It was the hottest January 2 on the books since the year 1900. Sure as hell felt like it; the heat was awe-inspiring, driving Melbournians into a midsummer hibernation of sorts. It wasn’t until the sun began to wane that fans of British rock four-piece Arctic Monkeys crawled out from their shelter and made their way to the Palace Theatre to watch them promote their fourth and most recent album Suck It And See.
I sadly missed opener Miles Kane’s set. The Rascals’ former front man’s performance had apparently gone over quite well – I’d arrived halfway through his closing number Inhaler, and the loudly floral psychedelic-tinged indie rock he delivered sounded simply divine! As Kane’s band’s final notes washed over the crowd, the punters went ballistic.
But the crowd went batshit when Turner and company took the stage and launched immediately into Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair. Not even the stifling summer heat could stop the audience from jumping about like mad, waving their hands and bellowing the lyrics alongside the Monkeys’ particular brand of Brit-pop. New tracks The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala, Evil Twin and the album’s title track provided the perfect fodder for the fans to celebrate, alongside classic stalwarts Crying Lightning, This House Is A Circus and of course I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.
Everything seemed to be in order: the band’s playing (especially drummer Matt Helder, who was on fire) was efficient, the crowd was super-enthusiastic and the drinks were cold. But why, by the middle of their 90-minute set, did the proceedings seem rather anaemic and boring? Something seemed a bit off; there didn’t seem to be much passion on display. It was almost as if they were on autopilot. Sorry, but during the course of the evening, each song began to sound progressively more and more similar to the song that came before and the one that would come after. By the time the three-song encore came about I was bored out of my mind.
The Arctic Monkeys are certainly entertaining, and I can’t say anything bad about their playing – but I can say that they certainly seem to have lost their mojo. However, try telling that to the hordes of fans in that hot theatre who knew all the lyrics by heart, who were dancing like it was the end of the world and who wore ridiculously happy smiles on their faces; I think the complaint would fall on deaf ears.
LOVED: Matt Helder’s intense drumming – at one point he broke a drumstick, which narrowly missed Alex Turner’s face, hitting his guitar neck instead.
HATED: How thoroughly anaemic and boring the show became. I think it should have been much more exciting.
DRANK: Alternated between Heinekens and glasses of ice-cold water.
BY THOMAS BAILEY
Photo credit: Diane Wong
