Arctic Monkeys rocked out a packed out Wembley Arena on Tuesday, making all in attendance forget the horrible weather blighting their journeys to the cavernous venue.

Opening with ‘Dance Little Liar’ from new album Humbug, the band emerged onto the stage bathed in ominous smoke and to the sound of a grateful young crowd who were desperate to scream and acknowledge their all conquering heroes.

Material from the new album dominated and, somewhat surprisingly considering its not as immediate as the first two albums, the songs were well at home in a venue this size.   Personal favourite ‘My Propeller’ and ‘Crying Lightning’ were especially ‘big’ and got played, as on the album, after one another and provided a chance for all in attendance to sing along to Alex Turner’s increasingly complex lyrics.

‘Secret Door’ also sailed to unforeseen heights as the final song of the set proper where it settled in rather snugly, with the crowd being covered in ticker tape during the chorus.  New single ‘Cornerstone’ was a highlight, the song coming revealing real emotional depth and putting forward its case as a challenger to ‘505’ as the Monkeys’ strongest slow tune.  As it stood, the band ended on ‘505’;a glorious choice that would be just as at home in a smoky jazz bar as it would in one of the more  grim venues in the land.  It followed ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ and the rarely-played ‘Mardy Bum’.  I ask you, could you wish for a more crowd pleasing encore from a modern day British rock band? The crowd were in raptures by now, screaming every along every word and hugging each other as Turner, Helders, Cook and O’Malley delivered the hits they had hoped would get an airing.

As is the way with this band though, you can never be guaranteed they will play the big songs.  They don’t need to.  Obviously you want your ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ and your ‘When The Sun Goes Down’, but the band now have such a muscular style that it almost makes these older,  whimsical tracks less appealing.  The band themselves seem less enthused by them, with Turner tellingly saying this is for you before those first unforgettable strums of his guitar on ‘I Bet You...’.   The enduring feeling that you could see a set by them that contained none of their showpiece tunes and still come away feeling elated only demonstrates the depth of their back catalogue and rams home the point that we all should have got by now; that Arctic Monkeys are the finest band in Britain and we are lucky to have them.

Posted In Live Reviews, Nov 19 2009. Words - David