It is early evening in Sheffield and, in a dimly lit room in the Foundry music venue, more than 1,000 people are stood in anticipation of a night of dirty dance floors and dreams of naughtiness.
They are waiting for a band that will spend the next two hours blasting out major hits like Mardy Bum, A Certain Romance and Fluorescent Adolescent. They will dance, jump and sing their hearts out with abandon. Quite a lot of beer will get spilled.
But this isn’t, despite what you may think, the Arctic Monkeys playing.
Rather, all these people are packed into this venue to watch four lads from Wolverhampton: the Antarctic Monkeys.
Since 2006, this tribute band have been playing to sold-out venues – pubs, clubs and festivals – across the globe. In the notoriously fickle world of tribute acts, they have become one of the most recognisable and longest lasting – as well as best loved – such groups on the planet.
Now, this autumn, as they celebrate their 20th anniversary of aping the Monkeys (no pun intended), they will play Lincoln’s Drill.
Yet what many in the crowd might not know is the band never actually intended to be a tribute act.
“That wasn’t the plan at all,” says Dean Reynolds, lead singer and manager of the group. “We were an originals band for a few years but always looking at ways to play our music for larger crowds.”
Then, in 2006, the Arctic Monkeys released their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. During a rehearsal shortly afterwards, Dean played an acoustic version of hit single I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor – and the rest, as they say, is history.
“The idea all came from that,” says Dean. “Within the first week [of becoming a tribute] we just knew that the idea was going to be massive.”
So it proved. As the Arctic Monkeys themselves transformed into stadium-filling, world-dominating indie giants, so their Wolverhampton counterparts enjoyed success too, playing everywhere from Australia to America, and even Dubai. At Liverpool’s Mathew Street Festival, they once played to 50,000 people.
“We owe everything to their debut album really,” says Dean. “A good 50 per cent of our set are songs from that album, and it’s changed my life. As a band we were kind of going nowhere, whereas now we play to music fans who love it, and it is something that we can earn a living from.”
However, despite that success, there have also been struggles.
“When the Monkeys released Humbug and Suck It And See, it felt as if there weren’t received as well by critics and fans at the time,” says Dean. “So, at that point we also became a part-time Oasis tribute band for about two years as well.
“Then, when AM came out in 2013, we felt as if it had really landed again.”
Ian Fletcher agrees. He’s the Antarctic Monkeys guitarist. Even today, he says, the music still feels “fresh“. And he adds: “It now feels like it’s our own because of how long we have played it for.”
One of his standout memories of the last 20 years was playing a gig in Shetlands shortly after the Arctic’s debut album had been released.
“There was a music shop in Lerwick, and they had heard that we were playing two nights in the Shetlands,” he says. “Low and behold, all their stock of the Monkeys sold out – because of us playing there!”
Over time, of course, bands change their look and style, as well as their music – and this is something tribute acts have to stay on top of.
“I’m mindful of my age, so my hair isn’t as long as Cookie’s hair,” says Ian. “But we do try and get every little detail right. Whether it be wearing the same tops, or even things like the photograph on my amplifier. We change with every album, which gives us more of an authentic look to it.”
They also still regularly sell out the venues they play – and will be hoping to do so in Lincoln when they arrive on Saturday November 21.
“There is a market there for us,” says Dean again. “With us, people don’t have to pay over the odds but still get to see us play the songs they love.”
- Antarctic Monkeys play Lincoln Drill on November 21. Tickets here: https://www.lincolndrill.co.uk/antarctic-monkeys-tickets/lincoln-the-drill/2026-11-21-19-00
