Have Arctic Monkeys Lost The Plot?

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The 00's Deep Dive: Taking a look back at the likes of the Stalking Pete Doherty documentary and going through them in painful detail. As well as going through NME Awards from back in the day and discussing what happened.

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Unsigned Stories: Chatting with bands that didn't quite 'make it' in terms of signing that elusive record deal.

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[Noisehead]

I really enjoyed it. The reason they're headlining glastonbury headliners is because they were smart enough to keep evolving. Had they not and spent their career chasing their first album, there's a good chance they'd have become like most bands of their first era, lucky to be a bill filler at a festival.

[jodiehiggins]

I think they've yet to reach their pinnacle. Alex has become a true artist.
One of my favourite bands is Alabama 3, origins in the Welsh Valleys, but each has a stage name and on stage persona.
I think Alex is just building on the creative freedom he has found with Miles in Last Shadow Puppets and I love him more for it. ❤

[MrNorbo]

Honestly thought it was right up there with the best his vocals have sounded. As for people saying he has an American accent now... not even close. Sure he has the deep-voiced crooning tone which I could understand to be offputting to some but personally I don't mind it.

As for the pace... songs like Teddy Picker and Brianstorm were played on studio tempo, while other songs like Arabella were actually faster that the studio tempo. Admittedly, Mardy Bum and Fluorescent Adolescent were slowed down about 10% from the studio versions... though, funnily, Mardy Bum was played far slower in their 2013 Glastonbury set and no-one seemed to mind.

[tompark]

Thought they were brilliant to be honest, Body Paint was ace. All the casuals just want to hear the first 2 albums obviously but you could tell Alex was far more into it when performing the new stuff, he also looked cool as f**k!

[Chuci]

i found it hilarious seeing the meltdown online of people who haven't watched the arctic monkeys since 2014. they have been this way for years and that's fine, including less than a week ago on tour in the uk. if people want early AM then they can go and listen to/watch early AM performances. but they shouldnt be upset or disappointed that AM keep changing both the music they produce and how they perform live. felt like it rlly just highlighted casuals or people who dont even like the band and want a dig at them.

EDIT - I feel I need to add that there's nothing wrong with being a casual fan (in fact they don't gatekeep like some hardcore fans), but that casuals shouldn't criticise/be mad at the band for ageing and being who they are now. you can't expect some plucky teenagers to come out and just do the big hits.

[sandra]

7 months ago my youngest asked me to go to a concert with her ( her first!)
I didn’t know the Arctic Monkeys but I said I’d try to get tickets.
Then she played her Spotify list to let me hear how the sound, I must admit I thought it wasn’t for me.
Long story short, she played the playlist every morning on the way to school, didn’t get the Dutch tickets, but we did get the German, and now I can sing along to most of the songs😂.
Great band, happy my daughter introduced them to me.

[MrMt]

I don’t think they did. The audiences perception changed hence they can’t get away with things they were once celebrated for. I think the collective memory about their debut era and the cultural landscape has faded and is replaced by nostalgia. Alex was always a bit awkward, the weird unexpected tempo changes and messing up was once perceived as them not taking themselves or the industry seriously. Maybe that’s also why they started playing fluorescent adolescent again after a decade.

[mrSamooo]

Didn't even know thy did Glasto, I just watched their 2013 one two days ago. And the 2018 festival gig in Scotland - that's one of their best recorded gigs imo

[cook]

Getting a vibe of Pink Floyd and idea of building a The Wall between them and the crowd but instead he’s using the term moat.

[MysticMover]

Firstly I’ve never been a big AM fan but never disliked them either- I really like a few of their songs but outgrown “falling in love” with bands- (I’m nearly 50)
Anyways.. I will say I think they’ve got the most outrageously thoughtful, intelligent, and nonsensical lyrics of any band in history and they deserve credit for that alone.
With regards to the performance last night I’ve not seen a full set by them many times so don’t have anything to compare but I sensed friction on stage between members of the group. I could be totally wrong as I say I don’t have anything to compare last night to and they might always be like that- but that was the impression I got.. that *something* wasn’t right- like there’d been an argument beforehand- or some long standing issues.
That said I really enjoyed their set and have promised myself to check out their back catalog in a bit more depth…
I’d like to be able to cover Arabella and I’ll put it up on my channel if I can - just gotta learn it with the off timing and remember the words first though.
Did anyone feel something was amiss between them or was it just me? Thanks - Micky

[leemckenna]

I love Tranquility base album and generally like the direction they have gone in and the fact they have evolved. I do however, agree with those that complain about the older songs being slowed down. It doesn't make me a casual. I just think the songs should be performed how they were originally wrote/intended. Alex just seems to croon them all now.

[deepsea]

I don’t get why all the hate 🤷🏻‍♂️ I enjoyed it and find Alex Turner amusing these days, but they’ll never top that 2013 performance, it was peak AM

[verdean]

What happened with Alex Turner is usually the opposite of what happens to "rock stars". Alex got more and more into music, into the musicianship and into the art of making music. Either that, or he was able to really hide his devotion to music in the early years. I always saw them as you know, just dudes doing rock music, but now every time I hear someone talk about Alex, either another musician or a fan encounter, they speak about him as this music scholar who has this wide music taste and is always trying to discover new music.

Look at a band like Muse or Coldplay, that's usually what happens to rock bands once they get older, they get out of touch and their references get narrower.

[BillMcCai]

If they did a Cribs-style set of gigs playing a different album each night, those for the 2 recent albums would be last to sell out. Live shows are a different idea to sitting down with an album for 45mins, people want entertaining

[waynesilverman]

I like the power and entertainment from Alex voice, Tom sounds well different in these I thought it was was the bass p from The padds

[qtvqldy]

I really enjoyed the set (on iPlayer). Arctic Monkeys are great but they never thought they’d still be doing this now, they regret the band name and as someone tweeted, do we really expect them to be singing about fights in chip shops twenty years later?

Glastonbury headliners fall in to two categories, album cycle (big bands/artists) and established legends. If you’re in an album cycle you need to be good enough and make those in the crowd who only want to hear songs from 20 years ago like the new material. You’re never going to appeal to everyone. Elton had to do the hits, he even admitted it. GnR… were GnR. It’s interesting that Matt Helders said they were best prepared for Glastonbury than ever before. They believe in themselves.

Turner’s got no front person banter but they started with the best song from the new album and that speaks for itself.

[thebangmaster]

this separates fans of arctic monkeys, and fans of the first 2 albums. you cant expect them to play the same things the same way for 17 years, it gets repetitive, so they play and write what they want, and the audience either likes it or hates it. i like the new stuff theyve got, but those who are still centralised and obsessed with on arctic monkeys from 2006, probably need to grow up, just like the band did.

[suds]

1 person yawning doesn't mean the set was boring, I thought the set was good with the new stuff being a good counter to the old anthemic stuff

[allynusher]

They were awesome on tour. but last nights Glasto set wasn't as good as 2007 or 2013 (I was there at both) Glasto appearances. Not really a fan of the new album, starting with Sculptures didn't get the crowd into a frenzy. They should've started with Mardy Bum or A Certain Romance. Not a fan of the new style 505 either, much preferred the build of the song but I guess the band wanted to try a new style after 15/16 years of playing it live.
The band were on form. Alex always delivers as a frontman with his different personas. I do love it when Alex slows down the tempo with his lyrics.
I did enjoy the Wanna Be Yours & Star Treatment mash up.
I enjoyed the set (watched it on tv) on the whole but by the end I was falling asleep on my sofa.

[Dildaphone]

Didn't realise they were still going to be honest.