Dickies Arena
The inside of Dickies Arena was turned into a 70s-style dance floor on Saturday evening in honor of the Sheffield English band Arctic Monkeys’ first visit to Cowtown. Banking on the momentum of their opening act, Irish rockers Fontaines D.C., the Arctic Monkeys made an epic impression as they played an unpredictable setlist of their nearly two decades worth of work.
The Arctic Monkeys may currently be on a retro-kick, but their rise to fame wouldn’t have taken place in any other era. In fact, they were heralded as one of the first bands to come to public attention via the Internet. Furthermore, they’ve been credited with changing the way new bands are promoted and marketed. Their debut album, “Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not” (2006), became the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history at the time of its release and has been hailed as one of the greatest debut albums of all-time by many critics. Arctic Monkeys’ most up-to-date line-up consists of Alex Turner on vocals, Jamie Cook on rhythm and lead guitar, Matt Helders on drums, and Nick O’Malley on bass. Currently on tour for their seventh album titled “The Car” this quartet of rockers made their first appearance in Fort Worth, mirror ball and all, at Dickies Arena on Saturday night.
Dickies Arena
Turner donned the stage like he just walked out of Studio 54 circa 1977, wearing a retro black suit, gold chain, sunglasses, and Beatle boots. In fact, he looked like a stand in for the John Travolta classic “Saturday Night Fever” but not in a negative time warp kind of way — he definitely pulled it off. Retro-stylings seem to be Turner’s calling card nowadays, band included, ever since they released 2018’s “Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino.” This album, along with the band’s latest album have seen the English rockers shed their Strokes-inspired sound for one of retro crooning and 70s-style electro pop meets lounge piano ballads. This new musical direction has been a bit polarizing for the fans of the Arctic Monkeys’ earlier work. However, none of that could be felt as the quartet blistered through high energy classics like “Crying Lightning” or the much beloved “505” on Saturday night.
Speaking of retro, the stage was also set to emulate the days of 70s decadence, with two keyboard sections on either side. The west side was adorned with a circle of electronic keyboards while the east side had a stage piano and what looked like a Fender Rhodes set up to accompany the music or act as a jam space for Turner between songs. Guitar duties went predominantly to Turner, who played more than a half dozen guitars, all specifically tuned and readied for each portion of the show. Turner’s stage presence was much like a tent revivalist preacher with 70s lounge leanings that never came across crass or condescending. For the most part, Turner seemed to be enjoying the show as much as the fans.
The closed-circuit monitors that enlarged Turner and the band to the masses on both the left and right sides of the main stage were set up to give the illusion of a 70s-style performance, orange over lit lighting and all. The back of the stage, behind the drum kit, was adorned with a giant circular screen that at some points projected the whole forever loop video technique anyone who’s worked with video has played with before. Again, this motif worked without looking cheesy or being overly done.
Stephen Montoya
The pacing of the concert was also well planned. Turner and crew shot through a few deep cuts from their breakthrough album 2013’s “AM.” Only four new tracks from “The Car” made the cut including the crowd favorite, “There'd Better Be A Mirror Ball”, which there was in all its shiny glory. This prop was hanging above the crowd center stage emblazoned with the moniker Arctic and Monkeys on either side of it. The ball was dropped down for two songs, which illuminated the stadium with a flurry of flickering lights giving the crowd a lounge party vibe. Another memorable effect from the show was actually provided by the fans themselves. During a rendition of the song “One Point Perspective”, the crowd lit the entire arena with their phone lights, which made the arena seem to transcend to another realm. Some of the other highlights of the evening included a full Fort Worth sing along of one of the Arctic Monkey’s biggest hit’s “Do I Wanna Know.” After the first few chords were strummed, the crowd cheered so loudly the vibrations could be felt throughout the concrete floor. The same went for another “AM” track “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” And the singing continued.
Dickies Arena
All-in-all, the Arctic Monkeys seemed to effortlessly move from one song mood to another, with Turner briefly getting a bit tongue tied on one of his own machinegun-style lyrics. The encore was great as well. Turner crooned through his Berlin era David Bowie meets post Beatles John Lennon-style prose on “The Ultracheese” before cranking it up to eleven on “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.” The standout moment from the encore came when Turner seemed pleased with the crowd’s response to “RU Mine”, the final song of the evening. After the song concluded, the charismatic singer jumped back into the closing chorus for a second run, apparently high from the crowd’s energy. And right on cue the throng joined in on the final verse with ear-splitting enthusiasm.
