Taking their place with pop’s greats
Arctic Monkeys The O2 Arena, London
★★★★★
Following the deaths of David Bowie and Prince, there are few established pop artists who are capable of pulling off jaw-dropping radical reinventions with a new album release. Step forward Sheffield’s Arctic Monkeys, whose sixth album, Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino,
flummoxed fans and critics alike for ditching the R’n’b-tinged anthemic rock of 2013’s world-beating AM for a more meandering, stream-ofconsciousness style of songwriting.
Several months on, the dreamy, laid-back grooves of Tranquility… feel like a runaway success creatively, if not commercially. On the evidence of this O2 gig, it has allowed the Monkeys to achieve a breadth and depth of material – not to mention cocky assuredness – on stage that now compares favourably with the pop greats of the pre-millennial era.
This was the third arena show of 16 across the British Isles this month, and it kicked off with the languorous synth-funk of the album’s Four Out Of
Five, as though the band were mockingly pre-empting any prospective reviews. It played out against a nondescript backdrop of beige partitions and dim lighting, evocative of Seventies hotel foyers, as befits the recent album’s titular conceit but which also looked reassuringly inexpensive in these austerity times.
It also provided a perfect backdrop for frontman Alex Turner to stand out. What a quality performer he has become. Somehow looking cool in a baggy grey suit (the new suedehead crop certainly helped), he delivered his first verse in an arched-eyebrow drawl – very Bowie – then exhaled melodramatically, hands on hips. Switching casually between guitartoting rocker, ivory-tinkling songwriter and hammy, post-presley crooner, he’s all but unrecognisable from the indie waif quaking behind his fringe on his arrival in 2005.
His nimble transformations enabled an audibly invigorated Monkeys to comfortably take on the different styles of their six albums, whether it be the jittery punk of their first two (Brianstorm, a rare Dancing Shoes), the Josh Homme-influenced sounds of the middle pair (Crying Lightning, Cornerstone), or their latter-day smoothness. Stompers from AM, such as Do I Wanna Know? definitely elicited the biggest singalongs, but other recent tunes including Knee Socks afforded satisfying breathing space inbetween
The set-closing I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor was predictably explosive, rivalling recent O2 shows from Metallica and Black Sabbath for sheer noise and energy, and duly eliciting a crowd response throwing Sunday-night caution to the wind.
As AM’S R U Mine? stirred an earth-trembling encore, Arctic Monkeys really did beg comparison with the biggest and the best.
Tonight until Thurs at The O2 Arena, then on tour; arcticmonkeys.com