Arctic Monkeys are my favourite band and have been since I was about 11 or 12. I first heard their debut "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" on Radio 1 when I was on my way to Cornwall. It was so catchy and stuck in my head for days. When I got home I went on YouTube and gave them a listen. Within a few days my favourite song was "A Certain Romance" (it still is today). The whole song is just perfect. The lyrics, vocals, riffs, chorus, guitar solos, structure.. I first heard that on an EP called "Beneath the Boardwalk", recorded live and it made me fall in love with them. My favourite lyric also comes from this song: "and just cause he's had a couple of cans, he thinks it's alright to act like a dickhead".
To think that they wrote this song when they were just 15 is amazing. Then I bought their debut album (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not) and listened to it on repeat for months. "The View From the Afternoon" was probably my second favourite- the video is incredible. I'd grown up listening to bands like The Offspring, No Doubt, Reel Big Fish and Sublime so starting to have a music taste on my own pretty much started with AM. A few weeks after buying their album, I started looking for the discography and listened to every song 9868758346537 times. I also had a HUGE crush on Jamie Cook.. I mean, look at him:
By the time I'd listened to everything I could find, they'd released their second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. It seemed a lot more "grown up" and Alex's voice had changed a bit. But it made me love them even more. I can't decide which song is my favourite from that, but 505 comes pretty close. Seeing this live twice was amazing. I was at the barrier for one and when the guitar kicks in near the end, the lights went off and everyone went crazy. I got a bit emotional... It was during this album release that they made their Live At The Apollo DVD and released more b-sides than their debut had. This is my favourite b-side from that time in their career:
This song is so much different to the likes of Still Take You Home and Brianstorm. I don't think they could get anything wrong. It seemed like FOREVER waiting for their third album Humbug to be released. It came out in August 2009 (I think at least..) and was completely SLATED. AM got so much hate for it, I think it's because people just can't handle when a band changes their style/sound. It's like everyone expected them to stay teenagers, singing about fights and youth- that is never going to happen is it? I thought Humbug was quite.. I don't know.. dark? The lyrics were a lot more obscure and had more meaning than previous songs. Secret Door was my favourite from this one. The b-sides were amazing (Sketchead, The Afternoon's Hat, Catapult, Joining The Dots, Fright Lined Dining Room.. etc). This is definitely my favourite b-side from Humbug:
Tickets went on sale in the Winter of the Humbug-era. I wanted to go so badly but I was away on most of the dates so couldn't go. Watching back on videos of them playing Secret Door live stills kills me a bit inside cause I know they'll probably never play that again. Anyway, the wait for Suck it and See was so long. With Matt Helders being the only one of the band on Twitter, it was horrible just sitting there and not hearing from the band for so long. And then one day, completely out of the blue, they released this:
Honestly, I wasn't sure on it. It seemed a bit repetitive. But it was definitely a grower and was amazing and lively played live. They were still all mysterious during this though, hardly showing themselves in the video. And then came Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair. Radio stations played it all the time, I loved it and it made me super excited for the album. Two days after its release, my dad bought me Suck it and See and a few weeks later, it became my second favourite album. The whole new look was so good and the sound was so different. "She's Thunderstorms" or "The Hellcat Spangled Shalala" are my 2 favourites from that album.
By the Summer, Arctic Monkeys announced a UK tour, I was online buying the tickets a week before general sale. I got two tickets, one sitting in the MEN and one standing in the Echo Arena. The weeks leading up to it were so exciting. I was finally seeing my favourite band live after waiting 4 and a half years. 2nd November was the first date. I went with my friend Lauren, we were sat right at the front, near the stage. The Vaccines came on and we had a little dance and complained about how expensive my drink was. Seeing Alex followed by Jamie, Nick and Matt walk on stage was the best feeling ever. Everyone screamed and they started with Don't Sit Down.. The lights were going crazy and everyone was singing along and dancing. It was such a nice atmosphere.
1 week later and I was seeing them again. This time with my boyfriend Ryan. We'd skipped sixth form and got the train to Liverpool early in the morning. We went shopping and then went out for something to eat before starting to queue at the Echo Arena at around 4.30pm. After waiting (one of the first ones in the queue) for just an hour and a half, the doors opened. We squished our way through the really tall people and got our wristbands. As soon as we were in the arena, we ran towards to barrier and got in the middle, just to the left of the stage but pretty much the very middle. I stood still, clinging on the whole way through.
When they came on, I screamed SO MUCH. They were literally about 2/3 metres away from us. I couldn't be any closer to my favourite band. My heart was pounding and I couldn't stop smiling. Alex pointed right at us and it was amazing. Someone threw a scarf at Matt that said High Green and they all looked so proud holding it high in the air. It was their last show of the UK tour and John Ashton's last show with them to the atmosphere between the band and crowd was great.
I managed to get this video of them performing Mardy Bum:
This just shows how close we were. Here are some photos I took:
After that night, it felt like my life was complete.. not even joking. For weeks after, I had huge post-gig depression. I now know to never miss a tour they do!
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