REVIEW: Arctic Monkeys @ Hillsborough Park

It’s going to be some summer for homecoming gigs in Sheffield. We’ve already seen Def Leppard pack out the Leadmill and Bramall Lane in May, Pulp will be taking to the stage at Sheffield Arena next month and Self Esteem is set to close out the summer with a headline slot at Rock N Roll Circus in Don Valley.

But there was always one show looming head and shoulders above them all – two key dates at Hillsborough Park that have inspired a multitude of column inches, plenty of fevered ticket scrabbling and some serious setlist speculation since their announcement.

The Arctic Monkeys were back in town, and Sheffield turned out en masse in the sunshine to show some love for their prodigal sons.

Of course, a hometown show for a band of their stature wasn’t just going to appeal to South Yorkshire residents. Dedicated fans from across the globe descended on the Steel City to be part of the 70,000 who’d snapped up tickets to catch the High Green icons across two balmy nights in S6.

This was particularly evident upon stepping into The Grapes on Friday, a place renowned for hosting the first Monkeys gig, and hearing the various accents and languages reverberating around the packed pub. The jukebox played the band’s seven albums back to back while, overlooking the assembled throng of pilgrims, a framed shot of Alex Turner with a quote from a 2013 NME interview fittingly proclaimed “We’re a long way from T’Grapes now”.

Exposed had tickets for the Saturday show, arriving just as Liverpudlian alt-rockers Mysterines finished what sounded like a lively set. Even with over two hours to go until the headliners arrived, Hillsborough Park was positively snided with gig-goers looking to make the most of the glorious sunshine, lending a decidedly ‘festival weekend’ feel to proceedings and adding nicely to the building atmosphere.

During a typically brash and hook-laden set, veteran Swedish rockers The Hives helped ramp up the excitement to optimal levels. Kicking off with recently released earworm ‘Bogus Operandi’, the band lent heavily from their back-catalogue of hectic rock and roll ditties including standout crowd-pleasers ‘Main Offender’, ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ and ‘Tick Tick Boom’. Ferocious, infectious and with rambunctious frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist displaying the sort of convivial crowd interaction that some would relish from the evening’s headliners, The Hives did what they do best: deliver a faultless live experience that brought big grins to the face of the gathered masses.

By now, the crowd were loosened up nicely, to put it mildly, and the eruption of noise when Messrs Turner, Cook, Helders and O’Malley arrived could well have travelled five miles up Penistone Road and echoed around the suburban estates and playing fields of High Green, where their friendships were forged and foundations laid for one of the world’s biggest modern-day rock bands.

Prior to the show, setlists were a hot topic of conversation. Word had got out that first album favourite ‘A Certain Romance’ had opened the previous evening, which no doubt would have down a treat once again with a crowd very much seeking to revel in nostalgia just as much as (and arguably a fair bit more than) celebrate the band’s more recent offerings. A customarily curt opening gambit from Turner and Matt Helders’ thunderous drums led not into the melancholic jangles of ‘A Certain Romance’ but into the frenetic, hell-for-leather riffs of ‘Brianstorm’ – a high-octane assault on the senses which set the bar very high indeed.

It rarely dipped below excellent. Now seasoned experts with two decades’ worth of experience in these arenas, Turner effortlessly took the audience on an immersive journey detailing irate ice cream men, metaphorical arcade machines, risky seating arrangements and lairy doormen in Sheffield city centre.

There were some comments on both evenings regarding Turner’s apparent lack of interaction with the crowd. It’s perhaps natural that some may have expected a few heartfelt messages or a steady stream of colloquial banter at a ‘back to their roots’ show, and you could argue that a little goes a long way in that respect. In my opinion, however, the band could’ve halted proceedings and chaired a live Q+A on the legacy of the ‘Ole in the Road’ if they pleased, but the sense of connection that most were seeking is best delivered through the music: snapshots of eras from a band that have grown and matured and experimented and shapeshifted almost continuously, and one that many in the city have held close to their hearts for the best part of two decades.    

It’s genuinely difficult to pick standouts across the 21-song set. Whether we were scranning tacos on the moon or back in our kitchens circa-2005 with mardybums, each song was bellowed back towards the stage, into the faces of companions or simply up towards the sky with eyes closed, drinking in what felt like a very special, very Sheffield occasion.

That said, the unbridled scenes of collective joy on show when they saw out the encore with ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ and ‘R U Mine?’ will stay with me for a long time. That’s what these nights are all about, and it certainly put a spring in our step as we joined the crowds sloping back down Penistone Road towards town.