Via Hillsborough, please – Arctic Monkeys rock Hillsborough in homecoming Sheffield masterpiece

Cult classic, A Certain Romance, had just finished, and he already knew he had the crowd in the palm of his hands.

Just over two miles from The Grapes, where they made their debut almost exactly two decades ago, Turner and his troupe were back on home soil once more – and the crowd couldn’t have been happier.

Liverpudlian quartet, The Mysterines, were the first out, followed by Swedish noughties indie rockers, The Hives, who got things going with a couple of earworms that some may have forgotten they knew, setting the mood with tracks such as Hate to Say I Told You So and Tick Tick Boom.

Just before 9pm, though, the main event arrived.

Having mixed up their set in recent performances nobody was sure what the Monkeys would go for as an opener at S6, but for a city that has been championing these guys for two decades there was never going to be a wrong answer.

The line ‘Oh they might wear classic Reeboks’ couldn’t have gone down better as they reverted back to their roots, and they delicately tread the path of boys to men as they rocked their way from Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not to The Car.

There have been six albums released since that breakout album in 2006, and even though their style has changed quite dramatically in the last couple of releases they were always going to take the thousands present on a journey from start to finish.

From iconic Brianstorm through 2009’s lyrical masterpiece of Cornerstone and into the new age of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’s Four Out Of Five, they made sure they had their bases covered. An acknowledgement that they’ve touched people’s lives at too many different stages not to offer the full smorgasbord of their talents to those making the pilgrimage.

In the shadow of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium, a stone’s throw from where they’ve watched the Owls’ play in the past, the Monkeys dropped banger on banger delving into their monstrous catalogue that quite literally has something for everyone.

Mardy Bum, a song so Yorkshire that other parts of the nation need a translator, was met with outspread arms and a crescendo of ‘and you’ve got the face on’, and there was a real appreciation for new releases such as Body Paint, There’d Better Be a Mirrorball and the deep bassline of Sculptures Of Anything Goes.

Turner’s never been the conversationalist, not even in his home town, but even he said it’d been a pleasure as things wrapped up, delving right back to the start in their encore as the now eminent I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor burst from the speakers, much to the delight of those that remember it being released.

To finish, R U Mine, which has been such a regular go-to, and as the sun disappeared and night fell on Hillsborough Park, Turner bid farewell. Who knows when they’ll be back again.

‘I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be’, their final song says. But for many, there’s nowhere else they’d rather have been on Friday night as Sheffield welcomed back some of their most talented sons.