The Arctic Monkeys rose by a mixture of stealth, word of mouth and the pre-Christmas zeitgeist that saw the planets miraculously align in their favour.

But with recording sacrificed to touring, 2006 has been tricky and bassist Andy Nicholson has already been shed. His replacement, Nick O'Malley, was a perfect Arctic Monkey, ie he kept his head down and said nothing.

Last night's sweltering warm-up for weekend festival dates in Reading and Leeds was an unmitigated triumph but, almost imperceptibly, things have changed.

Singer Alex Turner will never be Mr Loquacious, but he has matured into some sort of diplomat. He still mumbles between songs, but gone are the Asbo shrugs and the sense that he'd rather be texting his girlfriend at her Saturday job.

Instead, he thanked the crowd for coming ("How is everybody-Are we well?") and momentarily halted Cigarette Smoker Fiona to encourage a crowd-surfing girl with a cheery "you're alright love".

A career hosting Saturday evening light entertainment shows hardly beckons, but Turner does seem more at ease with himself and the fact that the crowd have taken his vignettes of northern life to their collective bosom.

From the opening I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor to the closing A Certain Romance, the songs are no longer his babies; they are everyone's.

Musically there has been a shift too, not a seismic one, but still a shift. While everything remains short and sharp, there are solos now. Moreover, an Arctic Monkeys show is less the shock of the new, more a set of comfy slippers. This metamorphosis into nationally known figures may not be exactly what they intended when they spent months honing their craft in a Sheffield rehearsal studio, but these road warriors are getting tighter and the segue from Mardy Bum to When The Sun Goes Down was magical.

By any reasonable yardstick Arctic Monkeys are stars and Turner's acknowledgement that "this is our last indoor gig of the year" seemed to confirm as much, but they seem no longer to be chafing at their new-found status.

As ever, there were no encores, but the band had made their point. Where they go from here is another matter entirely.