Theatre Thursday: Celebs Rumors

Ethan Shanfeld As the Arctic Monkeys waltzed onstage at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre Thursday night, they were met with such rapturous applause and overwhelming screams that when Alex Turner sat at the piano and sang, “Don’t get emotional,” it was as if he was speaking directly to the audience. While the band opened the show with new single “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball,” which came out just a few weeks ago, the crowd embraced it like an old classic. As Turner sang the song’s title for the final time, in falsetto, a giant disco ball lowered from the ceiling and lit up the exuberant Kings Theatre.  To be clear: there’s good reason for the Monkeymania. Thursday’s show marked the band’s first headlining concert in the U.S. since 2018, and even though their seminal album “AM” came out nearly a decade ago (feel old?), the Tumblr-era thirst for Turner is still very much alive. The audience erupted in shouts at the frontman’s every move — cheering when he ditched his guitar for “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?,” when he hoisted the mic stand above his head during “Arabella” and, of course, when he snarled between songs, “How’s everybody doing,” in a British accent thicker than the bass tone on “Crying Lightning.”