Some songs are like packaged goods, containing the same excitement, energy, and youth each time you hear them. On Tuesday night, when the Arctic Monkeys played The View From The Afternoon at Hammerstein Ballroom, the song was as fresh as a newly opened bag of Doritos.

For the first half of the show I was stuck behind a group of nervous teenagers side by side with some balding elders. While the Arctic Monkeys sang about putting on dancing shoes and looking good on a dance floor, the group in front of me stood stagnant, killing the mood like an early last call.

But when The View From The Afternoon erupted, the rest of the crowd went wild, and I hung left around my sleeping neighbours only to be pushed up to the front of the crowd. Suddenly I was in the middle of a bouncing mob, being pushed around and pushing back, as a roar of what can only be described as blokes chanted, “The haze has descended and it don’t make no sense anymore.” When the haze of the song descended and the band played the song’s final notes, the elders were no longer around, and the concert was fresh and exciting again.

While the band was promoting a second album that sounds decent live, the highlight of the night was how fresh the band’s first album still sounded. The Arctic Monkeys entered the music scene with the fastest selling UK debut album of all time. They roared through Europe and became the indie darlings of UK importers here in the States. The young band came fast and what’s incredible is that their songs still pack the same energy years later.

The band drained my energy and I went home for a four hour nap before my trip back into the city. Despite the fatigue, my morning commute was saved by listening to tracks from the debut album on my Zune. I was awake again.