The Last Shadow Puppets

On the face of it, this was always going to be a special gig. Alex Turner and Miles Kane's 'side project', The Last Shadow Puppets, has been a resounding success from the very beginning.

Their debut album 'The Age of the Understatement', was released to wide critical acclaim,went straight in at number 1 and was nominated for the coveted Mercury Music Prize. No shocks there. What else is to be expected from one of today's great young songwriters? The real surprise however, is tonight. The ability to turn a 60's influenced (Scott Walker to name but one), Phil Spector-esque production into a live show to boot, nearly 40 years after the sound was in full flow can't be easy, but they certainly succeeded.



On a Sunday evening at Hammersmith Apollo, an epic venue in itself was the setting for a gig of similar proportions. The stage set up for a 16 piece orchestra and a packed venue with the standing in the stalls bursting through the back doors as people scrambled to get a look.

The opening was fast paced and energetic with 'In My Room' firing out and catching the audiences breath with its punchy guitars and sharp lyrics. With a thunder of drums and soaring strings, it was 'The Age of the Understatement', the title track and first single up next. As the band cut in, the lights to the rear of the stage turned a bright blue and lit up the words 'The Last Shadow Puppets' which was met with roars of appreciation from the crowd. Like a military march, its an incredible entrance to what was going to be a fantastic and epic journey for the next hour or so.



One of the highlights from the album, 'Calm Like You' had a sing-along chorus that the audience were all to happy to join in with and it was obvious that Turner and Kane were having a great time themselves up there. This is clearly music that they enjoy and the resemblance to Lennon and McCartney on stage with their sharp suits and mop hair is uncanny. It was from this influence that one of three Covers on the night is taken and it proves to be a real highlight. 'I want You (She's so Heavy)', a classic from the fab four's Abbey Road album is belted out with passion beyond anything you'll see this year. Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood's 'Paris Summer' and Leonard Cohen's 'Memories' are the other two covers they play, the latter of the two see's Miles Kane swooning over the stage and receiving gifts from the crowds female admirers in the form of knickers and bra's.

Feeling lost in a different era, the crowd are treated to the outstanding highlight of the night in new single 'My Mistakes Were Made For You'. With the smooth and beautiful string arrangements accompanying it, it feels as if we are watching a James Bond soundtrack.



with a smoke machine to match, filling the stage and ensuring that the stage show is just as exhilarating as the fantastic music on offer. The band end with 'The Meeting Place' and triumphantly return to stage moments later for the encore of 'Memories' and 'Standing Next To Me'.

The night ends and Hammersmith is sold. Kane will return soon with The Rascals and of course Turner with the Arctic Monkeys' album number three. But on the face of tonight this is no longer a side project. The real excitement in Hammersmith tonight is the return of The Last Shadow Puppets and anyone who was lucky enough to catch them will tell you that it can't come around soon enough.

If 'brilliant' is the word to sum up tonight, then maybe this really is the Age of the Understatement.

Setlist:
In My Room
The Age Of The Understatement
Calm Like You
Black Plant
Gas Dance
Only The Truth
Separate And Ever Deadly
Hang The Cyst
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
My Mistakes Were Made For You
Paris Summer
In The Heat Of The Morning
I Don't Like You Any More
The Chamber
The Time Has Come Again
The Meeting Place

Encore:
Memories
Standing Next To Me

FUTURE GIGS

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