Concert Review:Arctic Monkeys
Hammerstein Ballroom
New York, NY
5/15/07
The band that sings about "the city that never wakes up" was playing the city that never sleeps last night at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC. Hammerstein is located just one block north of Madison Square Garden. It was only fitting that the Arctic Monkeys were playing in such close proximity to the self proclaimed "World's Most Famous Arena" as the band will no doubt be playing that hallowed venue in the years to come. Hell, they could have walked over last night and played to the rafters and probably sold out most, if not the whole place.
I had been waiting for months to finally see the monkeys live after hearing 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' and being blown away by the catchy riffs, incredibly clever and anthemic lyrics, and the excellent musicianship of a band barely into their 20's. So the night finally came last night.
Opening band "Be Your Own Pet" was...oh, who am I kidding. During their set I was pub-crawling around the venue getting a little "invigorated" for the show. Each of the pubs we went to were kind enough to be playing the Monkeys albums to prep us for the show. That's Arctic Monkeys...not 'The Monkees'. Big Difference.
After promptly heading to the upper balcony to check out our view of the stage, and then putting our game face on and successfully sneaking onto the GA floor after realizing upper balcony just wasn't going to cut it, we were ready for the show. Now, I was expecting a rowdy crowd and group singalong in the realm of the Oasis DVD "Familiar to Millions". Instead during the majority of the show, which I thought was fantastic, there was a pleasantly excited crowd on the floor and a somewhat subdued and seated crowd on the mezzanines. Where were the rowdy expats, the wasted frat pack, and the young teen girls all dolled up to maybe meet the band (or at least one of the lookalikes in the crowd). Sure there was a little representation from the above groups, but no where near what I had thought. I did notice a kid, maybe 12 years old, wearing an Arctic Monkeys t-shirt right by the bar, no less, and happily singing along to every freaking word. God bless him.
The songs were tight, Alex and the lads were in good spirits although I think somewhat surprised by the "nice" crowd, the new songs blended pretty well with the older ones, and I had a grin on my face for most of the show. The sound was really quite nice with each instrument and the voices mixed very well. The highlight was my personal fave 'Fake Tales of San Francisco' in which Alex sings to the hipsters of his neck of the woods:
Other show highlights were 'Teddy Picker' from the new album Favorite Worst Nightmare and 'When the Sun Goes Down' and 'Certain Romance' from WPSIATHIN. In a move they must have certainly learned from 'The Strokes' (AM is unabashed fans), there was no encore. Just alot of disgust and odd looks when the house lights came on. But that didn't stop the Brits in the house from doing their soccer (er, football) chants right outside the ticket window after the show for the confused American fans. As the Brits performed an oddly love-infested conga line (I'm not kidding) into the warm Manhattan air, I couldn't help but smile as for 75 minutes, I was right where I should have been. Enjoying a phenomenal band on their continued rise to the top in the world's greatest city. Life is good.And yeah, I'd love to tell you all my problem
You're not from New York City, you're from Rotherham
So get off the bandwagon, and put down the handbook
Yeah, yeah, yeah
ARCTIC MONKEYS SETLIST HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM MAY 15, 2007
If You Found This, It's Probably Too Late / Brianstorm / Still Take You Home / Dancing Shoes / From Ritz To Rubble / Balaclava / Fake Tales of San Francisco / You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights... / Teddy Picker / D is For Dangerous / Do Me A Favour / I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor / This House Is A Circus / Old Yellow Bricks / If You Were There, Beware / The View From The Afternoon / Fluorescent Adolescent / When The Sun Goes Down / Leave Before the Lights Come On // A Certain Romance
Setlist Courtesy of PSNYC
Picture Courtesy of ypkang
12 comments:
Was at the show too, was sitting in the first mezz. Interesting that you thought it was a "nice" crowd - from my vantage point seemed like the crowd on the floor was going pretty crazy. The floor seemed to be bouncing up and down for the entire show.
What a difference a year makes though. Caught them last year at Roseland and while people were definitely into them, this time around the crowd knew the songs and knew them quite well.
Was there really a need for an encore? They pretty much played every song they had, so just go out on a high note and leave the crowd wanting more.
Thanks for leaving your thoughts from the show. It wasn't so much the floor that suprised me, although for a show that sold out in about 45 seconds I was shocked how easy it was to get a beer and get back to my spot a bunch of times with no trouble, but the mezzanines, except for a few people on the rail, looked like they were at a high school play. I'm a little old to want to be right up front, which I'm sure no doubt it was hard just to stand up, but witnessing one of the biggest (and best IMO) buzz bands in the world, and one that gets 3/4 of the strokes to come out, should have felt like the roof was gonna cave in from the noise. Maybe I'm looking for too much, but I believe in being at ground zero of musicdom whenever possible with an atmosphere to match, and felt like it was just another show on their tour of the states. My biggest problem: the roof is still on Hammerstein.
RL, Weightstaff
Yeah there definitely wasn't much energy in the mezz. But the security guards were keeping people out of the aisles and it's sort of hard to stand and dance up there when they have the rows so close together with chairs - 2nd mezz has plush seats from what I recall.
I've sort of given up wanting to be on the floor at Hammerstein - it just gets too crowded and annoying to me, plus with the mezz you have your own bar and bathrooms right there.
I'll be there for Wilco next month and I think that will be the show that will blow the roof off the place. Can't wait.
The crowd was nice, but definitely not calm. I was in the mosh pit the entire night baging around. It wasn't like a Rage Against the Machine mosh pit (which I'll be in come july 28th) but everyone was going about as nuts as they could. Outside proved it. I was right there with em chanting with my England jersey. Damn good show.
MY friends and I were up at the mezz and it seemed pretty pumped. It might have been just us though cause we were right on the rails and I didn't look behind me once. Didn't sit down once.
yeah that was us up there...I did actually go up to get some water and the crowd up in the mezz was pretty bland. Floor was insane though.
Sweet article...however, I also disagree that the crowd was rather subdued. Then again, I was also in the front & center on the floor and one of the only females in the mosh pit. Didn't look up once in the balcony...something about a concert going on distracted me. There were points where I was covered in people and couldn't breath and would jump as high as I could with my face upward gasping for air, but with the adrenaline rushing nothing mattered...not the sweat, the claustrophobia, the injuries, NOTHING! Just the music, the band, the crowd, the adrenaline and me...dancing my foookin ass off! Admittedly I lost total control and got completely violent in the put, but luckily only limped away with a bruised right foot and a crushed second toe on my left foot. Was funny cause I saw a Chelsea fan of whom I would never usually mingle with...ahaha, but I guess live music concerts bring free love...COME ON EUROCUP! COME ON LIVERPOOL!!! FOOKIN YEAH ARCTIC MONKEYS!!
Finally, a review! Alright, so I really wasn't searching that much but anyway, good to see someone else blogged on this. It was a fantastic night. I cannot wait for them to come back to NY, so much so that I'm considering seeing them at Malahide Castle in Ireland... but alas, I don't think that's going to happen. Weak.
But yes, I was in the pit as well (there were more females in there than that other person commented on) but it was crazy. I wouldn't say it was Mindless Self Indulgence crazy but it was pretty fun.
Check my review if you'd like. It's entitled "If You Found This, It's Probably Too Late".
take care.
where is the review?
thehochies review can be found at:
http://hochies.blogspot.com/2007/05/if-you-found-this-its-probably-too-late.html
Just doin' my share.
Weightstaff
oh my god i wish i went i didnt know they were playing there. i guess that means they won't be back in new york for a really long time?? =[
First of all, lady friend, i was also one of the few females in the mosh pit along with my friend (although we also had mezz tix, we likewise decided that that would just not do :P) Second, they'll probably be back in NYC in about a year, this show was a little less than a year after Roseland which I also went to. Basically, that night was one of the best nights of my entire life, absolutely amazing :).
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