Inhaler discuss touring with Arctic Monkeys, the “greatest rock band in the world”
In their recent interview with Far Out, Irish indie-rockers Inhaler lifted the lid on what it’s like to tour alongside the Arctic Monkeys after spending time with them this summer for a series of European dates.
After over three years away, in August, Arctic Monkeys made their long-awaited return at the Zorlu Center in Istanbul, Turkey. The Sheffield natives didn’t need a warm-up show to get back up to speed and didn’t skip a beat upon their grand comeback. Despite the dates occurring deep into festival season, Inhaler leapt at the chance to be special guests on tour with their heroes. Not only were they thanked with a bottle of champagne for their contribution to shows, but the band were also asked back to support them again on the road in 2023.
“Every night, we just got to watch them be the greatest rock band in the world,” drummer Ryan McMahon dotes. “They’re just so on it, and for a band that hadn’t toured in like three years, they really proved why they’re still at the top, and their new album is so fun to listen to. The fact we get to do it all again goes back to that imposter syndrome. We don’t feel worthy of it at all.”
The run took Inhaler across a number of European countries for a series of headline Arctic Monkeys shows. It also took both bands to the Summer Well festival in Romania, and one moment from the event stands out as the highlight of the run. “When they were doing ‘Crying Lightning’, thunder started going off,” Hewson says before McMahon intervenes, “They had a word with God. You couldn’t write it.”
As well as learning through watching the Arctic Monkeys on-stage every night, Inhaler were blown away by one luxury that comes with being a band of the Monkeys’ stature, which is now on their wishlist. “They were telling me about this flight case, which has a lamp in, a table, so they bring the bar with them (on tour),” Eli Hewson says. “They were like, ‘Get one of these as soon as you can. It’ll make any drab room feel mint’.”
Inhaler will be back on the road with Arctic Monkeys across Europe next year for a ten-date jaunt. They will kick off the tour in Linz, Austria, at the Tripsarena on April 24th. They then move on to Germany, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands before culminating the EU leg in Paris at the Accor Arena on May 9th.
Visit here to read the full Far Out feature with Inhaler and get the low-down on their new album, Cuts & Bruises, ahead of its release on February 17th.
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