band profile
Arctic Monkeys
- 2003–2023
- 1,012 shows
- 99.5% of songs played matched to MusicBrainz
- half of the songs have left the setlist after 337 shows (median survival)
What Arctic Monkeys played at its concerts, night after night, from the setlists on setlist.fm; the discography comes from MusicBrainz.
What stands out
Arctic Monkeys play a steadier show now than in their early years.
Rotation, how much the songs change from one concert to the next, fell from 0.27 (2005, 2006 and 2007) to 0.12 (2019, 2022 and 2023) in its first and last three years with enough shows. AM lost 3 of its 11 eligible songs (those played at least 3 times and found in MusicBrainz) and 73% were still in the setlist after 452 shows, while Suck It and See stands at 18% after 573. Overall 21% of its eligible songs were still played after 1,011 shows, and the median survival is 337 shows.
Caveats and limits
- The Car (86% after 114 shows) is too recent to judge.
- Survival is counted in shows, not years, and years with fewer than 5 pairs of consecutive shows are left out of rotation (see Methodology).
How old the songs were: repertoire age
Years between a song's first release and the night it is played, averaged over all the songs played that year.
How to read: Each line is one band. Its height is how many years old the songs played that year were, on average. A rising line means the set leans on older songs; a falling line means newer songs took over.
Data table
| Year | Arctic Monkeys |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 0.0 |
| 2004 | 0.0 |
| 2005 | 0.7 |
| 2006 | 1.4 |
| 2007 | 1.5 |
| 2009 | 1.8 |
| 2010 | 2.7 |
| 2011 | 3.1 |
| 2012 | 3.9 |
| 2013 | 3.8 |
| 2014 | 3.9 |
| 2018 | 6.4 |
| 2019 | 7.4 |
| 2022 | 10.2 |
| 2023 | 10.8 |
Median age by tour
Each bar is one tour in one year: a tour that spans several years appears once per year, because a median cannot be combined across years. The diamond marks the mean. Cells with fewer than 15 shows are left out.
How to read: Each bar is one tour in one year. A longer bar means older songs were typically played (the median age, in years); the diamond marks the average.
Data table
| Tour | Year | Shows | Median age | Mean age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | 2005 | 25 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | 2006 | 111 | 2 | 1.4 |
| Favourite Worst Nightmare | 2007 | 114 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Humbug | 2009 | 74 | 2 | 1.9 |
| Humbug | 2010 | 30 | 3 | 2.7 |
| Suck It and See | 2011 | 86 | 4 | 3.2 |
| Suck It and See | 2012 | 61 | 5 | 3.9 |
| AM | 2013 | 78 | 4 | 4.0 |
| AM | 2014 | 76 | 3 | 4.0 |
| Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino | 2018 | 73 | 6 | 6.4 |
| Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino | 2019 | 16 | 7 | 7.4 |
| The Car | 2022 | 30 | 11 | 10.6 |
| The Car | 2023 | 89 | 11 | 10.8 |
How much shows change: rotation
How much the setlist changes from one show to the next within a tour, by year. 0 is the same setlist every night; 1 is no song in common.
How to read: Each line is one band. Height is how different one show is from the next on the same tour: 0 means the same songs every night, 1 means no song in common. A falling line means a more fixed show; a rising line, a more changeable one.
Data table
| Year | Arctic Monkeys |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 0.34 |
| 2006 | 0.24 |
| 2007 | 0.23 |
| 2009 | 0.11 |
| 2010 | 0.10 |
| 2011 | 0.09 |
| 2012 | 0.05 |
| 2013 | 0.11 |
| 2014 | 0.08 |
| 2018 | 0.17 |
| 2019 | 0.10 |
| 2022 | 0.12 |
| 2023 | 0.14 |
How long songs last: survival
Share of the band's songs still in the setlist after t shows since their live debut, by studio album. A curve that stays high is an album whose songs became permanent; one that drops fast is an album that passed through.
How to read: Each line follows one album's songs from the night they were first played live. Height is the share still in the setlist (100% at the start): a high, flat line means the songs stayed, a steep drop means they left quickly. The axis counts shows, not years; the grey line marks half.
Data table
| Album | after 25 shows | after 50 shows | after 100 shows | after 200 shows | after 400 shows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM (11 songs) | 91% | 91% | 91% | 91% | 73% |
| Favourite Worst Nightmare (11 songs) | 100% | 100% | 100% | 73% | 73% |
| Humbug (10 songs) | 100% | 100% | 80% | 50% | 50% |
| Suck It and See (11 songs) | 100% | 100% | 100% | 82% | 36% |
| The Car (8 songs) | 86% | 86% | 86% | – | – |
| Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (9 songs) | 100% | 89% | 56% | 56% | – |
| Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (13 songs) | 100% | 100% | 100% | 77% | 69% |
| non-album (17 songs) | 82% | 59% | 29% | 12% | – |
| All songs (90 songs) | 94% | 89% | 77% | 60% | 47% |
Albums
Eligible discography songs by reference album (the earliest studio album that contains the song). Median survival is in shows.
| Album | Songs | Abandoned | Censored (still played, or came back) | Median (shows) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All songs | 90 | 54 | 36 | 337 |
| AM | 11 | 3 | 8 | not reached |
| Favourite Worst Nightmare | 11 | 6 | 5 | 577 |
| Humbug | 10 | 5 | 5 | 183 |
| Suck It and See | 11 | 9 | 2 | 343 |
| The Car | 8 | 1 | 7 | not reached |
| Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino | 9 | 4 | 5 | not reached |
| Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not | 13 | 9 | 4 | 768 |
| non-album | 17 | 17 | 0 | 63 |