Moises Martinez

On Sunday, Sep. 29, students from Downey High School live up a late night out in Los Angeles to see the Arctic Monkeys perform. “I almost forgot we had school the next day,” senior Stephanie Chavez said.

The indie-rock band, Arctic Monkeys, completed their 3-day show in Los Angeles at the Wiltern Theatre the weekend of September 29.  Various students from Downey High School attended the sold-out concert to see one of their favorite bands in action.

The band performed as part of a tour for their newly released album, AM, which sold more than 157,000 copies in its debut week. The British group has been headlining venues and festivals since 2006 and is often a favorite among indie-rock lovers.

Senior Stephanie Chavez attended the concert on September 29 and has been an adamant fan of the band for years.

“ I love their lyrics and their unique garage-rock sound,” Chavez said.

The indie-rock quartet has only performed a few times in the Los Angeles area but has already garnered a steady fan base. Senior Brendan Guitron recalls the first time he saw the band.

“I saw them two years ago at the Hollywood Bowl right after their album Suck it and See came out. “ Guitron said. “They put on such a great show that when I went home I looked up the rest of their songs and they became my favorite band.”

The crowd first slowly began to assemble at around 8:00 pm to see opening band, Mini Mansions, perform. The band put on a 40-minute show, to which the crowd occasionally clapped and hummed along to.

It was not until after the opening band was done that the theatre began to swell up with attendees. After a few minutes of set up, the band members finally appeared around 9:45 p.m., sending the crowd into a continuous loud cheer. They opened up their set with one of their newer songs titled “Do I Wanna Know?” The crowd roared throughout the rock single which has already made it to the Billboard Top Alternative Chart.

The band continued to play song after song, giving the crowd what it craved. Senior Diego Valarde also attended the concert and was positioned in the stage pit.

“My favorite part was that I was so close to the stage.” Valarde said. “I was only like 10 feet away from them.”

One of the main highlights of the show came when the band played their hit “Fluorescent Adolescent”. The song made the crowd enter a unanimous chant making the theatre shake.

The show carried on until midnight with the band playing songs from their older albums as well as from their new album, AM. Towards the finale of the concert, a fan of the band made his way onto the stage and ran behind lead-singer Alex Turner. In a matter of seconds he was tackled down by security forces and escorted out. The event sent the crowd into a frenzy, which lasted until the last lyric of the song.

The Downey High School attendees admitted they enjoyed the concert overall.

“I loved everything.” Valarde said. “I just wish they would have played more songs.”

For a faint moment, some of the students did not realize that they had class the next day and they would have to settle for only a few hours of sleep. Although they admit it was a hassle to wake up in the morning and get ready for school, the show will be a night they will remember for a long time.