A gloomy Los Angeles weekend ushered in the first day of October on the same night that the Arctic Monkeys capped off three sold-out nights at the Kia Forum in Inglewood. The band dressed for the occasion in black and white suits, with frontman Alex Turner hiding behind a pair of oversized brown aviators for the first half of the sold-out arena show.
The Sheffield, England-based quartet packed seven albums and 20 years of material into an enthralling hour and a half of guitar, bass and drums. It’s a mix that’s had a huge impact on the alt-rock landscape over the past decade, and while the Monkeys began their career as plucky teenagers in the early 2000s, their fanbase has evolved over the years to become all-encompassing, attracting new (and relatively young) listeners as well as devoted but retired fans who praise Turner’s prose and moody style.
After achieving considerable success in their native UK with 2006’s Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, the group established their sound with LPs such as Favourite Worst Nightmare and the Josh Homme-produced Suck It and See, both of which received minor nods in the setlist. Mostly, the band stuck to prioritising their latest Mercury Prize shortlisted album, ‘The Car’, but struck a rewarding balance by weaving in 2018’s jazz-infused ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’ and its popular predecessor, 2013’s ‘AM’.
A circular portal depicting Turner’s every move was set up at the back of the centre stage, becoming a magnifying glass for the gold dust of guitar, keys and drums that lit up the evening. Beginning with “Sculptures of Anything Goes” and the thunderous “Brainstorm”, the night began on an up-tempo note, with drummer and vocalist Matt Helders sounding off while guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O’Malley filled in the sonic space with the help of a backing band.
The running joke on this tour has been how much of a challenge Turner makes it for the fans to sing along. And it’s not that he goes completely off script, or that his grumbling falsetto is too much to handle, but rather that he enunciates his way through songs like “Knee Socks”, “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” and “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball”.
Turner let the music do most of the talking, only addressing the crowd to reveal which record would be next. “Suck It And See,” he shouted, before launching into the album’s title track (a surprise song on the setlist, as they tend to include a few for each venue) – although he felt the need to clarify that it was “from the LP, ‘Suck It And See'”.
The middle of their set consisted of fan favourites like “AM”, highlights like “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High” and “Arabella”. After leaving the stage and returning for an encore, the band dedicated themselves to their long-time fans with a back-to-back medley consisting mainly of “Do I Wanna Know”, “505” and “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”, the latter of which sparked a massive mosh pit in the middle of the Kia Forum floor.
And when his hands weren’t occupied with a guitar or piano keys, Turner spent much of the evening with his hands gleefully above his head, a symbol of having reached the home stretch of the North American leg of their tour. The band will continue their international road trip with two dates at Mexico’s Foro Sol on the 6th and 7th of October.
