After almost a year on tour, it’s heartening that Arctic Monkeys haven’t run out of things to say to each other. Halfway though the first date of this short UK tour, Alex Turner played the final chord of D is for Dangerous, then turned his back on the throng to talk to the drummer, Matt Helders. Whatever the two were discussing, it must have been good, because the guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O’Malley wandered over to join in. After a minute of jovial banter, only the noise from the crowd appeared to remind them they were headlining their biggest London show to date.

Inherent in that moment is what makes Arctic Monkeys so cherishable and, once in a while, exasperating. D is for dangerous, but D is also for detached, which was what they sometimes seemed. At times that worked. There was a winning insouciance about the opening volley of songs – Sandtrap, This House is a Circus and Teddy Picker – that they fired off without a pause in between. The sense of accumulated momentum found a natural sense of release with I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.

As is his wont, Turner, dressed in a V-neck pullover, gazed on quizzically. As has always been their wont, his fans didn’t mind. Once Turner’s lyrics are out there, the shows are primarily an opportunity for people proudly to sing them back to him – and on an improbably excellent white reggae treatment of A Certain Romance, they needed scant encouragement.

From the reaction it sparked, it seemed incredible that the speedballing surf-rock of Brianstorm polarised people when it was released in advance of the Favourite Worst Nightmare album this year. Just as he did on the flipside of Brianstorm, Dizzee Rascal bounded on to sprinkle some East London patter on to Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend – though without an introduction, several fans turned to each other, apparently unsure of whom they were watching.

Amid it all, the singer frequently inquired if everyone was having a good time. At one point, he even saw fit to add: “Are you prepared to have a good time? Because that’s half the battle.” Given that his fans were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, it was, as much as anything, as if he had been reminding himself.

Tour continues December 11 and December 12, Manchester Central; December 14 and 15, Aberdeen Exhibition Centre

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