Arctic Monkeys May 7th @ First Ave

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Arctic Monkeys May 7th @ First Ave!

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First Avenue turned into a venerable hotbox last evening, with the Arctic Monkeys playing their first ever Minneapolis show at the sold
out and muggy club.(But that didn’t stop Elvis Costello from getting
in-he was perched on the dj deck for the entire set, applauding and
enjoying the show-he’s playing the Myth tonight.) And what a show it
was. I have to admit, I was quite knackered from a long solo drive from
Milwaukee that afternoon, and didn’t have a lot of energy going into
the show, but that all changed as soon as the four lads from Sheffield
took the stage. From that point on, First Ave was a powder keg of
energy and high voltage rock n’ roll. Starting off with the new song,
‘If You Found This It’s Probably Too Late’ leading directly into their
current hit single ‘Brianstorm,’ the main room floor was awash with
pogo’ers, crowd surfers, and a crowd that was obviously ready to have a good time. ‘Still Take You Home’ really set things off, with it’s
rousing chorus of ‘You Know Nothing’ allowing the crowd it’s first
chance of a spirited sing along (which it continued to do all night.)
My long drive was made easier knowing that I would be seeing them play
‘Fake Tales of San Francisco’ later that evening, and having that tune
meld in to the end of ‘Balaclava’ was definitely a highlight for me-the
frenzied finish of the song certainly had the crowd thrashing
about-‘Get off the bandwagon’ indeed. The boys really made their feisty
songs look effortless at times, with front man Alex Turner spitting out
his lyrics with venom, all the while almost offhandedly playing the
catchy hooks that had the crowd bouncing all night. Also adding to the
festive atmosphere was the fact that it was drummer Matt Helders 21st
birthday (who later donned a Twins batting helmet in celebration)-this
actually caused me to pause -2 smash hit records, a sold out First Ave
and he, and the rest of the band, are just in their early 20’s.
Amazing. The stage was lit with simple strobes that just added to the
frenetic energy of the songs. Not that the songs needed any help being
manic-the set was a blur, with one hit blending right into the next (20
songs in just over an hour), with very little ‘intelligible’ between
song banter from Alex, other than telling the crowd early on to ‘relax,
relax, smoke a spliff and relax’, and wondering what the floating box
was wandering through the crowd. There really was no chance in getting
this crowd to settle down (the spliff smoking on the other hand…)-we
were there to have a good time, and a good time was had by all (other
than the people that got crushed under the portly stage diver). The new
songs really sounded fresh live, and blended well with the older
songs-‘View from the Afternoon’ meshed seamlessly with a fantastic
version of ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’, right before the superb one-two
punch of ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ and ‘Leave Before the Lights Come
On.’ The Arctic Monkeys brought the ruckus on Monday night, proving
that they are the real deal in British rock, no matter how big the hype
gets. The fact that they are all so young makes you wonder what these
guys are capable of if they can see things through and have a long,
prosperous career. I do know this, what they are capable of right now
is setting fire to First Ave with their music and energy, in a show
that will be hard to top for the rest of the year. Cheers lads, job
well done.
Erik T.(BritRockAtTheTop.com editor)

Visit BritRockAtTheTop.com for more reviews and pics

Best show of the year hands down! This one blew away their Chicago show March of 2006. Thank you Erik for the great review.