Concert review: Arctic Monkeys at The Ritz Ybor (with pics)

“Are you in a good mood? It’s F-F-F-Friday after all!“

Why yes, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner (pictured right), I am! After a thorough ass-kicking at the hands of my day job and a futile four hours spent at a title company attempting to close on a house, a night of manic, hipster dance-rock sounds like a fine way to kickstart my weekend and forget my troubles. [All photos by Mike Wilson.]

I arrived at the sold-out Ritz Ybor this past Friday night just in time to hear openers Sleepy Sun play their last song. The meandering, ethereal blues seemed like pleasant foreplay to Arctic Monkeys’ inevitable ruckus. A nearby couple let me know what I missed wasn’t much. Their tone suggested a monotonous performance, but I did regret missing the majority of their set.

Arctic Monkeys warmed up with Humbug deep cut “Fire and the Thud” before immediately winning over the party-seeking crowd with “Brianstorm” and deftly mixing up their more ferocious and midtempo material over the course of the next 75 minutes. (Check out the setlist, which includes a very surprising cover song, after the jump along with more photos.)

This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2010.