Arctic Monkeys @ First Ave May 7th!!!!

(A request by a fan, the drummer with a Twins Helmet, it was also his B-Day)

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 mainroom 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.

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

More Pics Visit My Flickr Page/ Slideshow

For Another Review and More Pics check out The Rock N Roll Star
Arctic Monkeys Official Site / Myspace Page



Check out Mando Diao tonight at the 400 Bar and Peter John and Bjorn @ First Ave. Tom night(wed.) Keep rockin with the best bands in the world!-Brody