March 7, 2019

Concert Review: Arctic Monkeys – Spark Arena March 6, 2019

Who says rock and roll is dead? If it is, no one told the Arctic Monkeys or the 12,000 or so fans who showed up at Auckland’s Spark Arena to see them last night.

Thirteen years after the release of their record-breaking debut album and almost five years after they last performed in Auckland, Arctic Monkeys can still fill an arena.

The fans, many much younger than one would have expected, showed up early and they were ready to rock.

Openers Mini Mansions did a credible job of getting things started with catchy tunes mixed with plenty of leg kicks and flailing hair.

When the Monkeys finally came on, at around 9:15, the Spark Arena erupted into a sea of screaming fans as the tell-tale guitar riffs of Do I Wanna Know? rang out.

The high energy action continued with Brianstorm, a tune that concluded with a frenzied drum solo by Matt Helders. Usually, the drum solo is just an excuse to give the other band members a break three quarters of the way through a set, but in this case it helped the band and the audience achieve liftoff.

And sure enough, the band did fly during tunes like Snap Out Of It and Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair.

The new album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, finally got a look in when they slowed down to perform One Point Perspective. It basically served as an opportunity for one and all to catch their collective breaths for I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor.

Last time the band was in town, they were highlighting their latest album, AM, which turned out to be a good thing as its one of the strongest in their catalogue. This time around, Tranquility Base didn’t feature as prominently, and when they did perform something from it, it tended to slow things down. This was particularly noticeable when Alex sat down at the keyboard to sing the title song.

But fortunately, the charismatic front man was upright and playing guitar during most of the night, trying out various dance moves and basically looking like he was having the time of his life.

The same could be said for the fans. It was rock and roll fever from beginning to end.

Theatrics were kept to a minimum, with the stage looking quite dark at some times. But there was a large, rotating cube, lit from the inside, trotted out for Star Treatment, the first of the three-song encore.

“A couple of questions before we leave you”, Turner teased, before the band wrapped with Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High? and RU Mine?

The answer from the crowd was a resounding, “Yes!”

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Veronica McLaughlin:

Arctic Monkeys

Mini Mansions

Arctic Monkeys set list: