Live music review: Arctic Monkeys taped Austin City Limits TV episode Saturday

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Photos and words by Brandon Sandler

Austin City Limits, the long-running PBS series,  continued its 44th season with the debut of the UK’s Arctic Monkeys on the program. The popular alternative rock band (who headlined at Austin City Limits Festival over the weekend) taped the episode Saturday evening at the Moody Theatre at ACL Live. The relatively intimate space gave fans the opportunity to see the British rockers up close, behind the cameras of the ACL TV crew. 

Arctic Monkeys led-off the setlist with a hit single from their latest album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino performing the track, “4 out 5.” The band is currently in the midst of a sold-out world tour to promote the record. The quartet travels to the West Coast next for back-to-back dates in Los Angeles at the famous Hollywood Bowl tomorrow and Wednesday. 

Lead singer, Alex Turner made clear to the audience that the stage was his canvas as he strutted across the platform, grooving to the music as if he were the only person in the room during the performance. His demeanor and appearance is unapologetically charismatic as if he knows the effect his over-the-top energy has on fans, but is unwilling (or unable) to reign it in. 

The singer did slow down for “Cornerstone” leaving his guitar on the stand and sat down at the piano for a turn singing “The Ultracheese.” The change of pace did nothing to stymie the singer’s penchant for overflowing hubris. The histrionics made for great television theater which will be evident in the final edit after the show airs the episode. 

The rest of the Arctic Monkeys set list for the taping was a carefully curated mix of older and newer songs, eventually concluding with another big hit, “R U Mine?” off previous release, A.M. (2013). We think our slideshow of images above from the performance tells a bit more of the story. Check your local listings for showtimes when the episode airs later this year on PBS. 

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