Arctic Monkeys, Echo Arena, Liverpool

With the monumental Don Valley show just behind them, the bar for the Arctic Monkeys’ live show is at an all-time high. First on though are the Vaccines whose hype seems a little unjustified tonight. Sure, the likes of ‘Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra),’ ‘If You Wanna’ and ‘Post Break-Up Sex’ all surge with distorted, post-Ramones energy, but the rest of their set is laughably mundane and pedestrian in comparison. What did we expect from the Vaccines? A bit more excitement to say the least.

The Arctic Monkeys aren’t so tame thankfully. Introducing themselves to Hot Chocolate’s ‘You Sexy Thing’ couldn’t be more suitable – Alex Turner sporting faded jeans and a rather debonair 50’s quiff. It’s the most suave we’ve seen him. Tongue-in-cheek entrances aside though, the heavy riffery of ‘Don’t Sit Down’ and ‘Teddy Picker’ ignite the set in jaw-dropping excitement. ‘Brianstorm’ shifts the set up a gear as Helders gives a master class in apocalyptic drumming, whilst ‘Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’ simmers everything down with a stream of jangly Marr influenced guitar. As there’s no end to the crowds ecstasy, ‘Brick by Brick’ justifies why ‘Suck it and See’ made it to number one.

The real charm’s in the old classics though. ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor,’ ‘Still Take You Home’ and ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ all create the biggest Arctic Monkeys karaoke this side of the Mersey. For the first time tonight, the crowd is silenced as Turner murmurs: “We haven’t played this one in ages.” As Nick O’Malley leaves the stage, a stripped down ‘Mardy Bum’ reminds us of why we fell in love with these boys from High Green five years ago. ‘505’ finishes the night and as they say around these parts, it was all very “boss.”