Capping off their North American tour in epic fashion, England's Arctic Monkeys played to a sprawling crowd at Lollapalooza as the brutally hot afternoon turned cool; perfect timing for those pogo-ing super-fans lucky enough to be down front. Arctic Monkeys have been hoping for that sort of enthusiasm in America ever since they hit the scene in 2006, and finally, on the verge of their third album Humbug, they finally might be rewarded with the superstar status they’ve been courting in the United States since day one.

The quartet played some fresh cuts from Humbug, a disc that finds the Monkeys going down a darker, more psychedelic path. "There’s a bit more musicianship … I think on this third album. It’s more of a musical evolvement than the first two," bassist Nick O’Malley told MTV News. They credit the producing duties of Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Josh Homme for much of that evolution in sound. "He was encouraging across everywhere. But really for us - playing guitar," front-man Alex Turner told us of Homme's influence. "He was very motivational because you think it’s Josh Homme so I don’t want him to know how terrible I am. I think having him on board made you want to be better on your instrument," added O’Malley.

Whatever it was they did in the past months, the Monkeys sure are growing up fast. The new cuts stood up well against the band’s older hits during their set, and the boys (Alex just turned 23 this year) seemed to have a great time onstage at their Lolla debut.

"Everyone wants to have a good time, but it seems a lot more constrained rules wise," O’Malley said of the Lolla atmosphere. "But let’s not get down about that. Forget about the rules. Break them."

It’s a good mentality for a band that wants to have any sort of longevity.

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