Arctic Monkeys

I-Days – Ippodromo Snai La Maura – Saturday 15 July

Kicked off in late June by Florence + The Machine at the Ippodromo Snai San Siro, Milan's I-Days drew the curtain down with the live set of another artist of great standing, namely Arctic Monkeys. Alex Turner's band was welcomed at the Ippodromo Snai La Maura by around 65,000 people, who were treated to a more than decent and convincing organization. With the gates opening at 3pm, partly to ease the problem of queues at the mercy of the fierce summer heat, the first to take the stage are Omini, a trio known for their appearance on X-Factor, running through covers like "Boys Don't Cry" and "My Generation" alongside catchy, unpretentious indie-pop-punk tracks. Next up are the couple of handfuls of songs offered by Willie J. Healey, a young singer-songwriter who, together with his backing band, folds soul, R&B and funky touches into an indie-rock base. That direction comes through most clearly on "Little Sister", "Sure Feels Good", "Tiger Woods" and "Thank You", previews of his third record "Bunny", due out in August. A touch of heartland drift creeps into "True Stereo", while tracks like "For You" take on more character and weight than their studio counterparts, between guitar solos and shifting vocal registers.

Bringing a huge gust of energy are Sweden's The Hives, thanks to their hits but also to the many exchanges of broken Italian banter between frontman/showman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist and the crowd. Often underrated, a hybrid of garage, punk and indie-rock, drenched in sweat beneath their flashy matching suits, the five musicians from Fagersta rattle off eleven tracks amid chants and the charismatic frontman's repeated, enthusiastically answered calls to "clap your hands" (in his own mangled Italian). Standouts include the opening to the strains of the new "Bogus Operandi", the driving riffs of "Walk Idiot Walk" and "Main Offender", the faster-paced "Good Samaritan", the better-known and razor-sharp "Hate To Say I Told You So", and the explosive closer "Tick Tick Boom". In nearly thirty years of career, The Hives have changed in body but not in spirit, and their live appeal remains as engaging as ever, even though they haven't matched the glories of their early records in a while.

Men of few words (but in the end it's the deeds that count), as has always been known, they are instead the absolute protagonists of the evening. The elegant Monkeys take the stage at 9.45pm and tear through twenty-one songs in just over an hour and a half. Their latest work "The Car" had sharply divided critics, veering toward baroque pop compared to the lounge and retro-rock atmospheres of the equally debated predecessor "Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino", and what piqued many people's curiosity was the question of how the band's different stylistic phases might peacefully coexist in a live setting. The chosen setlist proves to be perfectly balanced across all the albums released, placing the main emphasis on the standout tracks from "Favourite Worst Nightmare", "AM" and the latest arrival.

The entrance, amid gleeful shrieks and chanting, is reserved for the "unforecasted storm" stirred up by the relentless drumming of “Brianstorm”, briefly soothed by the sing-along of “Snap Out Of It”, before picking back up without pause and moving backwards through the pre-“AM” era, from “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” all the way to the frantic “The View From The Afternoon”. The addition of a piano intro to “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”, followed by the sensual, gritty “Arabella”, which fades out by quoting Black Sabbath's “War Pigs” in the outro, sets up the reinforced stride of the new version of “Four Out Of Five”. After the frenzied “Pretty Visitors”, the energy gradually winds down, leaving pride of place for the evergreen “Fluorescent Adolescent”, right through to a more languid “Cornerstone”, closer to a ballad.

The flickers bouncing off the mirrorball at the end of “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball” accompany the guitar riffs of the new harmonic arrangement of “505”, reaching the night's peak with “Do I Wanna Know?” and the splendid “Body Paint”. If that little gem already had all it took to become a classic from the moment it was released, well before “The Car” came out, the addition of an extended outro now gives it a rockier edge than its studio version. The encore once again pits against each other – while keeping them in perfect harmony – the more recent “Sculptures Of Anything Goes”, slightly beefed up for the occasion, the garage rock of the wild, much-awaited “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”, and a closing rendition of the all-time classic “R U Mine?” with its extra choral finish.

Alex Turner and co.'s toughest challenge – making the sums and arrangements of the band's different phases/identities add up – has been fully won, and with a leaning towards guitars, reconfirming Arctic Monkeys as one of the most important bands of this millennium, one capable of daring risky evolutions without fear.

Rock In Roma – Ippodromo delle Capannelle – Sunday 16 July

The return of Arctic Monkeys to Italy has drawn crowds perhaps like never before. The day after their Milan date at I-Days, here they are landing at Rome's Ippodromo delle Capannelle, as part of the 2023 Rock In Roma bill, where this year they stand as the biggest international name. Thirty-five thousand tickets sold in the blink of an eye, and an audience spanning at least two generations: the day-one fans, now aged between 40 and 50, are joined by their own children, who worship Alex Turner and co. as if they were any old boy band. Plenty of very young fans were in attendance, with parents waiting for them outside, phones in hand, sitting in endless lines of cars along the Via Appia. It's the result of an album, “AM”, which has sat in the charts across half the world for years now, an album that, not by chance, remains the most represented work in the English band's live shows. Credit goes to TikTok, or to whatever sorcery drives the social platforms used by post-teens.

The backbone of the setlist remains roughly the same as on the previous tour, with the songs from “Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino” (only “Four Out Of Five” survives, which has a faint whiff of self-rejection) replaced by those from “The Car”, though not too many – just four, well spaced out.

The Arctics enjoy the chance to rearrange a couple of tracks, letting “Cornerstone” and the aforementioned “Four Out Of Five” shine in a new light, delivered in a different way from the originals we all know so well. The evergreens are all present too, the songs that always win everyone over, among them “I Bet You Look On The Dance Floor” (what a groove, folks!), “Brianstorm” (still a nuclear bomb every single time), “Crying Lightning” (not by chance, I'm citing one track per each of the first three albums), this one too with an alternate, slowed-down solo. And of course the tracks from “AM”: “Do I Wanna Know?”, “R U Mine” and “Snap Out Of It” help make sure the party is a total success.

Impeccably stylish, they also pull off some scenic tricks, like the giant disco ball emblazoned with “Monkeys” that suddenly lights up at the end of “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball”, sending hundreds upon hundreds of reflections out over the crowd. It's a highly energetic show, with the guitars almost always front and center, contrary to what the inevitable naysayers might have expected. In its live dimension, the band alternates between the retro-tinged tracks – which have defined their two most recent albums – and the solid, danceable indie-rock of their early days, making the set far more dynamic and mature than in the past, delivering – and now we can really say it – the best band to have emerged in the last twenty years still active today, the one that has grown the best, the one that has tried to head in different directions, the one that has gained the most authority, all while maintaining an enormous level of success and popularity even when it put out albums less aligned with fans' perception of what Arctic Monkeys should be.

Alex Turner is an incredible frontman, a true rockstar and, at the same time, a credible crooner, holding the stage with ease, juggling microphone, electric guitar and piano. But alongside him there's a band worthy of applause, one that knows how to serve the songs without ever staying in the shadows. Then, for all those who claim guitars have vanished from the quartet's songwriting process, just listen to “Body Paint” (you can find the clips on YouTube), with that ending which becomes a sort of manifesto for the entire evening.

The Ippodromo grounds were already packed by 4pm, with tons of fans arriving very early to grab a spot under a scorching sun and wait for the two opening acts: Willie J Healey (more convincing live than on record) and those madmen in The Hives, with their irreverent blend of Green Day + The Strokes, an “indie-punk” sound renewed by the upcoming release of a new album, “The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons”, from which several tracks were previewed. The Hives seemed destined for a bright future back in the 2000s, but then somewhat lost their way, like many of Arctic Monkeys' peers, not all of whom proved able to sustain album after album at the same level of excellence.

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