Red lights flash as the Arctic Monkeys enter the stage. Dressed in suits that I imagine movie producers wore in the 1970s, they walk onto the stage of the 3Arena as if there weren’t 13,000 people screaming in excitement. The stage is clearly the embodiment of Alex Turner’s Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, the title of the group’s recently-released sixth album. It looks like a TV studio from the 1970s or maybe a room in an old hotel, but somehow the beige colours don’t seem repulsive or out of place.
Turner swings his guitar strap over his shoulder and begins with “Four Out of Five”, clearly one of the more popular singles from the new album, featuring a stomping Jamie-Cook riff. The crowd sings every word like it’s the last one that will ever come out of their mouth. As the last note vibrates through the room, Turner simply says “hello Dublin” in his revived Sheffield accent, half a smile stretching across his face.
If the whole crowd wasn’t standing up before, they are now, as the Monkeys launch into the electric “Brianstorm”. By now the crowd just wants more. “Snap Out of It” and “Teddy Picker” keep the audience in a state of permanent singing and dancing. A familiar bassline comes in and the crowd instantly knows it. It is in these fast paced almost chaotic moments that Matt Helders’ drumming truly shines. Unlike in Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, where Helders’s role seems relegated to that of a timekeeper, the older material allows him to become a force of nature.
Turner continues with the slower and more subdued “Cornerstone”, and “Do me a Favour”, which manages to keep the crowd engaged despite the lack of heavy guitars and drumming. Word-gymnastics and narratives that manage to be at once complicated and familiar are what make some of Turner’s lyricism so entrancing. Turner seems lost in his own thoughts when prowling the stage, holding every note as he sings “One Point Perspective”.
His contemplative mood ends as he breaks into “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High”, followed by crowd favourite “Do I Wanna Know”. The surprising thing is that the Arctic Monkeys manage to intertwine all of their material effortlessly so that it doesn’t feel choppy or forced but more of a natural progression aided by slowed-down or sped-up intros. “Pretty Visitors” is dark and heavy while “Arabella” makes the 3Arena shakes with the bass, the drums and the enthralled crowd.
The encore begins with Turner crooning “Star Treatment” and doubling down with the classic “I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor”. Turner speaks into the microphone for the last time, announcing: “I wanna ask you something.” Then the guitars and the drums come in. “R U Mine” is everything a closing song needs to be. All the musical elements are there, but most importantly it leaves you wanting more. The last note echoes through the arena and people are awakened by the reality of the world as we leave the Tranquillity Base Hotel and Casino and come back down to earth.
