Arctic Monkeys

> The Waterfront, Norwich

Arctic Monkeys swept into Norwich last night and, almost as quickly, swept out again.

Their Waterfront gig - the first in their UK tour - was a brief experience full of frantic three-minute tracks.

But what it lacked in longevity it more than made up for in impact.

This is a band tipped to scale dizzy heights and while many have received similar hype only to achieve startling mediocrity, there was a sense that this could indeed be the start of great things.

If this performance is anything to go by, those in attendance may one day be able to tell disbelieving friends: “I was there”.

For a band who have yet to release an album and whose first major single is not on sale until later this month, it would be forgivable if the crowd and the band struggled to connect over what was, to many, new material.

And yet their sure-to-be hit single I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor was greeted with ecstasy.

This emotion did not fade over the course of the set, with From The Ritz To The Rubble and Fake Tales From San Francisco particularly standing out.

It seems the cult following that surrounds these four lads from Sheffield is growing - in fact the everyman appeal of the band is now reaching such a wide audience that the word cult may no longer apply.