North London Food & Culture

Review: The Maccabees, Alexandra Palace


I first saw The Maccabees in January 2007 when they were supporting one of their south London peers, Jamie T, at the dingy student union at Leeds Met. Who knows where Mr T is now but The Maccabees are exactly where they should be – selling out Ally Pally.

The handsome palace has seen a host of hot bands playing its stage of late, and this five-piece took to their biggest venue to date with confidence. They have, of course, come a long way since their first hit, Latchmere, an amusing ditty about the wave machine at the eponymous pool in Battersea.

To the joy of the crowd they played the track along with another old favourite, the cute and catchy ‘Toothpaste Kisses’. But mostly, however, the show was an impressively enjoyable performance of their current (third) album, ‘Given to the Wild’, accompanied with flickering lasers and retro visuals.


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Lead singer Orlando Weeks stole much of the show with his anxious eyes, dark good looks and guitar nous. His voice commands an intimacy – whilst holding us at arms length. It’s brooding and mean when he sings the likes of ‘No Kind Words’, then choir-boy high and gentle during ‘Unknow’ (one of four encore songs) but throughout it remains emotional, sometimes even despairing.

The boys have amassed an army of fans who sang along, jumping, waving and clapping during the rousing, euphoric moments.

After their first album ‘Colour It In’, there were worries that the band would fall foul of second album syndrome. But it wasn’t to be. ‘Walls of Arms’ confirmed their competence and ‘Given to the Wild’ has seen them grow and stretch to become one of Britain’s most exciting young bands. Now they head off to tour the States. Be sure to catch them when they are back.

Words and Images by Georgia Grimond.


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