“Brighton, baby – you’re insatiable,” declares Alex Turner, one half of the duo known as The Last Shadow Puppets, at the start of the encore at their eagerly-awaited Brighton Dome gig. Co-puppet Miles Kane stands by his side as they bust out the hits and add a few new strings to their bow with performances of material from their recently released second album ‘Everything You’ve Come To Expect’.
With their current tour in support of the new record underway throughout major British cities, that’s not to say a shadow hasn’t been cast on their success. A month ago, the pair were interviewed by a female journalist from Spin, in which Kane made sexist remarks to the journalist, leaving the reporter in question feeling uncomfortable with the nature the interview had taken.
An apology shortly followed and tonight’s gig proves Kane and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner are back on form and ready to shrug off any criticism thrown their way recently.
Adding more bite to their back catalogue, the duo kick off the show with a play of their 2008 album’s title-track ‘The Age Of The Understatement’, which sees the audience instantly lock into the beats on offer. Further old tracks, such as: ‘Only The Truth’, ‘Calm Like You’ and ‘My Mistakes Were Made For You’ are given a heavier twist and are balanced well slotted between airings of fresh cuts.
The swooning centre pin of the set presents itself in the form of the gentle beauty that is ‘Miracle Aligner’. The number is one that pairs softly spoken vocals with a rousing instrumental, creating layers of melodies that effortlessly weave together and translates incredibly live.
Although, the real highlight of the night comes thick and fast in the form of ‘Pattern’ complete with chirpy riffage that even Johnny Marr would be envious of. There’s huge energy and hefty strings involved and the live dimension makes the track that much greater.
As the duo return to the stage for the encore, Turner asks a simple question that whips the audience into a frenzy of excitement and emotion. “Who wants to hear a 25-minute Beatles cover?” Turner enquires before The Last Shadow Puppets plunge into their three-song encore, which begins with a cover of The Beatles’ ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’. The track is one that Turner and Kane have been performing together since their inception eight years ago and one that fans will never tire of hearing.
The cover quickly progresses into the Alex Turner-led ‘Sweet Dreams, TN’ (which is rumoured to be about his current flame, model Taylor Bagley). Finally, the duo leave their audience of many a fan on a high note by dipping into a track from their first LP titled ‘Meeting Place’ moments after Turner tells the crowd “We must do it again sometime.”
The gig might not be everything you’ve come to expect from the duo; it was that and so much more.
