If there is any city that can truly handle the rock prowess of the Arctic Monkeys, it’s Baltimore. The Brit rockers slammed the city with a flurry of trip-hop and fast indie rock at Maryland’s answer to the 9:30 club, Rams Head Live!
The psychedelic San Francisco natives Sleepy Sun opened the show. The band were a trip back in time to 1969, complete with harmonicas, maracas and peyote-influenced dance moves. All six members played their instruments as though there was nothing else that mattered, swaying and squeezing their eyes shut. The lead singer sang with a clear treble reminiscent of Grace Slick, hippie chick extraordinaire of ‘60s band Jefferson Airplane. The band played songs called “Sleepy Son,” “White Dove” and “Red/Black,” that were all five or six minutes long and each encapsulated a trippy, sun-drenched vibe that were both moody and uplifting.
On the downside, each of their songs was an attempt to recapture a sound, like the trippy riff to Parliament’s “Maggot Brain,” as well as Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” Aside from the copycat song style, Sleepy Sun created a peaceful mood, leaving the crowd swaying and tapping their feet to the captivating rhythm. But the crowd came for something more aggressive, which was delivered as soon as the Arctic Monkeys came onstage.
After dropping their debut album in 2006, the scrappy and youthful “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What’s I’m Not,” Arctic Monkeys concerts have become known for transforming audiences into dancing, moshing and jumping fans. But with the turn their last album “Humbug” took, it was interesting to find out how they were going to balance their new, matured sound with their playful and witty songs of albums past.
The band — made up of Alex Turner on lead guitar and vocals, Jaime Cook on guitar, Matt Helders on drums and Nick O’Malley on bass — opened with “Dance Little Liar,” a spooky single from their latest album. Turner crooned into the mic while Helders bashed on the drum kit. Fans swayed back and forth to the song, ready for the concert to unfold.
As soon as that was over, the Monkeys jammed right into a frenzied rendition of “Brianstorm,” a song about a cool lad named Brian who wears ties with his t-shirts. Baltimore fans went wild, moshing and crowd-surfing to the riotous rock song. It became pandemonium and, in fitting style, the next song was another bass-heavy rock single called “This House Is A Circus.” The lights flashed like thunder on the stage and the audience matched the mood felt throughout the venue. Next was the cheery riff rock “Still Take You Home.” The haunting western-vibed song “Potion Approaching” quickly overtook the show.
The concert continued to slow down with the equally eerie and romantic new single “Joining the Dots,” another song from “Humbug.” The song was sad and slow, but exciting for fans since the song was just released last month, and was performed with electric guitars rather than acoustic. After playing more songs from “Humbug” like “Crying Lighting” and “My Propeller,” the guys decided to speed things up again with the drum-heavy “The View From the Afternoon.”
This was followed by their very first number one song, “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor,” an infectious pop number full of Turner’s goofy but witty lyrics. Fans sang along to the words while pushing each other, jumping up and down and spinning around on the dancefloor. Turner’s voice was strong and loud, streaked with his punkish Sheffield accent, while Helders banged away at his kit with a look of vengeance on his face. Cook and O’Malley walked around the stage, sometimes jamming face to face with Helders and Turner.
One of the standout songs of the concert was the trip-hop power jam “Pretty Visitors.” Turner took off his guitar, grabbed the mic and launched into the rap-style lyrics of the song. The song combined fast rhythms with a slow, organ-filled chorus. It captured the violent mood of the night with Turner singing, “All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms/and cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall.”
The concert came to a close soon after that, with the echoey love ballad “505.” But after relentless chanting from the audience, the band came back out to perform their classic and melodic “Fluorescent Adolescent,” and the thunderous riff number “The Nettles,” which they elongated for guitar solos, Turner and Helders face to face, jamming out. To end the show, Helders kicked over his drum set, pumped his fists in the air and walked off the stage — like a rock star should — topping off a smashing show with a literal bang.
You can reach this staff writer at ydesta@theeagleonline.com.
