Raw, young, honest and perceptive Sheffield quartet Arctic Monkeys combined bemusement, catchy instrumental loops and a little endearing provocation that oozed out early on in’ Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor’ to capture attention early on. Alex Turner’s slightly coarse but very commanding Johnny Borrell ordering a taxi with Dominic Masters almost chatty vocal range, delivered tales of the seedy and sordid lives of your average Joe and Josephine with succinctness and pungency in the searing; ‘Scummy’ towards the latter end of a bold and veracious set.

The Wirral sextet humbly shuffled onto the tight stage with maturity and grace, as they are now classed as veterans, despite the fact that most of them are in their early twenties and are younge

Great as it was to witness the calming maturity of the band, there was the hope, deep down that they had not lost their rugged edge and their ability to depict society’s downtrodden. My fears and those of many of my fellow crowd members were emphatically allayed, by the double whammy of first album dark horse; ‘Simon Diamond’ and second album's rat race decrying; ‘Bill McCai’. These were sung back at Skelly by the front few rows, with the passion and belief of Everton fans communicating with Gary Neville. Old favourites ‘Calendars & Clocks’ and ‘Shadows Fall’ had lost none of their spice or zest, but The Coral continue to beat a new and golden path, you would be advised to follow and enjoy the journey.

www.thecoral.co.uk

David Adair