Arctic Monkeys @ Mercury Lounge (First US Show)
Last time I witnessed such a buzzed-about debut was Arcade Fire at the same venue. Of course they did not disappoint, and my fingers are crossed for memorable Monkey business tonight.
Consider this post the official Stereogum Watercooler for Arctic Monkeys' NY dates (they play Bowery tomorrow). I'll update post-show with photos and setlist, but in the meantime you can bitch about the hype machine or -- if you're a ticketless hot girl with loose morals -- click here. (Link via Laura). (Don't you love Craigslist?)
It just occurred to me that I only know three Arctic Monkeys songs. Maybe they'll do a Hall & Oates cover?
Buy I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor EP at iTunes
UPDATE: I snapped only ONE photo before security castigated me.
Fun show, but I wasn't blown away. Let us know how Bowery goes.
Posted at 3:16 PM
Tags: Arctic Monkeys
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I bet they open with "Freebird"...
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I hate to start the comments off with this sentiment, but I mean, c'mon. Not very good.
I would offer that the more interesting conversation is...why them?
Is it because of/in spite of the stupid name? It didn't seem to hurt CYHSY.
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Have fun, I hope the show is good. I'd like to see them, but where I'm located, my best shot is if they open for Coldplay on their '08 tour or something.
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The Monkeys will not disappoint. Honestly, they're the real thing although I'm just not sure its gonna translate to an American audience unless everyone's an Anglophile or English... which ususally makes up the Mercury/Bowery crowd anyway!
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You will truly enjoy the show. So much energy and they go that extra mile! I have enjoyed their the gigs in the UK so much- we want more!! Dunno about the American audience liking them as they join the new wave of english indie bands that are hitting the UK with a storm- and a great one at that!
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I got free tickets to see them in LA, though I am inclined to sell them to some hipster who is worried their indie cred will decrease if they arent at the show, so they can scoff at the band in 6 months when normal people are buying their record. Domino records is to skinny Europeans playing dancy-indie rock what Victory records is to shitty screamo music.
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you should visit the link below (arcticmonkeys.com-forum). they've got hell of a lot audio files in various formats for your singalong-pleasures...
http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=913
enjoy the show! that band's really fantastic...
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libs light just like northern uproar with oasis light. i can't believe how many people are buying into the hype of this band. they are just m.o.r.
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No doubt. The buzz/hype/bull surrounding them is ridiculous. Someone actually emailed me and asked why I had not posted about them yet. They kind of answered there own question, no?
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Last night in Toronto they played 11 songs; it was quite surprising. I was only familiar with 6 or 7. People begged for an encore, but it's like, the guys won't even have a proper album until February '06 so whaddya expect?
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photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mediaeater/sets/1377578/
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*agrees with the 'yanks wont get it' comments*
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what's to get? it's pretty run of the mill dance rock blandness...perfectly harmless and fun, but can't we find anything better to hype? I mean they aren't even hot, so at this point there is nothing but a semi catchy single to base the hype of off. maybe one of them will date kate moss and do heroin or something...
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i'm gonna have to agree with k (they are pretty bland and typical.) won't stop them from being hot shit for awhile like bloc party (i had the same reaction with them, too.) is it just me or does the hype machine churn for increasingly medicore and OK bands? whatevs, got no cred if i'm not stroking off the arctic monkeys (shudder if you're inclined to do so) here. :p
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Anyone remember Gay Dad? I bought into the hype. Some of my friends still won't let me forget it.
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The Strokes U.K.
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?
What do you mean "I snapped only ONE photo before security castigated me"?
Did they bring their own set of rules to the Mercury Lounge?
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i liked gay dad too!
i thought the show was great and the crowd sucked - typical for one of these shows. and it's hard to blame a band for not getting an industry heavy crowd into a show at that place...
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uh dude, clearly if you are talking monkeys, you want a picture of a monkey washing a cat, not a monkey wearing a guitar.
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Actually, what we yanks DO get is that whatever the British press hypes like crazy is well worth ignoring 95% of the time. "Yanks won't get it"?! Please. Sounds like the Brits are starting to get jealous that the US has groundbreaking stuff like Fiery Furnaces and Sufjan Stevens while the UK hasn't turned out much of anything for the last five years except refried punk.
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> What do you mean "I snapped only ONE photo
> before security castigated me"?
Everyone else was snapping tons of photos (see brooklynvegan.com). I wasn't gonna start arguing with the guy, but I don't know if he was with the band or the venue.
Hallified's contact at NME said that the Monkeys' publicist doesn't want them to get overexposed (!)
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oh, Gay Dad. it was only a matter of time...it's the Godwin's Law of discussing UK music hype.
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I thought they were great. It was an odd show, though. Had a bit of "showcase" feel to it...even though it was obvious all the label folks were hanging out at the bar.
Speaking of Gay Dad (very cool band, at least for one album), when I saw them in San Francisco the show had a definite showcase feel to it.
Think I'll bust out "Leisure Noise" later today and give it a spin.
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The first Gay Dad album is actually good. I bet if you released "To Earth With Love" and "Joy" today, they would chart.
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"Actually, what we yanks DO get is that whatever the British press hypes like crazy is well worth ignoring 95% of the time. "Yanks won't get it"?! Please. Sounds like the Brits are starting to get jealous that the US has groundbreaking stuff like Fiery Furnaces and Sufjan Stevens while the UK hasn't turned out much of anything for the last five years except refried punk."
At least UK music 'travels', Sufjan Stevens stuff doesn't work at all outside the US. When you say British press you mean the NME don't you? NOBODY British or American should (or does) listen to what the NME says.
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david brent, if you want to unload those spaceland tickets, i'm your soon-to-be-disgruntled hipster...
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Lindsay's manifesto!
http://lindsayism.com/2005_11_01_archive.php#113217227849110076
I agree w/ most of it. I do like to get at least one photo per gig, though, and I don't apologize for that.
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andy bell was in gay dad for a day then he left and joined oasis.
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Ah well...knew you wouldn't like them. Anyway whatever i said- i meant nothing political. So whats with all the comments on ''im a yank'' and '' you're british'' and you suck...or words to that effect. Lets keep music out of this horrible hostile scenario that the world is creating. I just thought hey, maybe america is not ready to embrace the Monkeys...the Uk- is a small place and we're dying for new music all the time- be it good or not! Just go to gigs and enjoy them for what they are. The beauty of music is that there is so much to choose from. If we all like the same thing, well...it wouldn't be fun. But i can't destroy what the Arctic Monkeys are doing, they have earned it. I mean who gets to play on stage and travel. Certainly not me. Keep at it boys.
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I think the 'Americans won't get it' thing is in reference to the Englishness of the lyrics and the language used. They use a lot of slang that, being and Englishman living in New York, just doesn't translate too well! THe NME hype everyhting, no-one pays any attention, but Arctic Monkeys are actually good!
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That's not even a monkey, it's an ape!
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Well said Zee. I'm American and I like Arctic Monkeys and Sufjan. And I'm also one of the people trying to understand this whole "hipster" scene. I mean I think I must be really naive or something because I don't really get it at all. It's pretty sad when good or bad music gets destroyed/elevated by hype. I like what I've heard from CYHSY but I know when people find that out, they'll automatically make assumptions and think that I'm some sort of freaking hipster jumping on the Pitchfork hype bandwagon. I especially don't like this since I'm not fully sure on what constitutes being a hipster. :)
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And another thing... What's with all these British artists berating other British artists? It's quite pathetic in most cases. Arctic Monkeys hate Kaiser Chiefs? I could care less. I like the Kaiser Chiefs. I should also start a list of how many famous Britons have suggested that Pete Doherty clean up. The Darkness now hates him? What the hell. Also, now that I think about it I could have a substantially long list of all the artists Liam Gallagher has dissed as well. :)
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can some one please tell me why these guys are getting so much hype?
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"can some one please tell me why these guys are getting so much hype?"
I think the main reason is that they write lyrics that people are "getting" in a Streets kind of storytelling way.
I also don't think that their comments on the Kaiser Chiefs should be looked at too deeply. It was just a throwaway comment from Al saying basically saying that he wasn't a fan of theirs and hopes that AM's don't end up like them.
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Mate anyone who doesnt get Artic Monkeys, is either very challenged, or simply not british. They tell it like it is where they came from- Yorkshire. None of this fancy shit you see so much. Brit rock is here, if you dont get it, fine. Your loss. If the gig was shit where the yanks are (probably nervous cos USA is a big experience- they are all only 17) then thats very funny cos over ere in england they were the best gig ive ever seen.The energy was ENORMOUS.Btw even if some of the yanks dont get, thats fine, but its actually BIG acts like Bloc Party, Coldplay, U2 and others, even Ian Brown who say that Artic Monkeys are ace. Dont believe me- Whatever.You guys who dont get NME wouldnt. Cheers, no disrespect to the yanks
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Mate anyone who doesnt get Artic Monkeys, is either very challenged, or simply not british. They tell it like it is where they came from- Yorkshire. None of this fancy shit you see so much. Brit rock is here, if you dont get it, fine. Your loss. If the gig was shit where the yanks are (probably nervous cos USA is a big experience- they are all only 17) then thats very funny cos over ere in england they were the best gig loads have ever seen.The energy was ENORMOUS.Btw even if some of the yanks dont get, thats fine, but its actually BIG acts like Bloc Party, Coldplay, U2 and others, even Ian Brown who say that Artic Monkeys are ace. Dont believe me- Whatever.You guys who dont get NME wouldnt. Cheers, no disrespect to the yanks
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Fucking yanks.Mates, look, just accept that none of you will ever understand british music.I dont care that your dissing the artic monkeys- infact from your completly ignorant comments, i now truly know that the monkeys are a good fucking band
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Fucking yanks.Mates, look, just accept that none of you will ever understand british music.I dont care that your dissing the artic monkeys- infact from your completly ignorant comments, i now truly know that the monkeys are a good fucking band
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america gave us fucking shit bands like blink 182. now a decent band comes through you bash them what a joke
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lets be fair over the last 5 years there have been some great bands to choose from, both sides of the atlantic. i remember when you only a few hot bands about, now you have strokes, Kings of leon. On the flip side uk have produced bands like razorlight, coldplay, and artic M.
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