Arctic Monkeys, Two Door Cinema Club & More Feature In Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremony

Arctic Monkeys and Two Door Cinema Club’s Alex Trimble both featured in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games last night (27th July).

With British music dominating proceedings, Arctic Monkeys performed both ‘I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ and a cover of The Beatles ‘Come Together’ as part of the ceremony, while Two Door frontman Trimble performed ‘Caliban’s Dream’ - a song penned specially for the event by Underworld’s Rick Smith.

Alex was accompanied for the performance by acclaimed percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and soprano Esme Smith, after being chosen personally by Olympic ceremony director Danny Boyle to perform.

‘I remember getting a call from my manager one morning while I was on tour in America,’ he explains ‘It woke me up and I was half asleep and hungover - he told me that Danny wanted me to come and perform a song at the Olympics. I listened and then went back to sleep. When I woke up again I actually thought the call had been a dream. My manager called back and after a lot of convincing that it was, in fact, a real genuine offer, I obviously said yes.’

‘I’m really proud of the performance. I have so much respect for the team that put it all together. Danny always made time to sit with me one on one and go through things and see how everything was going and with Rick we worked one on one too. In the studio, on the phone, it just felt so personal. Not like something that’s gone out worldwide! I’m sure it’ll take a few months for the reality to fully sink in’

Earlier in the event Dizzee Rascal, Emeli Sandé and Mike Oldfield performed, while Frank Turner played a short set before the ceremony started. Tracks from acts including Fuck Buttons, Muse, David Bowie, Blur and The Sex Pistols were amongst those featured during the ceremony.

The soundtrack to the opening ceremony is now available to buy digitally, titled ‘Isles Of Wonder: Music For The Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games’, including Arctic Monkeys’ cover of ‘Come Together’. A physical release is due on August 6th.