Last night The Last Shadow Puppets played the first of two shows at London’s Alexandra Palace to over 10,000 eager punters – their biggest ever show. The gigs arrive on the home stretch of their successful comeback tour, which saw the the pair return with a slew of intimate shows in March and take on a massive Pyramid slot at Glastonbury last month. Here’s what went down at Alex Turner and Miles Kane’s triumphant coronation in the English capital.
1. A minutes silence for Nice
Before striding onstage the pair paid their respects to those who lost their lives in the Nice terror attacks the night prior, by illuminating a defiant red, white and blue on their back-drop in solidarity with the French. When Turner and Kane finally arrived, the crowd were implored by Turner to ‘observe a minutes silence’ and a respectful moment of reflection was adhered to impeccably by almost all of the crowd.
https://twitter.com/jezzapug/status/754046676449517568
2. Miles trying his hand at being a heartthrob
Whereas on their current festival jaunt they’ve been playing the role of the jester/the entertainer/the crooner, last night’s show was startlingly lacking with crowd interaction – and any mutterings reduced to a simple ‘thank you’, if at all. The fans didn’t get the memo though. Whenever one or both would stride towards the front of the stage and eye-up the giddy crowd, adoration followed, with both women and men yelping with heart-stopping glee as they catch a real-life glimpse of them both. During ‘Used To Be My Girl’ the stage was pelted with roses by the front row, which saw Kane try his best heartthrob impression as he smashed out an electrifying solo with said rose between his teeth.
https://twitter.com/vhappylot/status/754236636905476098
3. Turner inspires a crooning competition
The 90-minute set was split struck right down the middle between old and new tracks, with a small pocket of the London faithful looking slightly lost during tracks from 2008’s ‘The Age Of The Understatement’ – but eagerly welcomed songs from 2016’s ‘Everything You’ve Come To Expect’ with open arms. In particular, Turner unknowingly willed on all the men in the crowd to try their hand at their best Elvis impression during ‘Sweet Dreams, TN’ – to varying degrees of success.
My boys were so good last night. The Last Shadow Puppets- Sweet Dreams, TN ?#alexandrapalace… https://t.co/WTCgofb1qY
— kmux? (@katiemux) July 16, 2016
4. The pair bidding farewell
The duo hid backstage following the main-set closer ‘In My Room’ (which might have been their audition for the next Bond theme) as the crowd willed, no, begged the elusive pair to return to the stage. In part to the astonishing show that was unfolding before them, but also because the current tour provides a rare chance to see their camaraderie and bromance live in the flesh, before it withdraws from the stage when tour ends in August. So as the pair showered the adoring fans with love-shaped confetti during the melodic ‘Miracle Aligner’ to kick-off their encore – there was a twinge of a goodbye kiss from them both following what has been an outrageous, bombastic, but always worthwhile summer fling.
5. Covering The Fall and Bowie
Throughout the tour the pair have dabbled with special guests, including Johnny Marr, and trying their hand at unexpected covers. Tonight, the pair kept guests to a minimum but were happy to partake in a pair of well-received tributes to two wildly different British music icons. The Kane-led cover of The Fall’s ‘Totally Wired’ resulted in the evening’s most aggressive and confrontational moment as he goaded and whipped the crowd into an almighty frenzy, with the other conspiring to be the show’s final song as Turner led proceedings with a glitzy version of David Bowie’s ‘Moonage Daydream’.
