Arctic Monkeys at 3Arena Dublin review | Tour de force comes to a perfect end

★★★★★

Among many Arctic Monkeys fans, there’s a dividing line between their pre- and post-Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino phase, represented none more so than at their headline Glastonbury slot earlier this year. Whilst some heaped praise on Alex Turner for his debonair charm, others panned their performance as lacklustre; for slowing tracks down to a walking pace, and hearing Turner speak in an Elvis-like accent.

The fact is, any band worth their salt should seek to evolve, but only the very best will be able to. And whilst they’re no longer beckoning us to “get on [our] dancing shoes / You sexy little swine” – instead painting the image of a complicated ‘Mr Schwartz’ character “smudgin’ dubbin’ on [his] dancin’ shoes” – Turner and co. are at least being honest to themselves. They’re all grown up, and not pretending otherwise.

At Dublin 3Arena, we were given the full array of Arctic Monkeys’ evolution, delivered from a height of elite skill and sophistication. Support act Miles Kane was a worthy crowd-warmer – not least because of his long-standing association with Turner via The Last Shadow Puppets – but his set remained fastened to the rollicking sounds of early AM, without the degree of nuance. Granted, there’s a time and a place for a tub-thumping singalong, but the main event would show what a truly supreme act is capable of.

Photo: Santiago Bluguermann

A quick interlude of The Streets’ sesh-ready ‘Who’s Got The Bag?’ provided an even greater, if slightly odd, palette cleanser.

Arctic Monkeys pronounced themselves with the menacing ‘Sculpture of Anything Goes’, with its brooding hum that reverberated around the 13,000-capacity venue, in-sync with the circular eyes of giant lights onstage. Each heaving bass and warbling synth had the effect of a Buddhist ‘Om’, pulling in our attention from the get-go.

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And while we might have been readying ourselves for a set replete with tracks from The Car given this first number, the reality couldn’t have been more different, as Arctic Monkeys subsequently kicked into gear with Favourite Worst Nightmare opener ‘Brianstorm’, before AM toe-tapper ‘Snap Out Of It’ and Suck It And See’s fist-pumping ‘Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair’.

In many ways it felt like a rundown of greatest hits, as we ticked-off the records, one at a time, from their seven album-deep catalogue. What’s more, there was a knowingness about the way Turner conjured his band’s old bangers. He remained laconic throughout most of the set, only offering a handful of audience interaction (and yes, that American-via-Sheffield accent was still there) but prior to ‘The View From The Afternoon’, he said: “This is for the Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not lot”. He knew what people wanted and dished it out with ease.

There was hardly a note nor manoeuvre that was wrong all evening, with Turner donning the position of charismatic crooner (it’s not just his accent that appears to be channeling Elvis, but his slick onstage verve too). The moments that proved a relative cut above the rest, however, were the seductive thrill and extended intro of AM’s ‘Knee Socks’, the riveting antics of ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ – a British cultural anthem that ignited the standing audience – and the immense extended outro and stringed accompaniment on ‘Body Paint’.

On the latter, the band were pummelling down chords until they had nothing left to give – except, of course, they did. The inevitable chorus provided a 50/50 split of classics and newbies: opening with ‘Big Ideas’, feeding our nostalgic pining with ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ and ‘R U Mine?’, and ending with The Car closing track ‘Perfect Sense’.

This final 3Arena Dublin show concluded a block of dates in Ireland (and one in Belfast) that had been re-added onto the end of Arctic Monkeys’ mammoth world tour, after Turner contracted acute laryngitis in June, prior to the band’s Glasto set. His closing words on this final track, therefore, indeed made perfect sense. “If that’s what it takes to say, ‘good night’ / Then that’s what it takes”; it takes a lot to conclude with such faultlessness.