Antarctic Monkeys tune up for Fake Festival

Antarctic Monkeys, the leading tribute to Arctic Monkeys, give an insight into their fake life as the legendary band, as they prepare to play Chesterfield Fake Festival.
Antarctic Monkeys are playing at Fake Festivals in Selby in May 2011.Antarctic Monkeys are playing at Fake Festivals in Selby in May 2011.
Antarctic Monkeys are playing at Fake Festivals in Selby in May 2011.

They will be performing at the Stand Road Recreation Ground on Saturday, June 17, along with tributes to Bon Jovi and Foo Fighters.

The band say their creation wasn’t the plan at first: “We never set out to be an Arctic Monkeys tribute band, it just happened. It was all down to perfect timing and the fact that we sounded like them helped. We were in an original band for a number of years before we decided to do a tribute. Originally the idea was to be a 60s’ covers band covering songs by the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, etc.

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“Just at that time the Arctic Monkeys released I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor. We played it at one practice session and it seemed to sound pretty good and the idea developed from that. It happened purely by accident really. We booked our first gig four weeks after the initial idea, so basically had a month to learn the first album.”

The band see the key to their success as being able to develop their style alongside the original act: “In the early years it was just about the power and reproducing the songs as best as we could in the Monkeys’ style. More recently with the Arctic Monkeys changing and with Alex Turner growing more confident as a front man, we have been able to develop our own band and put more finer details into the set with style, performance, set list and stage layout.”

“With the Fake Festivals we try to get in as many of the hits as possible and that’s what you need to do as a tribute band. Not everybody at the festival is there to see a particular band and they may not know every single album track but are more likely to know the hits. For us the Fake Festivals are a big part of our tribute career and have really helped us to develop as a tribute band.”

“The band have been a great addition to the Fake Festivals tour over the years and we can always rely on them to put on a great show,” says Jez Lee, owner of Fake Festivals. “The Chesterfield crowd are going to really enjoy the set, full of the huge hits and sing-a-long anthems.”

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Early Bird tickets are on sale until midnight on May 17 and are priced as follows: Adult £17.50, young person (10-17 years) £10, family £46. Free admission for children 0-9 years.

Tickets can be purchased directly through the Fake Festivals website at www.fakefestivals.co.uk.

Along with Antarctic Monkeys, Bon Jovi Experience and Four Fighters will also be performing at Chesterfield Fake Festival. The folloowing bands drawn from the area will play during the afternoon: The Nameless, The WonderWhys, Angry Jesters, Heads Will Roll and Albany.

For more information and ticket sales, please visit www.fakefestivals.co.uk