Gig review: Arctic Monkeys

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 19:11

ARCTIC MONKEYS SECC, GLASGOW * * *

YOU can't sing about throwing up on Sheffield high street for ever, as Arctic Monkeys are well aware. So this most astute of young bands have delivered a curveball with their third album, Humbug, which fundamentally changes the mood of their gigs. Unfortunately, their move into more downbeat, personal territory has also coincided with their promotion to the nation's largest arenas, a barn-like environment that favours the instant terrace anthems of old over their latest subtle growers.

The upshot was that there were no winners in this show. The band's new-found sophistication was not best served by the venue, and there was general hubbub rather than celebratory adoration on the floor as the fans marked time before erupting with singalong fervour to the old favourites, especially those from the debut album, creating little pockets of hypomania in a more teasing whole.

Of the new songs, Pretty Visitors came closest to harnessing the furious momentum of old, giving drummer Matt Helders an opportunity to display his athletic skills and the audience the opportunity to bellow along to that cheeky line about what came first, the chicken or the dickhead?

Singer Alex Turner is a louche, charismatic presence, but, together with bassist Nick O'Malley and guitarist Jamie Cook (all three sporting his & his & his straggly moptops), this doesn't make for the most animated front-line.

Even the encore failed to reach a satisfying climax. Fluorescent Adolescent was spliced with Mardy Bum in a two-for-one deal that failed to do justice to either song. Maybe Arctic Monkeys are not that band any more, but there has to be a more satisfying way of reconciling their admirable desire to progress with the reasonable expectations of the fans.