Venue: Manchester Apollo
Size of crowd: 3500
Dress code: The gritters are out in the sub-zero temperatures and bearing in mind this is Levenshulme, Manchester it's unsurprising to find everyone is wearing hooded tops. Queues of fans waiting to pick up tickets shelter their wind-whipped ears with flimsy sport hoods; even the security wear hoodies (coupled in one bizarre instance with three quarter length shorts). Inside layers of unsuitable winter wear are shorn, some tossed above the heads of the seething mosh pit, revealing thin T-shirts that will be soaked through come the finale. The band themselves look to have dressed in similarly unconsidered style, except their shirts look undoubtedly newer. Front man Alex Turner sports a casual V-neck jumper and collared T-shirt combo that, if it wasn't for the tightness of his jeans, would be approved of by any C&A catalogue-admiring mum.
In summary: After a frantic year of touring stadium sized venues, Arctic Monkeys play one final gig to bid farewell to the year. Announced just days ago, with limited tickets available only in Manchester and Sheffield, it's an uber-fan's dream gig and a rare chance to see the country's biggest young band in the relatively intimate confines of a 3,500-capacity theatre. Considering the extent of the touring just undertaken the band look surprisingly energetic, their manner is relaxed and their performance superbly polished.
Highlight: Debut album favourites like When The Sun Goes Down, Still Take You Home and monstrous single I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor are rapturously received. Turner's insightful, often barbed lyrics roll effortlessly from his lips only to be returned by the roaring mass who hang on every word. Tracks from their more recent sophomore effort are no less well accepted with Teddy Picker an early highlight and 505 executed deftly with cohort Miles Kane on guitar. Non album track Leave Before The Lights Come On is terrific, and though it's nice to see Richard Hawley join them for a rendition of 'Bad Woman', tonight is really all about the star turns.
Talking point: The quality of sound at the gig is so impressive, with Matt Helders drums shaking the venue's very foundations and Nick O'Malley's bass a satisfying, stomach-felt growl, that it's disappointing to realize this is perhaps one of the last times we'll see the scamps play in such a comparatively small space. For all of the money expended on the stadium-sized lights that lie behind them, the flash suits them none too well, appearing almost frivolous.
Marks out of ten: 9
Where next: It's no more easy to predict the future for Arctic Monkeys now than it was following the release of debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, which some cited as a one-off fluke. This year's second album release has proved them wrong and Alex Turner appears to be every bit the generation spokesman that Paul Weller was when fronting The Jam. It would come as little surprise to find this songsmith's career heading off in as varied and lengthy a fashion.
