Watch Arctic Monkeys give ‘Big Ideas’ its tour debut in Brisbane

Arctic Monkeys gave ‘The Car’ track ‘Big Ideas’ its tour debut at the band’s gig in Brisbane tonight (January 11).

The Sheffield band are currently touring Australia and New Zealand, with headline shows booked between festivals, including Falls Festival and Lost Paradise.

While headlining Brisbane’s Riverstage venue today, Arctic Monkeys opened their encore with the first public live performance of ‘Big Ideas’. The song had previously only been played at private shows for radio and TV broadcasts.

Alex Turner sat at the piano for the song while fans in the crowd swayed their arms to the track. Watch fan-shot footage of the performance below now.

Big Ideas live at Riverstage, Brisbane (cr: ewrichardson)
🔗 https://t.co/NcvNqn4SWm pic.twitter.com/bqT8Q94YpY

— Arctic Monkeys Japan (@ArcticMonkeysJP) January 11, 2023

Arctic Monkeys played: 

‘The View From The Afternoon’
‘Brianstorm’
‘Snap Out Of It’
‘Crying Lightning’
‘Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair’
‘Sculptures Of Anything Goes’
‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’
‘Four Out Of Five’
‘Arabella’
‘Pretty Visitors’
‘Cornerstone’
‘Do I Wanna Know?’
‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’
‘Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino’
‘Teddy Picker’
‘From The Ritz To The Rubble’
‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’
‘Body Paint’
‘Big Ideas’
‘505’
‘R U Mine?’

In a five-star review of ‘The Car’, NME wrote of ‘Big Ideas’: “Though more sedate, [it] conjure[s] colourful scenic images of The Talented Mr Ripley and ’60s James Bond flicks, a clear contrast to the art-house black-and-white cinema of ‘TBH&C’.”

The review assessed of the whole album: “‘The Car’ is almost overwhelming in terms of its ambition and scope, but provides ample motive to revisit this record over and over again. Whether it’ll be enough to reach across the divide and convince the naysayers is yet to be seen, but given they’ll be playing in stadiums up and down the UK and beyond next year seems to suggest a rapprochement is in motion.

“For now, though, Arctic Monkeys stand alone like the abandoned saloon on the rooftop: the last – and greatest – band of their generation still operating at their highest level.”

‘The Car’ was named NME’s Album Of The Year in 2022. Speaking to NME, drummer Matt Helders reflected on the record and its shift in sound. “I think, even if it’s been done subconsciously, we’ve definitely always tried to move in a different direction, while still picking up where we left off from the last record,” he said.

“Each album has given us the opportunity to do something else. I mean, ‘Humbug’, for example, was a particular turning point for us; we were like, ‘If we can get away with this, we can do anything’.”