After a few months we had to return to Arena 1, a large concert hall located on the seashore of Lima. There aren’t many venues in the city dedicated to concerts and this one has a good space. The only problem is getting there, being on the seashore there are not many accesses, the traffic is hellish, and walking can be a long way. When the return of the English band Arctic Monkeys was announced, some criticized the chosen venue.
Despite this, tickets sold out within hours of going on sale. My two sons, both fans of the band, were among the crowd that turned out to buy tickets. My daughter had already seen them for the first time in 2019 and my 12-year-old son was happy because he is not only a fan of the band but was also going to an international concert for the first time in his life.
To get to the concert I had to leave work early, go home to pick them up and immediately go to Arena 1. It took us a while to get there and even longer to find a parking space. Fortunately, we managed to do it on time, and I was able to start my coverage for the producer Move Concerts Peru and of course for All Music Magazine.
At 8:00pm the band Interpol were in charge of opening the show and were received with great joy by the public. For me it was a surprise to discover the huge number of fans that the band has in Peru. It is worth mentioning that the New Yorkers have already been to Peru twice before and that the next day they were going to have a concert by themselves, and it is the only date in South America where they will play as headliners. Minutes before they appeared on stage, the public chanted their name as if they were the main band of the night. From the beginning, Interpol managed to capture the attention of those present with its indie rock and above all with the good command of Spanish by the vocalist and guitarist Paul Banks who presented the songs and thanked the public in our language. The opening theme was the well-known “Untitled”, a theme that also opens their first album Turn of the Bright Lights, the band’s first album that is celebrating its 20th anniversary on the market. The response from the public was exciting and you could hear the crowd shouting “Interpol! Interpol! Interpol!” before the smile of the band. They continued with “Toni”, the first song from their most recent album, The Other Side of Make-Believing released just a few months ago.
For just over an hour, Interpol reviewed several of their hits such as “Evil”, “Narc”, “Obstacle 1” and others. The first album and the second called Antics being the most remembered, in addition to the last one. At the end of their setlist they said goodbye amid the affection of the attendees who kept shouting the name of the band. It should be noted that as a photographer it was very difficult to take photos since the lighting was not very good photographically speaking, something typical with opening bands.
Band:
Paul Banks – Vocals/Guitar
Sam Fogarino – Drums.
Daniel Kessler – Guitar/Keyboards/Vocals
Brad Truax – Bass
Brandon Curtis – Keyboards.
Setlist:
1. Untitled
2. Toni
3. Evil
4. Fables
5. C’mere
6. Narc
7. Obstacle 1
8. Passenger
9. All the Rage Back Home
10. Rest My Chemistry
11. The New
12. PDA
13. Slow Hands
Minutes before 10 pm, the British band Arctic Monkeys took the stage in the middle of the darkness and the screams of the public that became louder when the notes of “Brianstorm” from their second album Favorite Worst Nightmare began. They followed with “Snap Out of It” from the album AM, perhaps the most successful of the band and which was sung by the entire Arena 1. The band led by Alex Turner, dressed in a blue jacket and a white shirt, was reunited with his public after a little less than 4 years. As now, in 2019 it was also a sold-out concert.
The scenic proposal varied slightly with respect to their first visit, this time a backdrop that changed depending on the lighting and a couple of side screens were all that the Sheffield quartet needed to get the public in their pockets, in addition of course to their costumes made up of jackets, shirts and leather jackets that are part of its elegant and stylish visual proposal.
The atmosphere of the concert went from being more intimate with the song “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” in which the audience calmly listened to Turner’s voice to the frenzy and massive singing with “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” We could say that this was the characteristic of the concert, quiet moments, and heavier moments like when the chords of “Arabella” or the psychedelic theme “Potion Approaching” sounded. It was also interesting to listen to the songs from the latest album, The Car, recently released on the market and which, despite not being so internalized by the public yet, also sounded very good. It should be noted that they also performed the fantastic “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball”, which has just been announced as a Grammy nominee. With this song the final part of the concert began, which was completed with “R U Mine?” and the ballad “Body Paint” that made the public calm down again and began the return home. After a long walk to the parking lot, my tired but happy children commented on what a good time they had. At the time of writing this review, Arctic Monkeys has finished their Latin American tour that has taken them to countries like Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico and is preparing to start 2023 in Australia and then continue through Europe again.
Band
Alex Turner – Vocals, Guitar
Jamie Cook – Guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Backing Vocals
Nick O’Malley – Bass, Backing Vocals
Matt Helders – Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals
Setlist:
1. Brianstorm
2. Snap Out of It
3. Crying Lightning
4. Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair
5. Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?
6. Four Out of Five
7. Arabella
8. Potion Approaching
9. The Car
10. Cornerstone
11. Do I Wanna Know?
12. Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
13. Teddy Picker
14. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
15. Pretty Visitors
16. Do Me a Favour
17. 505
Encore:
18. There’d Better Be a Mirrorball
19. R U Mine?
20. Body Paint
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I’m a photographer with extensive experience working for national and international media. I’m also a passionate photography educator with extensive experience working with students of different ages. I love Heavy Metal music and I began shooting concerts in 1992. Concert Photography is my passion. I’m based in Perú but willing to travel anywhere.