Arctic Monkeys
Newport Centre, Newport (24.04.06)

Earlier this year, when Arctic Monkeys had just released their debut album 'Whatever People People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' I went along to see how they faired up live. And as I had previously thought it might be, they were very good. I mean for a band that made their reputations through live gigs, free demo CDs at gigs and a massive internet community and following, who could expect anything less than a good performance.

They ripped through the songs from their album and also played new songs from their their forth coming EP at the time 'Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?'. The start of the concert was really good, playing Riot Van, the 'ballad' of the album if you wish, which was followed by the single The View From The Afternoon, a great start to the gig.

The set went on with the 'dancey' tracks that the band produce, and lots of people were jumping around and singing along, which don't get me wrong was really good to see, but it did seem at some points that the audience didn't really fit what this band were all about. At some point it felt like it was a parent and child evening whereby a son/daughter was accompanied by an a parent to watch their idols, but this could have just been due to the fact I was in a seated area and not in a standing area nearer the stage.

But overall it was a good performance which was only tainted by the position of my view and maybe lacked a bit in stage man ship by lead man Alex Turner. Either way, you can't knock the band for their hard work, because after all, their songs are class.


+ Review by Ryan

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