Mayhem At Arctic Monkeys' SXSW Gig

Mayhem surrounded the Arctic Monkeys appearance at South By Southwest on Friday, with nearly 4,000 fans locked out of the gig.

Despite a lukewarm critical reception to the start of the Monkey’s American tour, it was estimated nearly half of the festival’s 10,000 attendees turned up to see the gig – but Austin, Texas’ La Zona Rosa venue could only accommodate 1,200.

A festival-goer says, “It was manic. They played La Zona Rosa, but at least half the 10,000 people at the festival turned up hoping to get in. Official wristbands were swapping hands for up to $1,000, even after they'd started playing, but most had to listen through the doors."

However, a host of fellow British bands, including The Subways, The Mystery Jets, Plan B and Dirty Pretty Things, managed to get into the gig.

We Are Scientist’s Keith Murray joined the band to perform Fake Tales Of San Fransisco.

The Monkeys included new song Leave Before The Lights Come On in their set, with singer Alex Turner introducing telling the audience, “We're gonna play a new song for you now - one that's not on the album. Just to prove that we're here for the long-term.”