Rare Arctic Monkeys performances
This is a nerdy little collection of performances of songs that I’ve not seen a lot or simply find interesting. I adore finding all the little trivia and details for myself, so I thought others might like to see as well.
Maybe they’re not all “that rare” but most were fairly new to me :))
** I’ll add more when I stumble upon it **
Here we go.
(I put it under Keep Reading because it was getting too long)
Da Frame 2R
They did this performance at Paradise Rock Club, Boston during the American leg of their Humbug tour in 2009.
A really cool and quite “punky” and heavy live performance of this bonus track. They’ve performed it a few times in 2007 as well as 2009.
Put Me In A Terror Pocket
This performance is from their concert at Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam in December 2007.
They premiered it as a “a new song”, rumoured to become a B-side, and they played it a handful of times during their tour in 2007. First recording of the song is from November.
The song remains unreleased and some people are saying they ditched this song and did the cover of Nick Caves’ “Red Right Hand” instead.
Here is another version with better audio but without video, from Alexandra Palace in London.
Lipstick Vogue (Elvis Costello cover)
They did the cover during a concert at Les Nuits de Fourvière in France during the TBHC tour in July 2018.
They dedicated the cover to the man himself. Alex introduced the performance by saying “get well soon” as Elvis Costello was battling cancer at the time.
Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed cover)
This cover is from a concert at Echo Arena in Liverpool during the AM tour in October 2013.
Lou Reed had passed away the day before and they performed this cover as a tribute.
They performed alongside Bill Ryder-Jones from the Coral.
You & I (With Richard Hawley)
This performance is from their iconic 100th show of their SIAS tour.
They played it with Richard Hawley at L’Olympia Bruno Coquatrix, Paris in France in February 2012.
This concert also featured performances of Little Illusion Machine (Wirral Riddler) and 505 with Miles Kane.
They’ve only performed this badass tune once, at least as far as I’m aware. (Not that rare but deserves a spot!)
The Union Forever (The White Stripes cover)
They performed this cover at Masonic Temple Theater in Detroit, Michigan on their TBHC tour in August 2018.
They played the cover as a tribute to the band, as The White Stripes were formed in Michigan. Alex called the performance “a little Detroit special”.
Is This It (The Strokes cover)
They covered this iconic song at Forest Hills Stadium, New York during the American leg of their TBHC tour in July 2018.
Similar to the one above they played this cover as a tribute to the band as New York is the hometown of the Strokes.
(Bonus: This was one of the first concerts since Alex shaved his head.)
Reptilia (The Strokes cover)
This performance is from Madame Jojo’s, London in January 2008.
It doesn’t feature the band, but a supergroup of indie musicians gathered for one night under the name The Pun Lovin’ Criminals.
They performed an array of indie rock covers and Alex joined at the end of the set, ending the show with this fun and unpolished cover of Reptilia.
The group included Dev Hynes, Joe Edwards from the Rascals and Victoria Smith, Miles’ current drummer. Plus Alex on guitar and lead vocal.
They prefaced the performance by saying “none of this has been practiced” and Alex came on stage bleeding after hitting his head on the door on his way up there.
One of the earliest filmed performances
This performance is at The Barfly, Glasgow in from March 2005.
This concert is one of the band’s earliest performances caught on tape. Before they released their first EP. The video features most of the songs performed that night.
It features the first known performances of several songs from their debut album, including Mardy Bum, The View From the Afternoon and From The Ritz To the Rubble.
Another video of the same night.
Hollywood Hopeful (Loudon Wainwright III cover)
This performance is from Staples Center, LA during their American leg of the AM tour, played in August 2014.
Alex sang acapella and covered part of Loudon’s beautiful song as an intro to I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.
This video shows more of the transition into IBYLGOTD.
All My Loving (Beatles Cover)
This cover is fairly famous but it’s so bloody good I had to include it.
This performance is from Madison Square Garden, New York during the American leg of the AM tour in February 2014.
They performed the cover twice, this and one the day before at The State Theater in Portland, both times alongside Miles Kane.
Alex prefaced the performances by saying it had been almost 50 years to the day since the Beatles first played on the extremely famous Ed Sullivan show and “broke” America.
- (Stephen Fretwell Cover)
The song itself it not rare, as it is featured on Spotify as part of the session the band did for them in 2018.
The video was however shared mainly on director Ben Chappell’s website, therefore not quite as easily located.
The performance was done at Electric Lady Studios, New York and released in September 2018.
(Bonus: Stephen Fretwell played bass on the first TLSP tour.)
Rockafeller Skank (Fatboy Slim cover)
This is from the very first Arctic Monkeys show at the Grapes in Sheffield, June 2003.
They played a short set, and performed part of this song as a fun addition to their performance of Curtains Closed. They also played Ravey Ravey Club and a few cover songs. Alex’s voice is quite different here and he is purposefully trying not use his own accent. Alex has said that this night was the first time he ever stepped on a stage.
A longer audio from the gig can be heard here.
Live at Peter & Debora's Living Room
This show is one of the earliest performances of 2005, done in January.
One of not that many complete audios from that time.
It seems to be a quite informal setting. A small audience with Alex taking song suggestions, saying they can’t do Choo Choo and interrupting a song to yell “it’s fucking hot in here!”. People are saying Matt only had a ride cymbal, snare and cowbell for the performance.
The set includes the only known live recording of the song 7.
Alex said about the song: “This is like a new song and nobody will know it but we’ll play it anyway. We played this gig in Nottingham, and then there [..] was this lass, so I went- but then she'd gone and stuff, it’s a bit of a shit thing to write a song about now in reflection but it’s called- it’s called 7.”
Drunk on the Moon (Tom Waits Cover)
This is from the concert at 3Arena, Dublin in Ireland on the TBHC tour in September 2018.
This is a short acappella version of Alex singing Drunk on the Moon before performing One Point Perspective.
He also included the cover at their performance before playing Arabella in Houston a month later in October 2018.
Mad Sounds
This performance is from their concert at Hollywood Bowl during the American leg of their TBHC tour in October 2018.
A few days prior at their show in Houston they performed Mad Sounds for the first time during TBHC and on top of that the first time since 2013. This concert is just a few days later and shows the arrangement.
The audience all had their flashlights out and made a beautiful atmosphere.
Despair In The Departure Lounge
This is from their concert at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco in March 2006.
Alex performed the song solo after Andy experienced problems with his bass during the previous song. Alex performed the track while technicians fixed the issue.
This is, to my knowledge, the first and only time this song has been played live and was completely unknown at the time.
Alexandra Palace, London (Full show)
This show took place at Alexandra Palace in London during the Favourite Worst Nightmare tour in August 2007.
This concert took place about a month after they headlined Glastonbury and features rare gems such a Plastic Tramp with Miles Kane, Put Me In Your Terror Pocket, Nettles and Da Frame 2R.
It also features the only known performance of Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend, aside from Glastonbury.
Dizzee is featured of course.
Fake Tales Of San Francisco
This performance is from when Arctic Monkeys were on the NME Tour in January and February in 2006.
The tour ran for 18 dates across England, Ireland and Scotland.
Maxïmo Park were the headliners, though there was speculation that AM should have been the headliners, as most fans would come to see them, but that they turned it down.
In this particular performance they are joined by Keith Murray from We Are Scientists, who were also on the tour and friends of the band. Keith has previously been in an acceptance video from the Brits 2006 and on stage to accept an award with them at the NME Awards 2006.
It’s a truly excellent performance and Alex has great chemistry with Keith, who he shares the mic with at one point.
R U Mine?
This performance is from the show at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan on March 3rd 2012 (thanks for the birthday gift boys!).
This was during the tour in America where they opened for the Black Keys.
This is the first time ever they played R U Mine?
Alex prefaced the performance by saying: “This is a new tune, we’ve never played this before. Fucking check this shit out!“
When The Sun Goes Down
This is a snippet of their performance at Reading Festival in 2005.
They were booked in the Carling Tent, which is not very big. It was called a misjudgment in terms of placement as the tent was completely packed and people couldn’t get in because so many people wanted to see them. Some say that more people turned up at their gig than the headliners’. And some say that this is the gig that made them “superstars”.
They went on to headline a year later.
Alex said during the performance: “Anyone who wants to say a bad word about Arctic Monkeys can have some of that. Whether you’re outside or inside now is the time. Let’s have it!“
It was supposedly filmed by Rob Nicholson, Andy’s brother.
The View From The Afternoon
This is a very short clip from their gig at The Plug, Sheffield in October 2005.
During this gig they supposedly premiered Leave Before The Lights Come on.
The gig was widely praised as a “point in history”, it was completely packed and everyone knew every single word to all songs, even though they hadn’t even released the songs yet.
Alex reportedly said during the performance: “Thanks to everyone who was there at the beginning”.
It showed the band’s growth as performers, showcased their hard work of playing endless gigs during the early days of the band.
No Buses
This performance is from the session the band did with MTV in March or April 2006.
Not quite a rare, but a very significant performance.
This is the first and only performance of the song, except for the odd acoustic version.
The session is also one of the last performances with Andy on bass.
There is also an interview from the session which mostly features Matt talking. It was done one year after they got signed.
The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala
This performance is at The Observatory North Park, San Diego, California. The first show of the TBHC tour in May 2018.
This was the premiere of the new arrangement of the song and the first time it was played since 2013.
There are other videos of this arrangement, but this was the first night they performed it, and there was a strict no-video policy.
Only Ones Who Know (With Richard Hawley)
This is not a rare. Bu it is extremely wonderful none the less.
This performance is from Richard Hawley’s concert at Union Chapel in November 2009.
The concert was a charity event titled The Little Noise Sessions.
Alex made a surprise guest appearance during Richard’s set. Here is another video of the same performance. Richard famously introduced Alex as “the original lounge lizard himself.”
Along with a few other artists Alex played a surprise acoustic set, accompanied by John Ashton on keys and Jamie for a few songs (Cornerstone and Secret Door). This night was the first time Joining The Dots was performed and there are rumours he also performed Glass In The Park (from the Submarine soundtrack) the first and only time.
He reportedly also played a few covers, including the first performance of Dion’s Only You Know (which he has covered on multiple occasions) and a one time performance of I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire by The Ink Spots.
Vertigo (With Mini Mansions)
This performance is from Mini Mansions’ opening set before the Arctic Monkeys concert at Red Rocks, Colorado in September 2014.
They also performed it at the concert at Comerica Theatre, Phoenix in October 2014.
It was the live premiere of the song, which was released in March 2015 on Mini Mansions’ album The Great Pretenders.
Alex is featured on one verse on the track.
Zach Dawes and Tyler Parkford, who has toured with both The Last Shadow Puppets and Arctic Monkeys, are part of Mini Mansions along with Michael Shuman from Queens Of The Stone Age.
Alex also appeared in the music video for the track, and has made several live appearances as well.
Including this televised performance a few days after the release of the album.
This performance in October 2015.
And my personal favourite from July 2015.
The latest was in October 2018.
Performance at Cavern Club
This snippet shows a gig they played at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in October 2005.
The gig was the first night of the WPSIATWIN tour and was set one week before they released their first single.
The video features bits of I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, Dancing Shoes, A Certain Romance and Mardy Bum, which has a slightly different arrangement.
Here is another snippet of the same night during When The Sun Goes Down.
Beneath The Boardwalk
This snippet is from their gig at The Boardwalk, Sheffield in May 2005.
The video includes a collection of a few different clips from the night and shows large part of the setlist.
They’ve played several shows at this venue and it has since given its name to the now famous demo collection from 2004, that was shared on MySpace back in the day. They played their second ever gig at this venue in 2003 and Alex used to work there as a bartender. He heard John Cooper Clarke there for the first time as well.
Apparently this was the last show they did at this venue before it closed down.
Reportedly this was the first night Miles Kane and Alex met.
Red Lights Indicate Doors Are Secured
This performance is from their gig at Head of Steam, Newcastle in March 2005.
The venue is quite small and the gig is pretty intimate. A good indication of what most of their gigs at this time were like. The video shows a rare view from the first row.
This is the first known performance of the song, and it features slight changes to the version they played later on.
This is a performance of Bigger Boys And Stolen Sweethearts from the same night.
This is From The Ritz To The Rubble from the same night (under the name Sunday Song as it was known back then).
And finally a short video of When The Sun Goes Down (Scummy) from the same gig.
Sketchead
This performance is from their concert at Fox Theater, Oakland during the Humbug tour in September 2009.
This is the first known live performance of the song, and it was released on the Cornerstone EP in November 2009.
Alex prefaces the song by saying: “We’re gonna play a song all about a man who’s presence alone would greatly unnerve any of you. And he’s not alone, there’s many of him around. He might have a ponytail but it’s certainly not a requirement and you know when he’s coming towards you [...] The person I’m talking about- we’ve decided to title it Sketchead with one h, and this is Sketchead’s theme.”
Catapult
This performance is from their concert at House of Blues, Boston during the Humbug tour in December 2009.
This is the first known live performance of Catapult, released on the Cornerstone EP in November 2009.
Alex has said about the song that it is a "relative” of The Jeweller’s Hand and that they’re sort of about the same thing, the same character: “This figure of wisdom that was sort of superior to his peers or anyone he kinda encountered.”
Leave Before The Lights Come On
This performance is from their show at Highline Ballroom, New York during the Humbug tour in August 2009.
This is the last known performance of Leave Before The Lights Come On.
They performed the track a couple of times during this tour, a few early in the year and a couple during the summer, before retiring the track after this performance.
During the performance Alex holds up a sign saying ‘French fan club John Ashton’.
At the end the audience starts chanting the ‘I’ll walk you up, what time’s the bus come?’ line and Alex laughingly says "Thank you, thank you. That wont be necessary, I'll walk there alone. Thank you!"
Leave Before The Lights Come On
Coincidentally I stumbled upon this straight after the one above.
Alex introduces it as “a new song”, although there are indicators that they actually performed the song earlier in their career at The Plug, Sheffield in October 2005. (See earlier entry).
The size of the stage plus the fact that there are American accents to be heard in the crowd more likely dates this somewhere in March 2006, when they did a few shows in America, before heading back there for the American leg of their tour in May. No idea why Alex called the song new, except for the fact that perhaps they hadn’t performed it in America before.
It is one of the few performances of the song featuring Andy on bass, as he took a break from the band in May and was permanently replaced by Nick in June. The song was released in August 2006 with Nick credited on the recording.
The Rascals featuring Alex Turner
This is a little bonus entry.
Alex Turner joined Miles Kane and his band The Rascals for a one off performance of their song Is It Too Late? at Wireless Festival in July 2008.
The clip is just a snippet of the performance, but it features Alex playing guitar alongside Miles and singing the second verse of the song.
