On Wednesday (the 18th), I had the pleasure of seeing the Arctic Monkeys in concert at Art Park! I've been awaiting this concert since my dad surprised me with tickets back in February. He sent me a picture of the tickets during my Communications class and I legitimately squealed and didn't care at all. I was just so stoked to see the Arctic Monkeys! I have AM on vinyl and I've played it so much that the first track ("Do I Wanna Know?") skips, which sucks but it's whatever at this point. And it's only the intro.
I was legitimately terrified for this concert for two reasons:
- The weather forecast
- Dressing like an ass
The weather for Wednesday changed about what seemed like fifty million times. First it was supposed to be sunny, then cloudy, then rainy with thunderstorms, then back to overcast. This made picking out an outfit the absolute worst. Naturally, I scrambled around five hours before the show trying to find something acceptable to wear that was both weather appropriate and Arctic Monkeys appropriate. I had this weird fear of not fitting in. Which was really stupid because in the end, who cares what I wear to a concert? I'm there to enjoy the band not worry about what people think about me if I'm wearing J. Crew chinos to a rock show (I didn't, but that's beside the point). I had originally intended on wearing this super simple black dress that I scored on super clearance at Old Navy a few weeks back, but when I saw that it was going to rain, I didn't want to have it sticking to me in unflattering places, you know? After a stressful shopping trip and a million visits to weather.com, I ended up wearing that damn dress and it was the best decision I've made in my entire life.
The opening band was White Denim and they sounded fantastic. If the band doesn't work out, the lead singer could definitely join a Black Keys cover band. No joke, homeboy sounded just like Dan Auerbach.
My heart started racing when the Arctic Monkeys took the stage. There was fog and everybody around me got hyped. It's almost impossible not to get giddy when one of your favorite bands come on stage and you hear the opening chords to a song you were just jamming out to hours before as you were getting ready. They opened with "Do I Wanna Know?", which was such a good choice. It's a song that everybody knows and set a great tone for the concert. Right away, people were into it and it continued into the next couple of songs that were from the same album (AM). The setlist was a perfect blend of new music and older tunes, fan favorites and the popular songs that are played on the radio.
Alex Turner has an interesting stage presence. It's very cool and suave. He's clearly super handsome and he plays it off like he knows it. Every movement on stage was subtle yet masterly planned, like every movement had a purpose. The vibe was uber chill for most of the show, even during the faster paced songs. It was a refreshing concert in which I could rely on the music to entertain me rather than me having to dance around crazily. Sometimes it's nice to just be able to relax at a show, sway a little, and throw your hands up in the air when necessary.
The show ended with "R U Mine?" and that's just when everybody went nuts. But throughout the entire show, nobody was ever rude. I've been to plenty of shows where there's pushing and shoving, people are trying ceaselessly to get the front, and beer is almost always spilled. Despite a decent amount of people being in the pit around me, nobody once pushed me (though I accidentally stepped on this guy three times within one song, sorry!) or was inconsiderate. Serious props to Arctic Monkeys concert-goers for being decent human beings who can have a great time without having to make it miserable for others.
My personal favorite songs from the setlist were "Arabella", "Dancing Shoes", "Crying Lightning", "No. 1 Party Anthem", "Knee Socks" and "505" (my room number for next year!!!). Here's the full set list from that night.
What concerts are you looking forward to going to?
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