ARCTIC MONKEYS 16/9/18 BIRMINGHAM

Although this gig happened about a year and half ago (which is insane) I couldn't make a blog talking about past gig experiences without talking about seeing my favourite band live which, unsurprisingly, turned out to be still the best night of my life

Go back to March 2018 and their UK tour dates are announced, leaving us to be on it for 9:00am as soon as tickets release, I instantly saw the second Birmingham date which in hindsight was me just getting incredibly lucky. Unless you count Reading Festival, I'd never been to a proper 'gig' before this one, so the first experience of the lights going down and that red pulse beginning before 'Four Out Of Five' came on was utterly surreal. The song is without a doubt my highlight of Tranquillity Base with the combination of keyboard and guitar tying together, sounding even better than the studio version. It's a lucky thing I looked at the previous set lists as it goes straight from this to 'Brianstorm', which any fan knows is basically a death sentence live so it's safe to say it took my mate by surprise when it came on considering she had no idea. Things (rightly) slow down a bit for 'Snap Out Of It' onto 'Crying Lightning' in which I loved the way Alex switched up the guitar solo chords a bit from the studio version, which taps into the essence that a live artist (in my opinion) should always try and contribute something unique to live performances such as chord changes and audience interaction. Teddy Picker and 505 are two of the most insane songs you can see live, I've still never seen a crowd go as mad for anything as the mosh pit to the latter, I'm honestly shocked myself I didn't drop my phone recording it. The set continued with songs spread across their discography (apart from Suck It And See, sons crying) providing my first actual emotional moment during 'Cornerstone' being not just the moment in the gig where you think 'I'm actually here', but also just the crowd all singing along, beautiful 3 minutes that. 'One Point Perspective' really showcases the band's skill with the keyboards along with Alex's top tier falsetto vocals, as well as proving further how good the latest album really sounds in an Arena. After this continues with 'Star Treatment', the gig ends with an absolute bang with 'R U MINE?' and 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' although left us completely dead by the end, the pure joy of the moment made it all worth it (again, no clue how I filmed these both)

All in all, they're one of, if not the best band around right now (no bias of course) who provide an incredible experience across their differing album sounds, whether you hate the new album or not, they're 100% worth seeing, trust me.