concert review: Arctic Monkeys @ Fox Theatre (Oakland), 16 September 2009

There’s something about Oakland’s Fox Theatre that attracts shitty opening bands…or maybe it was a bad call by our Sheffield boys, who let the female band The Like to open for them. In any case, I won’t waste your time or mine describing their mediocre set.

Let’s get to the good stuff.

Fans will watch their favourite bands grow up, fall down, and everything in between. They will faithfully sit and stand and cheer, anything to show their unconditional love for their favourite groups. Sometimes, the musicians don’t return the favour.

Sometimes, their personas change to the point that the new “dark, brooding” sound on the latest mature release infiltrates their live set, and they become so subdued that you could almost call them jaded.

Sometimes, all that loud music and reverb, and the ace vocals, sometimes they just don’t cut it, if the band doesn’t seem into it. Sometimes, it’s just too much to see your favourite musicians stare at the floor, almost emptily.

Having seen the Arctic Monkeys on their FWN tour, I was prepared for some high energy shit to go down. I wanted to see them go insane, just like I knew the fans would.

The crowd obliged. The band did not.

Whereas in 2007, I remember Alex was clad in a suit and still managed to maneuver all over the stage via jumps et al, this time around, he went the opposite route with more comfortable jeans, and yet maintained a stationary, restrained position throughout the set. Even after throwing his leather jacket off a few songs into the set, Turner didn’t seem to get comfortable. Fortunately, however, his lack of enthusiasm did not deter the fans—who crowd surfed, danced, and screeched along to all of the lyrics.

Drawing a measly THREE songs from their famed debut (the one that got them where they are in the first place) the Arctic Monkeys managed to deliver even these hyperactive and carefree songs in the night’s signature mellow but loud manner. I thought this was a shitty way to treat the album which millions of fans swear by, playing day in and day out. The rest of their set revolved around their last two albums. On the songs from Humbug, the most notable and engaging thing was, without a doubt, Matt’s drumming. While most drummers strive to create a backbone for their band’s music, sometimes it seems like Alex, Jamie and Nick create background music for the one man show that is Mr. Helders. He was phenomenal and busted out some intense energy through the entire night, especially in their newer song “Sketchhead”. The same thing could not be said of his uncharacteristically self-suppressed frontman. The atmosphere created by Mr. Turner was almost eerie throughout the concert, which resulted from the noticeably subdued delivery from the band. Needless to say, I miss the crazy stage antics and painstakingly emotive facial expressions.

The high points of the show were Alex’s impassioned delivery of the lyric “what came first, the chicken or the dickhead?” (classic) and when the band picked up after the pause in “If You Were There, Beware”; they went kinda wild, which was nice. But sadly, the only times when Alex generally moved were during some of his guitar parts when he didn’t sing: he kinda shook his locks a bit. Speaking of, the man really needs a haircut…it never really bothered me until I saw what he looked like up close.

The low point of the concert was “Dangerous Animals”, a song I didn’t LOVE from the album, but even the recorded version was better than what the band delivered on stage.

The band’s second to last song (before the encore), “Only the Ones Who Know” was placid and sleepy, kind of like the whole show.

The encore included “Fluorescent Adolescent”, which I appreciated, but I still didn’t feel quite right about the show. Dissatisfied is the best possible way to describe how I felt after the concert.

I hope the band can turn around and take a gander at their drummer, and maybe take a page out of his book and remain true to the latter part of their name. I want some more animalistic insanity, not so much the chilly Arctic thing that they’ve adopted.

The musicianship was still really good, so I shouldn’t complain. I still love my Sheffield boys to death, and I know that they’ll return to form soon. Maybe that SPIN article was onto something, maybe we all just have to stay put until their fourth album.

3.4/5

set list:

Dance Little Liar
Brianstorm
Crying Lightning
Potion Approaching
Pretty Visitors
This House Is A Circus
Still Take You Home
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
If You Were There, Beware
Sketchhead
My Propeller
Red Right Hand (Nick Cave cover)
Dangerous Animals
The View From The Afternoon
Cornerstone
Only Ones Who Know
Do Me A Favour

encore:
Secret Door
Fluorescent Adolescent
505

Arctic Monkeys - Potion Approaching (Live Web Transmission)[mp3]