January 24, 2006 10:39

ShockWaves NME Awards Tour 2006 is go!

Arctic Monkeys and Maximo Park lead the way in Dublin

Maximo Park, Arctic Monkeys, We Are Scientists and Mystery Jets have opened the ShockWaves NME Awards Tour in Dublin.

With first day sales of their debut album estimated at over 60,000, Monkeys fever gripped the city as the hottest new bands tour of the year rolled into town and ’Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not’ hit shelves across the UK.

Just as Oasis marked the release of ’Definitely Maybe’ over ten years earlier with a show at Dublin’s Tivoli Theatre, the Monkeys too were in the Irish capital for a sold-out first night of the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour as their debut long player verges on eclipsing the Mancunians to become the fastest selling rock debut of all time.

During a set dominated by the aforementioned LP, frontman Alex Turner quipped, “So it’s a fuckin’ phenomenon then ’eh? This time last year I was in my bedroom”, before beginning a riotous set which included Number One singles ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ and ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’, along with ‘Still Take You Home’, ‘Dancing Shoes’, ‘Fake Tales Of San Francisco’, ‘A Certain Romance’ and new song ‘Leave Before The Lights Come On’.

Turner seemed perplexed by the myriad of items flung on stage during their set - calling one bra flinging woman “stupid” and commenting “is Morrissey here or summat” as a tricolour flag wrapped around his microphone.

Headliners Maximo Park also enjoyed huge levels of devotion with belts, trousers and shirts getting in the way of singer Paul Smith’s scissor kicks. “Somebody’s going to be naked soon if all these clothes are coming from the same person,” he laughed.

With only Arctic Monkeys having previously visited the city, it was debuts all round in Dublin. First up were Mystery Jets, with frontman Blaine Harrison quick to point out that Arctic Monkeys weren’t the only band with a loyal following, dedicating ‘Purple Prose’ to the small Irish army of fans that greeted the band on their arrival to the airport.

We Are Scientists too were “amazed” by the Irish crowd with ‘Nobody Moves, Nobody Gets Hurt’ and ‘The Great Escape’ receiving the loudest cheers of the night and bringing on the evening's first crowd surfers.

The tour continues tonight with a second sold-out show in Dublin.