If You Were There, Beware

Arctic Monkeys played Central Park last night, but you already knew that. This was the third time I’ve been able to see one of my three favorite bands, so I was extremely psyched. And each time they’ve progressed in the size of the venue and still sold out. Roseland last summer, Hammerstein earlier this summer, and now Summerstage—it’s a steady progression that I hope continues (aside from a secret show at Bowery or Webster).

Now I’m going to sound snobby for a brief second, but please disregard it and we’ll try to move on together afterwards...

I knew about the Arctic Monkeys before you.

I know, you’re like, “What? That’s not true. I discovered them. I was listening to them first.” Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you didn’t. You might have had their album Beneath the Boardwalk, which wasn’t much of an album but songs recorded live and put together some with names chosen by the people that recorded them. You might have seen the NME cover and been quietly please the tracks already had respectable play counts on your iPod. You might have seen them at Mercury, Bowery, or Webster, with the sold out crowds.

You very well could have done all these things, but I don’t care.

Oddly enough, I don’t run into this problem much. In fact the friend who I took to the show with me had never even heard of the Arctic Monkeys, which frankly surprised me. At this point, I thought they were more than a British sensation; that they appealed to a wider audience then the NME reading Brooklyn vegans, but I guess I’m a little off in my perspective of their popularity.

But I shouldn’t be---they’ve now put out two near-perfect albums (that’s two more good albums than the Strokes currently have under their belt), they have countless EPs with a variety of tracks and covers, they put on a great live show and headline every festival that The Killers aren’t at, and they’ve sold more records faster than the Beatles. Why no Rolling Stone cover? Why no US radio play? What is the deal? These guys are absolutely legitimate—more so than Fall Out Boy, Amy Winehouse, or Zac Efron.

Maybe I’m just too eager. Perhaps they need more time. That’s fine, keep putting out albums, keep playing shows like you did at Central Park, keep ending your sets without encores, keep rock fun and real.

Set list below: (Arctic Monkeys - Central Park Summerstage - 9/5/07)

This House Is A Circus
Brianstorm
Still Take You Home
Dancing Shoes
From The Ritz To The Rubble
Fake Tales Of San Francisco
Balaclava
Old Yellow Bricks
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Fluorescent Adolescent
Teddy Picker
D Is For Dangerous
Mardy Bum
Do Me A Favour
If You Were There Beware
The View From The Afternoon
Leave Before The Lights Come On
When The Sun Goes Down
A Certain Romance

Also, listen to 505, a slow song that they don't usually play live.