Arctic Monkeys play the North London park with support from Tame Impala, Miles Kane and Royal Blood…
Oasis, The Stone Roses and The Sex Pistols; the of list British icons who have graced Finsbury Park in the past is pretty impressive. So when Arctic Monkeys announced they would join that roll of honour by playing two 50,000 capacity gigs at the North London park you got the feeling that after headlining Glastonbury, selling out another arena tour and scoring their fifth number one album, this is where the boys from Sheffield were destined to be.
Finsbury, which was dotted with nice little touches such as the The Parrot’s Beak bar, a nod to the Cornerstone lyrics, filled up pretty quickly with fans clearly eager to enjoy the sun, disgustingly over-priced crappy alcohol (Fosters and Strongbow? Ew, sack the guy who chose that) and support bands. Royal Blood geared up nicely for their busy summer of playing basically every festival everywhere by opening up proceedings on probably the biggest stage they’ve ever stepped foot on. Their set was short but sweet (by sweet I mean angry and chaotic) and showed why many, including a certain Matt Helders, have backed them to make it big.
Miles Kane, a familiar face amongst Arctics fans, was next up and drew a huge crowd to the front pit, which reached capacity during his set. Unfortunately he also seemed popular with the drunkards who think it’s okay to aimlessly shove women about or that pissing in a cup and chucking it over everyone in front is funny and makes you a banter king (nah mate it’s moronic and makes you a wanker.) Luckily the few idiots didn’t detract from his thoroughly entertaining performance, and most would be seen either passed out or getting kicked out before Arctic Monkeys even came on. At 60 quid a ticket, that’s one expensive banterous piss.
Aussie psychedelic rockers Tame Impala delivered a brilliant, albeit rather uneventful, main support set. In stark contrast to their predecessor, Tame didn’t evoke much of a reaction from the crowd other than a bit of synchronised head-bobbing and one underage drinker who thought this was the kind of music he should be crowd-surfing to. That failed. Still, it was a nice, chilled support set that enabled the crowd to enjoy some more of that disgusting beer under the setting North London sun.
Half an hour later AM’s now familiar cover art flickered on to the two big screens flanking the arena. The stage spins to reveal the band playing the thumping Do I Wanna Know which, on the anniversary of it’s very first live performance, has established itself as a natural set opener. The band continue the AM theme with the infections Snap Out Of It instantly followed by the Black Sabbath inspired barnstormer Arabella which once again features it’s War Pigs snippet that is just so damn cool. Without pausing for breath or to even mutter a word, in fact Alex would rather unusually say hardly anything all night, Brianstrom cracks out through the speakers, much to the delight of the crowd who clearly appreciated the nights first glimpse of old school Arctic Monkeys.
When exiting Finsbury Park, which was one hell of a task (yeah, this whole thing had the organisational prowess of a Ukip carnival) there seemed to be a few issues with the setlist, which were echoed across social media throughout the night. “Too much new stuff,” said some, “they didn’t play enough of the classics” said others. Whilst it’s true that the band almost played AM in its entirety, this can hardly come as a surprise. Besides, a lot of the fan favourites were still in there and the acoustic version of A Certain Romance provided a rather special, intimate moment.
That’s not to say the setlist was perfect. There was a disappointing lack of Humbug material, which was sort of annoying when you consider how important that album was in terms of the band’s development. The inclusion of One For The Road, probably the dullest song on AM, in the encore was also a bit of bummer especially as that spot right after A Certain Romance would’ve perfectly suited Mardy Bum. Oh well, maybe they’re saving that for something…
Perhaps the reason Arctics don’t play many of the tracks that helped them dominate the post-Libertines indie-rock scene is because the boys just don’t think they sound as good as the new material. It’s hard to argue with that. On the recent AM arena tour you got the impression they just weren’t getting in to the likes of Brianstorm, Fluorescent Adolescent (both of which sound below par tonight), Teddy Picker and Dancing Shoes. In fairness, it’s hard for the lads to recreate the teenage angst of the first two albums that made them so popular. They’re a totally different band now. Who’d have thought, back in 2006, that a mop-haired Alex Turner and a trackie-clad Matt Helders would be successfully combining sexy falsetto and monster riffs on their fifth album?
Whilst Alex and co do look like they’re genuinely enjoying I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, they sound a lot better when they rip in to the crushing desert rock of Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair, Crying Lightning and Library Pictures. Even when they slow things down for the lighters-in-the-air pairing of No.1 Party Anthem and Cornerstone they look and sound a lot more comfortable. We all love the classics, but it seems Arctics have found the perfect balance by cutting a few of them out.
One that will always make cut, however, is 505. In the same way that Do I Wanna Know is the perfect opener the final track on Favourite Worst Nightmares has always been seen as the perfect set closer. Despite his obvious presence, Miles Kane is thankfully kept well away. Whilst the Merseyside lad is a great entertainer, it’s become so common for him to guest on 505 that it’s now more of a surprise when he doesn’t come out. Alex, Matt, Jamie and Nick play the now iconic track on their own, with the crowd providing backing vocals, to round off the set. Just the way it should be.
As pockets of the 50,000 strong crowd break out in to random Arctic Monkeys themed football chants Alex strides back on to the stage, alone but with guitar in hand, explaining “I wanted to do one just me and acoustic. It’s been a while, so bear with.” A slow, eloquent version of A Certain Romance is delivered to mark the special evening. It’s just a shame that once the rest of the band arrive back on stage they bring out the rather drab One For The Road. Proceedings draw to a close with the wonderful I Wanna Be Yours sung back at the stage before the familiar twang of R U Mine? sends Finsbury back in to one last frenzy of beer, sweat and bruises.
Arctic Monkeys arrived way back in 2006, but since then they’ve kept coming back, stepping up and delivering. Tonight was no different. A triumphant performance to match arguably their biggest gigs since Don Valley Bowl in 2011, Arctics showed why they’ve earned their place amongst Finsbury Park’s elite. Are they the biggest British band at the moment? You bet they are.
Nonchalant Youth 