was a little disappointing for me (and moreso for them) that the band had stuck completely to it for the Brisbane gig. Whether it means anything that they don't wish to change things up each show, I'm not sure, but I would have loved to hear "Piledriver Waltz" or at least something more explosive to send us home with. But all that aside, it was a very good selection of their musical journey so far, and most of the moments I anticipated seeing live were reproduced to my satisfaction. And what better way to have such an anticipated live experience than right up front with a rowdy bunch of fellow fans? Even if it did mean needing to take Voltaren and walking around with bruised feet for the next two days. Worth it.

8 and a half hellcats out of 10.