Arctic Monkeys play sold out show at Electric Factory

The Arctic Monkeys broke onto the English music scene in 2006 with their release of "Whatever People Say I Am, I'm Not." The tightly compacted blast of hard garage rock captures the downtrodden blue collar life of Sheffield in the roughest of fashions. Their sophomore album, "My Favourite Worst Nightmare," was a bit more polished, evident of their title as "England's most popular band."

At the end of this summer they released their third effort, "Humbug," which ultimately combines the styles of their first two albums. "Humbug" is ambitious but still stripped down to a rough-and-tumbles style that made them world famous just three short years ago. Their prolific musical prowess never ceases to amaze fans as they release music via LP, EP, or DVD every year.

On Wednesday, September 30, The Arctic Monkeys played at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia to a sold out crowd of eager fans. The show started with the poppy/indie music of the California rocker chicks, The Like. Their bubblegum style and polka dots were a nice contrast to the Arctic Monkeys' loud rock set. Their debut album, "Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?"combines a retro throwback style of The Runaways and Blondie.

At 9:15 p.m. The Monkeys strolled on stage. Without saying a word they picked up their instruments and went right into "Dance Little Liar," a song from "Humbug." From there they went from one song to the next, providing the crowd with a collection of songs spanning all three albums. Although they failed to play such crowd pleasers as "Certain Romance," "Mardy Bum," and "When the Sun Goes Down" from their first album, all their songs can ignite a playful crowd. They've been known to play their lesser known songs, often ones from EPs.

Especially on this tour, their popular songs from their first album rarely find their way to a Monkeys set list, purely because they're trying to avoid the pigeonhole that the first album's immense success brought on.

The new songs from "Humbug", especially the psychedelic masterpiece, "Crying Lightening," made the set list enjoyable, even without the crowd pleasers like "A Certain Romance." Songs from "Whatever.." and "Humbug," like "A View from the Afternoon," "I Bet you Look Good on the Dance floor," "Pretty Visitors," "Crying Lightning," and the beautifully mellow love song, "Cornerstone" held up the set. And although "Fluorescent Adolescent" was outstanding-specifically the interlude that lead singer, Alex Turner added to the middle-the rest of "Your Favourite Worst Nightmare" doesn't hold its own against "Whatever People Say I Am, I'm Not" and "Humbug."

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect about The Arctic Monkeys is their nonchalant attitude. Perhaps influenced from fellow garage rock peers The Strokes, Turner and crew stand on stage casually playing their instruments as if they're bored, waiting for something more exciting to happen. Fortunately for a crowd of optimists that can see beyond Turner's constantly puzzled grin, the band play their songs hard, fast, and with energy, even if the energy isn't visible. They've created a brilliant formula of rock music that stems from a wide spectrum of genres: Led Zeppelin, The Strokes, The Clash, Big Star, Black Sabbath, and The Replacements just to name a few.

After just three short years, The Monkeys' have managed to shock the world of rock, put the trendy label, domino on the map, and lamely bumble through a series of interviews all while refusing to change. Their three album collection of 34 songs and several EPs has a common thread that keeps their fans constantly coming back for more.

Unlike other indie acts like The Strokes or Kings of Leon, The Monkeys have refused to change their style for high school prom queens. Then again, when you're the biggest band in the UK already, why the hell would you change a thing?