CONCERT REVIEW: ARCTIC MONKEYS LIVE AT TERMINAL FIVE 12.10.09

On Thursday night, I was fortunate enough to see Arctic Monkeys at Terminal 5 in NYC. The actual concert experience was fairly unsatisfying, but that didn’t detract from the fact that they were absolutely brilliant. The opening act was Screaming Females. As openers go, they were OK, but that’s the last time I’m listening to them. The three of them really know the way around their instruments, and the vocalist/guitarist made the most noise I’ve ever heard (both vocally and instrumentally), but, they were a tad too loud (which got obnoxious) and after three songs, they all started sounding the same. That fact would’ve been fine, except their set was 40 minutes.

After they were done and the roadies came on to fix up everything, I noticed the music they were playing: Black Sabbath and George Harrison. The fact that I heard "Art of Dying" by George Harrison really got me so psyched. Then, not a moment too soon, Arctic Monkeys ambled onto the stage and dove right into “Jeweller’s Hands”. Before the show, I hated “Jeweller’s Hands”, but that performance won me over. After the mind-numbingly awesome “Brianstorm” and about half-way through “This House is a Circus”, the crowd really started to get irritating and the whole floor turned into a mosh-pit. It was intense, but not for me. As expected with there earlier stuff, the audience beyond freaked out when they launched through “Still Take You Home”, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”, and “A View From the Afternoon”. The energy pulsed through you like nothing else. The latter was very well performed, except for the fact that Alex messed up the verse pretty badly.

I really don’t understand why, I mean I like the song a lot, but the audience had the heaviest reaction to “Cornerstone”. It was performed even better than the album, but I mean, the audience were less into it than they were for “Pretty Visitors”. All this brings us to the best, and utter highlight of the show: “Fluorescent Adolescent”. The bass for some reason sounded a little weird, like it had an odd poppy sound, but it added to the nice mellow take on it. To the audiences shock and glee, during the “where did you go?” part, Matt left his drums and began to sing “Last Christmas”. That alone was seriously worth the price of admission and the pain in my back.

I mean, everyone was cheering and singing very loudly: it was just fantastic moment! They ended the concert with a short two song encore, which they really could have made longer. As a whole, the concert was worth it. The music was great and very well performed. What I found was that Alex Turner is no longer the ‘star’-Matt Helders out shone them all. On the drums, it says “agile beast”: In describing Matt Helders, that is a serious understatement. He is a complete animal and the sickest drummer I’ve seen live so far!

My only problem with the concert is that Terminal 5 was not built for this kind of show. When I went there to see The Shins, it too was sold out, but it was not nearly as crowded. They completely overbooked the place, and the over-extended/massive amount of space dedicated for VIP’s was completely stupid (if you didn’t want to mosh, you had no good place to go). I still loved the concert and I’d firmly suggest seeing Arctic Monkeys when you get the chance for you’ll see one of the best live acts around-just steer clear of the floor.

SET LIST:
Jeweller’s Hands
Brianstorm
This House is a Circus
Still Take You Home
Potion Approaching
Red Right Hand (Nick Cave Cover)
My Propeller
Crying Lightning
Sketchead
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
The View From the Afternoon
Cornerstone
If You Were There Beware
Pretty Visitors
Do Me a Favour
Fluorescent Adolescent w/ Matt singing Last Christmas

ENCORE:
Secret Door
505

"Fluorescent Adolescent" with Matt Helders singing "Last Christmas."

This review was written by Double Hawk, a fellow indie enthusiast and founder of the music blog Lines Of Oration, who writes the occassional album or concert review for Danish Poet. If you are also interested in becoming a guest writer, email me at danishpoet@mail.com with "Guest Writer" as the subject.

Graffiti outside of Terminal Five.

*Note: As Double Hawk mentioned in the above review, the crowd went wild (WILD) when Alex Turner walked on stage to the tune of an old 1940s slow song. I was going to uploaded a video of me nearly getting knocked to the ground in the middle of "Jewel's Hands" as a human tsunami came right my way, but the sound quality was complete [insert curse word here]. Though I personally enjoyed Screaming Females more than Hawk did, the concert overall was fantastic. Thank you, my favorite polar primates.

THE SHINS LIVE @ TERMINAL 5, MAY 18

Two nights ago, I was fortunate enough to get to see The Shins at Terminal 5 in NYC. I’ll tell you, it was everything I’d hoped it to be. 

The opening act was Delta Spirit, and I can honestly say I’ve never heard of them before. The five of them were all very clearly and thoroughly passionate about their work, and they very easily won over the audience very quickly. They were very enjoyable, but I was thrilled to know that when they were done, The Shins were just moments away, and that kept me motivated through the pain developing in my legs. 

The lights dimmed and everyone lurched forward, starting to freak out as if it were The Beatles at Shea Stadium. When I saw Dave Hernandez come out first I was beyond ecstatic and seeing James Mercer really made it set in that they were here and only a few feet away.

 

They launched off with ‘Australia’ which is one of my favorites and I couldn’t help but get giddy. They then proceeded through the next two songs on Wincing the Night Away without stopping. After a song or two, they introduced a special guest joining them on violin, and when I saw her, I was visibly the only person flipping out: It was Rebecca Zeller, the violinist of Ra Ra Riot!

A few songs come and go, equipped with some new songs (that they didn’t have the decency to tell us the titles of), and a cover from, and I quote “One of the best f*cking bands in the world”, also known in James Mercer’s mind as The Beach Boys, all leading up to the best performance of the night: ‘Caring is Creepy’. Every one in the room was singing their lungs out to this song, so much so that even though I was very close to James Mercer I couldn’t hear him! When everyone is that connected and ‘into’ a song like that, how can that not affect you? 

After three more, they play the second best performance of ‘Sleeping Lessons’. It was another one where not only were the band happy and seemingly into playing it, but the audience was immensely enthusiastic about their choice as well. Even if they ended it right then and there, I can guarantee everyone would’ve been satisfied with the quality of their performance. 

For the encore, they play a Neil Young cover and the immensely popular ‘Know Your Onion!’. Throughout the whole show, in between songs, people would shout ‘New Slang’ prompting the band to reply with either a ‘We’ll get to all that” or James Mercer looking visibly miffed and then saying “That f*cking song…”, so the time had come for them to fulfill their promise. Everyone sang in unison and not frantically like the others. It was really very cool hearing "New Slang", the song that got me into The Shins, performed live. 

When the show ended, I can honestly say I didn’t want it to end. I loved every minute of it, and would easily do it again. I couldn’t stop smiling and I get filled with joy when I think of think of it! I still can’t get over that a Ra Ra Rioter was there either! 

As with every concert, there were a couple of disappointments. As you know, The Shins are a new Shins, with Marty Crandall and Jesse Sandoval out of the band, so they didn’t sound as immense or full like The Shins I’ve come to know and love. If they didn’t get rid of them weeks before the show, I probably wouldn’t have been as angry. And the only other turn-off was that they didn’t play ‘So Says I’ or ‘Turn On Me’. 

I would thoroughly recommend going to see them however, even if you only like them a little bit. They are a quality band and live act and it was well worth the wait!

///SET LIST\\\
Australia
Pam Berry
Phantom Limb
Girl Inform Me
Saint Simon
Red Rabbits
Sealegs
"New Song"
Mines Not a High Horse
Girl Don’t Tell Me (Beach Boys Cover)
"New Song"
Caring is Creepy
Girl On a Wing
Dry The Rain (Beta Band Cover)
Those to Come
Sleeping Lessons

///ENCORE\\\
Helpless (Neil Young Cover)
Know Your Onion!
New Slang

BY DOUBLE HAWK