NEWS
EVENTS
The Arctic Monkeys Save The World From JLS
Indie | Tuesday 31st July 2012 | Osh
The absolute highlight of last week’s Olympic Opening Ceremony, was without a doubt the moment that the camera panned out after the Athletes’ parade, and zoomed in on Alex Turner and company ready to break into ‘I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor.’
This was not because their performance was necessarily any better than the intricately choreographed displays of the thousands of volunteers (though it was an amazing performance), but because this was the moment that we showed the World that Great Britain actually has great music.
You could perhaps not blame the World to believe that Britain has lost its musical touch in recent years, we sent them One Direction (sorry) and the internationally broadcasted Jubilee concert was an absolute shambles. Viewers were left in pain as Cheryl Cole screeched her way through a duet with Gary (who) Barlow, Will.I.Am was irrelevantly featured, as if we have nothing better ourselves. JLS were on the checklist as generic fillers-in for variety shows, national concerts and Capital FM gigs. And of course the whole thing closed with Paul McCartney, refusing to retire.
Talented artists like the Arctic Monkeys would never agree to feature among set lists of that calibre, so it was a given that an Olympic Ceremony, welcoming the world to our culture would probably feature the same artists again. J-J-J-Jessie J would come out with her vocal gymnastics, and the Wanted would be thrown in with the necessary embellishment of screaming girls to add charisma.
So how Danny Boyle managed to get the Arctic’s on stage (minus Paul McCartney) must have taken a lot of convincing, and we know it wasn’t monetary, they were only paid a £1. But more than that, Danny didn’t just get them on stage, he made them want to be there. Matt Helders of the Arctic’s even took his pride in performing so far as wearing an Old Skool Olympic tracksuit. Remember this is the band who wouldn’t even go on Top of The Pop’s when they were starteing out.
Danny Boyle also featured musicians Dizzee Rascal, Alex Trimble and Emeli Sande in his Olympic soiree. Note the title ‘Musicians’.
So now that we’ve set the British standard, shown the World our capabilities with real music, is this the start of our great musician’s getting involved in international events and showing the World how good current British music is?
No probably not.
But maybe, just maybe: after McCartney’s fumbling performance there will be a move, in the near future, toward the British having an international event without featuring a slightly squashed Beatle. Progress.
Mallory McDonald
