âHello everyone,â begins the small, dark figure onstage, looking wryly out from under his eyebrows. âThis is our first gig for about a year, so you might have to bear with us.â
A pause, then âDa Frame 2Râ slashes across the crowd. Everyone goes mental. Ever ones to underplay things, the Arctic Monkeys are sidestepping a slavering worldwide army of fans by choosing to reveal flashes of the third instalment of their gospel in front of a mere 1,500 in the humble environs of New Zealandâs Wellington Town Hall. Then they start with the bonus track from the Japanese edition of their last album. The teases.
Ostensibly a warm-up for this weekendâs Big Day Out festival, tonight is less dry run than careering log-flume of thrills, thanks in the main to four new songs. âDangerous Animalsâ comes first â a riff-beast thatâs kissing cousin to âTeddy Pickerâ and which sees Turner and bassist Nick OâMalley shout/spell out the title as a chorus. âFrom The Ritz To The Rubbleâ and ââŚDancefloorâ follow, and then we get âPretty Visitorsâ, a âBrianstormâ-heavy stomp punctuated by marching rhythms that finds Alex armed only with a mic. Most impressive of all, however, are the pair that come towards the end of the set. âCrying Lightningâ pairs a signature Turner hook with a more melodic, Shadow Puppets approach, while the organ-and-Les Paul-bedecked âWould You Like Me To Build You A Go-Kart?â is received like an old friend bearing cake.
Hanging out with QOTSA kingpin Josh Homme has obviously rubbed off. The Monkeys sound heavier, more bruising and malicious than ever, rattling through ââŚCircusâ, âStill Take You Homeâ, âThe View From The Afternoonâ, âDancing Shoesâ, âBrianstormâ and âFluorescent Adolescentâ at terrifying pace. And there are a few surprises up their sleeves: a Lilliputian piano on one song and a Western-style slide guitar on another, confirming Matt Heldersâ recent revelation there could be âsome spaghettiâ in their new sound. Perhaps most surprising is an encore of gothic emperor Nick Caveâs âRed Right Handâ, perhaps chosen in honour of their Antipodean location (only about 1,700 miles out, lads, but never mind).
And then theyâre gone, off to give Big Day Outâs far larger crowds the same tantalising peak into that third album. And you? You need to get on YouTube, like, nowâŚ
Jenna Good