The Upstate Life

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

TUL's Take: Arctic Monkeys @ 9:30 Club

As I was driving home from work last night, my friend from Annapolis called informing me that he had an extra ticket for yesterday's sold-out Arctic Monkeys show at the 9:30. Turns out his girlfriend couldn't make it and needed to find someone else that shared the same sense of music snobbery as him. I'm not going to lie, I literally had to mull it over for a few good minutes in fear of missing 24, and I have DVR mind you. So after Rachel alerted me of the fact that I cannot let TV override my schedule despite its many temptations, I called back and said I would attend.

The Spinto Band kicked the evening off with their guitar-driven sound and was a modest opener. This was the first time I've heard any of their material, but they were very lively onstage and appeared to be having a lot of fun during their 40-minute set. The audio wasn't the greatest during their performance so I'll have to check out their album and see how their songs sound in a studio environment.

Arctic Monkeys took the stage at around 10:15, fifteen minutes later than their scheduled time which made me question the tight ship the 9:30 Club usually runs. Was Seth off last night or something? Anyway, the band started the show with album opener "The View From the Afternoon" which instantly got the crowd moving. Without a second to spare, the group went right into their single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor". The place was definitely more energetic than the last concert I attended, but seeing as how that was Belle and Sebastian, I guess that would be an unfair comparison. Then again, I was surrounded by drunken idiots bouncing up and down with one hand in the air that wouldn't shut the hell up. Just a tad different from the audience that was rocking out to "Funny Little Frog" just a few weeks ago.

Arctic Monkeys sounded better than the opener in terms of sound quality but somewhat lacked in stage prowess. Lead singer Alex Turner appeared uninspired yet carried his end of the bargain with excellent vocals and great guitar work. I was honestly surprised how tight they sounded throughout the evening since, you know, they only have one album out, which just saw its stateside release. It got a little monotonous toward the end, something Interpol pulls off quite well, but overall I enjoyed their nearly 50 minute set. The band plowed through the entire album with nearly no interaction between songs. One notable exception of the night was a lack of encore, but seeing as how they only have roughly 15 songs in their catalog, I suppose it was understandable. Appropriately enough, they closed out the show with the last track on Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, "A Certain Romance." Oh, and apparently Lance Armstrong was there last night too.

On another note, congrats to the Lady Terps on defeating Utah last night to advance to their first Final Four since 1989! Maryland will meet the winner of tonight's Tennessee/UNC match-up on April 2nd in Boston in the national semifinals. Let's Go Terps!

Posted by Brett at 1:49 PM |