I had the pleasure of seeing both Arctic Monkeys and We are Scientists last night the 3rd of June, 2006, at the Wiltern LG in Los Angeles. I'll admit, I came in with moderate expectations about the show, especially with so much hype surrounding the two bands.
First thing I is that there were a lot of people here to see this show. It was sold out of course, and the line to get in was long. And it wasn't just teenage hipsters. There were quite a few parents with younger kids, and even some older couples by themselves. We got in and decided to stay at the level above the pit, so as to get a good view of the bands and not get to packed in down at the bottom.
We are Scientists came on and gave a rather un-thrilling performance. They are all reasonably accomplished musicians, but they failed to strongly capture the audience's attention. It didn't help that the bassist unabashedly admitted to writing the most popular song in the world. While I do like some of WAS's songs, I could tell that most of the audience was there to see Arctic Monkeys. This kind of surprised me because WAS is a pretty well-known band in their own right.
Arctic Monkeys came on and promptly rocked the house. The crowd got way worked up, and even though we weren't right next to the stage there was a fair amount of shoving and jumping by some of the rowdier members. I even had a cute girl with an AC/DC shirt come up and start to bump and grind in the middle of a song. No complaints on my part. "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" was a definite highlight, with everybody getting way pumped. The frontman chucked his guitar to the back of the stage in the middle of the song, but was still miraculously able to play it later. Altogether a really fun and entertaining show.
First thing I is that there were a lot of people here to see this show. It was sold out of course, and the line to get in was long. And it wasn't just teenage hipsters. There were quite a few parents with younger kids, and even some older couples by themselves. We got in and decided to stay at the level above the pit, so as to get a good view of the bands and not get to packed in down at the bottom.
We are Scientists came on and gave a rather un-thrilling performance. They are all reasonably accomplished musicians, but they failed to strongly capture the audience's attention. It didn't help that the bassist unabashedly admitted to writing the most popular song in the world. While I do like some of WAS's songs, I could tell that most of the audience was there to see Arctic Monkeys. This kind of surprised me because WAS is a pretty well-known band in their own right.
Arctic Monkeys came on and promptly rocked the house. The crowd got way worked up, and even though we weren't right next to the stage there was a fair amount of shoving and jumping by some of the rowdier members. I even had a cute girl with an AC/DC shirt come up and start to bump and grind in the middle of a song. No complaints on my part. "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" was a definite highlight, with everybody getting way pumped. The frontman chucked his guitar to the back of the stage in the middle of the song, but was still miraculously able to play it later. Altogether a really fun and entertaining show.
