Arctic Monkeys energize a jam-packed Armory

Arctic Monkeys with Fontaines D.C. performed at the Armory August 25, 2023 in Minneapolis. Darin Kamnetz for MPR

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August 28, 2023

There’s plenty of room to put a taqueria on the roof of the Armory, if Arctic Monkeys wanted to make the premise of “Four Out of Five” a reality. Based on the rapturous reception the Sheffield, England, quartet received at two sold-out shows in downtown Minneapolis over the weekend, the restaurant might even get a coveted five stars.

The Arctic Monkeys last played in Minnesota nine long years ago. Their audience has trended younger in the ensuing years thanks, in part, to the TikTok virality of their 2013 song, “I Wanna Be Yours.” A lad culture crowd boisterously — and drunkenly — supported Arctic Monkeys’ four memorable shows at First Avenue, including their 2007 Minneapolis debut watched intently by Elvis Costello from the owner’s box. Now a younger and far-better-dressed generation of fans go equally crazy to the Monkeys’ guitar-fueled hits and boozy pub anthems.

Arctic Monkeys’ two recent Mercury Prize-nominated albums — 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino and 2022’s The Car — are decidedly more subdued than their predecessors. The band chose to shy away from the newer baroque pop sound on their North American tour’s kickoff date, and favored hard-rocking back catalog during a 21-song set over 90 minutes.

View of stage from the crowd — Arctic Monkeys with Fontaines D.C. performed at the Armory August 25, 2023 in Minneapolis.
Darin Kamnetz for MPR

Forever the coolest guy in every room he’s in, frontman Alex Turner wore a bespoke midnight-colored pinstripe suit, dark sunglasses, and a stylishly tousled haircut. Once a modern Brit-pop guitar hero, Turner is now a swaggering Vegas show lounge singer. He guided the show relentlessly onward, always playing the charismatic ringleader for his merry band of mischievous Monkeys.

The show opened with Nick O'Malley’s rumbling, moody bassline on the slow-burning new tune, “Sculptures of Anything Goes.” It built up dramatic tension in the packed room that would eventually be released as later jams arrived fast and sounded absolutely massive. “Brianstorm” had the floor awash in pogoing and flailing hands, while the menacing pulse of “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I Moved Your Chair” fully lit the fuse of the explosive set.

Performing as a seven-piece with three backup musicians, the band showed no signs of rust on their first show of the tour. They had it in high gear for blistering renditions of “Crying Lightning,” “Teddy Picker,” and “The View From the Afternoon” keeping the early momentum rolling right along. The band allowed the crowd to catch their breath a bit and “take it easy for a little while” on the smoothed out and soulful “Four Out of Five,” one of only two songs from Tranquility Base featured, along with surprise encore opener “One Point Perspective.”

The stylish backdrop was a nod to the bright floodlights of the golden age of cinema glamour and the stately architecture of the Hollywood Bowl. Modern flourishes included a series of curved lines evoking Apple’s sound icon and a big circular screen above center stage always focused on the hailing heroes of U.K. rock ‘n’ roll.

“Terrific, thank you,” Turner repeated in drone monotone four times in succession midway through the performance, realizing that he had complete control of the crowd from the moment he took the stage. There was no need for any unnecessary histrionics to impress the fans or pointless small talk to further amp up the audience. The Monkeys’ music was doing all the talking.

Man playing guitar on stage — Arctic Monkeys with Fontaines D.C. performed at the Armory August 25, 2023 in Minneapolis.
Darin Kamnetz for MPR

Songs from The Car served more as cinematic interludes in the set rather than fully realized creative statements. So the late night funk and guitar fuzz of “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” the Black Sabbath-like doom of “Arabella” — complete with a few final notes from “War Pigs” to finish off the song — and the indie swing of “Fluorescent Adolescent” hit much harder than the tender, loungey new track, “Perfect Sense.”

Another new one, “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball,” resonated much more with the crowd, as the mirrorball that hung above the crowd all night dynamically lit up the room and a sea of cellphones capturing the blissful moment. The band smoothly segued into a pulsating rendition of “505.” A slithering and sinister take on “Do I Wanna Know?” was one of the clear standouts of the set, with a thunderous beat by drummer Matt Helders driving the song forward and inciting the crowd to lose themselves.

“Thank you for having us, Minneapolis,” Turner said, ushering in the lullaby-like charms of closer “Body Paint,” which only picked up steam as the tune wore on. Turner and Jamie Cook both delivered guitar solos as the main set came to a frantic finish, answering any critics asking where all the guitars have gone. The stage lights rightfully spelled out “TILT” in big letters as the band left the stage.

After a languid take on “One Point Perspective” tentatively started the encore, Arctic Monkeys fitfully reminded everyone just how hard they can bring it with ripping versions of “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor” and “R U Mine?” ending the night with an explosion of energy and a cacophonous wall of sound. This potent show will leave our ears ringing and heads nodding until we all get the chance to see them again.

Band on stage — Fontaines DC. Arctic Monkeys with Fontaines D.C. performed at the Armory August 25, 2023 in Minneapolis.
Darin Kamnetz for MPR

Openers Fontaines D.C. emphatically got the night started with a storming 40-minute, eigh-song set. In fact, the Dublin post-punk quintet had the local crowd won over before they even took the stage, using the Replacements “Swingin Party” as walk-on music. On a stage bathed in blood-red lighting that matched their music’s menacing mood, Fontaines ripped through two hard charging tracks from 2020’s A Hero’s Death to start the set, “A Lucid Dream” and “Televised Mind.”

They wasted no time shifting their creative focus to their brilliant 2022 album, Skinty Fia, delivering roiling takes on “Roman Holiday,” “Nabokov,” and “Jackie Down The Line.” “Boys In the Better Land” was the only song from the set drawn from Fontaines’ debut album, Dogrel, but it proved to be a riotous highlight. After starting out in high gear, it only got faster and more frantic as it churned relentlessly along, coming perilously close to going off the rails. Fontaines D.C. easily won over their biggest Twin Cities crowd to date, and proved to be a perfect musical pairing for Arctic Monkeys.

Arctic Monkeys