Rumours began circulating late on Monday night that something was in the offing, and without any formal publicity, by Tuesday morning word had spread that the Monkeys were coming to town. | "A good performance from the Sheffield foursome, who capitalised well on the excitement that such a spontaneous gig provided." | | Elliott Collins |
By midday at least 500 people had assembled outside the Leicester University Students' Union, eager to get one of a limited number of tickets to the intimate gig.
With the event selling out in only a few hours, and with excitement building, those lucky enough to get a place crammed into the union Venue to enjoy the show.
After a somewhat disappointing performance by Liverpool up-and-comers the Little Flames, and with some fans desperately surging forward to be a few inches closer to the action, front man Alex Turner sauntered on stage followed by the rest of the four-piece and with a brief 'hello' they were away.
Choosing to showcase their new material right from the off seemed to leave the less diehard fans a little out of place and the out-of-control dancing and shouting of lyrics which traditionally characterise Arctic Monkeys' gigs was, at first, conspicuously absent.  | | The Monkeys in Leicester |
However soon the opening drum beats of firm favourite 'Fake Tales Of San Francisco' saw the 2000 strong crowd jumping up and down and singing along with all their might.
As the set progressed, performances of album tracks from the wildly successful debut album, 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' were greeted like old friends by the audience, with crazed and manic dancing and singing reaching its peak during 'From The Ritz To The Rubble'. However previews of forthcoming releases, including the planned next single 'Brianstorm', due to go on sale in the UK on the 16 April of this year, appeared to leave many feeling somewhat underwhelmed.
The band's traditional refusal to play encores persisting, despite rapturous calls from the crowd, left a few disappointed, although the band may simply be following the old adage 'leave them wanting more.'
 | | 2000 people came to see the band |
Overall, a good performance from the Sheffield foursome, who capitalised well on the excitement that such a spontaneous gig provided, and served up the tracks the crowd were after. Using the opportunity to introduce a few glimpses of what lies ahead for the band did cause a pause for thought though, with the style of the new offerings marking a departure from the 'Arctic Monkeys of 2006'. So fans will be hoping that, with a band which has developed such a successful formula, evolution does not mean saying goodbye to the excitement that the Arctic Monkey's seem to generate wherever they go
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