Arctic Monkeys – Europe tour 2009 / 2010
The intention is to keep this one short. I doubt any magazine would give me two whole pages for a single review.
As the spearhead of what Britpop has evolved into, the Arctic Monkeys, once an “indie” (whatever that may imply) little rock band, are currently touring this planet after conquering its heart. Last night, it was Antwerp’s turn, in a sold out Lotto Arena.
Through some strange warp in reality they managed to book the Eagles of Death Metal as their support act, which was both genius and a bad mistake. Genius because I saw a small army leave the venue before the Monkeys even showed their faces, and thus helped with a higher demand in tickets and their prices; and a bad mistake because the Eagles happen to be twice their age and about 1.5 times their awesomeness.
The main act opened with the warming sound of a transistor radio and a red curtain opening to reveal a wall of smoke. The first song, whatever it may have been called, was far from inspiring and it didn’t exactly improve from there. The Monkeys failed to impress despite a nice, crisp set and artsy video screens. The crowd sang but hardly danced anywhere away from the center, although that may have been the result of the awful sound quality so typical for this god-forsaken, brand new venue.
Festival material. Next!
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