Glastonbury Festival 2013
Arctic Monkeys lit up Glastonbury Festival 2013 on Friday with a performance that proved to be the highlight of the weekend.
Six years on from their first appearance at the legendary festival they made their return to the Pyramid Stage at 11pm, launching into their racy new single “Do I Wanna Know?” with no time to draw breath before the thunderous “Brianstorm”. “Are you feeling in a party mood everybody?” singer and guitarist Alex Turner asked the crowd before guiding the band into old fan favourite “Dancing Shoes”.
Arctic Monkeys have consistently shed skin with every album and on the night presented us with their new guise to accompany their upcoming fifth album released in September, simply titled AM.
They previewed three songs from their upcoming album including “Mad Sounds” and the fantastic “R U Mine?”, the latter built around the dirtiest of riffs. Some of their new material sounds like good old rock ‘n’ roll with a 21st Century makeover.
Arctic Monkeys
Modelling a striking sequinned silver jacket and short back and sides hairdo complete with a Billy Fury-esque quiff, Alex Turner had the crowd in the palm of his hand, and was “channelling the spirit of Elvis” in the words of presenter Jo Wiley.
Certainly, Turner and his baritone croon mixed some audacious Presley-esque hip swivelling with moments of no-nonsense rocking out.
Leather clad bassist Nick O’Malley was solid throughout and trimly attired guitarist Jamie Cook had much energy to burn. Both gave outstanding individual performances.
On release of their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare, the Guardian newspaper noted: “If you were to remove everything from the album apart from Matt Helders’ drumming, it would still be a pretty gripping listen.” Similarly, I would happily watch a two-hour set of what drummer Helders alone was up to at the back of the stage. He mixes power and precision with astonishing inventiveness. And on top of this, you won’t find a cooler looking man on the planet.
Each of their four previous albums were well represented, mixing hits such as “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance floor”and “Crying Lightning” with more obscure album tracks like “Old Yellow Bricks” and “Pretty Visitors”.
After finishing the set with “A Certain Romance”, their encore began with “Cornerstone” and “Mardy Bum”, two crackers given extra splendour by an accompanying string section arranged by Guy Garvey of Elbow. “That’s why they sounded like Elbow tunes,” Turner commented afterwards.
Following former chart topper “When the Sun Goes Down”, high in spirits Turner led the thousands of festival goers into a chorus of “Happy Birthday” for his mum.
They capped off a memorable performance with “505”, for which they were joined by Miles Kane on guitar, friend of the group and for whom Turner had made an appearance earlier in the day.
This performance will surely be looked back on as a career highlight for the band that have come such a long way since their breakthrough eight years ago with songs about gritty nightclubs and late night taxi rides through Sheffield’s suburbs.
What was so striking about the Arctic Monkeys when they arrived on the scene in 2005 was how relatable they were. As one young fan had put it, “I used to like bands like The Strokes and Interpol, but they’re too cool; they’re like robots. I look up at the Arctic Monkeys and I see me”.
Their performance tonight however heralded the Arctic Monkeys as fully fledged rock deities. When they look and sound this good, that’s absolutely fine by me.
