The Arctic Monkeys are a Tad Too Chill

© Steve Hopson / RumBum.com

Arctic Monkeys do the slacker thing at ACL.

Around 4:00pm on ACL's muddy Sunday, the Arctic Monkeys took the AMD stage though a cloud of artificial smoke (and some of the real stuff rose from the crowd). Tens of thousands waded their way across the oozing park floor to hear the well-slotted alt/indie rock Brit foursome, but for a band who sings "Fluorescent Adolescent," their act was almost as monochromatic as their black and white woodgrain backdrop. Instead of the Arctic Monkeys, this selection of their last four albums (and years) sounded more like it came from the Lukewarm Lemurs.

No doubt, Artic Monkeys are a super successful, dynamic, and talented self-taught band, but though their post-punk revival numbers sounded just as good as radio play, stage presence and intensity just lacked. Turner (mostly stuck at the mic stand with his guitar) and the backup guitars mostly lollygagged around the stage if at all, and most of the time his head was swallowed in a mop of hair. Plus, their uniform of jeans and drab solid tees lent an air of apathy. Turner did brazen a pair of hefty dark shades that he eventually slung over the front of his tee shirt, explaining in his swaggering Brit accent, "it would be the gentlemanly thing to do."

With a hit album called (and attitude of) Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, they're not the kind to cater to an audience. And if the band is not going to cater to the crowd, it's up to the crowd to meet the band halfway.  But in this case, both sides fell a little short.  Plus, not many fans knew the tunes in their infancy or that haven't gotten airplay like "Dance Little Liar", "Cornerstone", and "Dangerous Animals" so it was tough for them to establish a viable energy themselves. And the guys could tell.

Frontman Alex Turner seemed a tad miffed at the stale yanks. "Y'all a bloody quiet bunch... What's wrong with you?!" he blurted into the mic after playing the new single, "Crying Lightning," from their recently released album called (ironically) Humbug. After the audience indulged with a boatload of clapping, screaming, and "Woooooooooo!," they scaled back to a simmer once more. Later, he again beseeched the audience to show some love to their killer drummer, Matt Helders, who seemed to be working the hardest of the lads. Also, between songs the guys did indulge in some swanky Stella Artois, which the hundreds of BudLight drinkers within eyeshot heartily applauded.

Granted, a bucketful of their ravenous fans did wait hours for a front row spot to hear more obscure tunes like "The View From the Afternoon," "This House is a Circus," "Do Me a Favour" and even the (relative) oldie "Still Take You Home" that the vast majority of the pack didn't know. Perhaps the rest of the crowd was just muddy and disenchanted, or were simply lollygagging like Turner did around the stage, but the rest of the audience just didn't seem to feel it like as they did with other bands at this stage (i.e. Flogging Molly during Saturday's downpour, or Black Joe Lewis just hours before). A take-away sound, though, was certainly "Pretty Visitors" with a haunting marching chorus that let people chime in as the song reached crescendo.

They did hit a few clear crowd pleasers with "Brainstorm" and the biggest hit of their set (and career), "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor," but clearly the ACL-bound crowd wasn't their typical golden fanbase. Lots of folks waited around for the end of the show in hopes they'd play more of their signature tracks, "Fake Tales of San Francisco" or "Teddy Picker," but walked (rather, sludged) away disappointed.