Maxïmo Park, London Brixton Academy
Maxïmo Park's Paul Smith
April 27, 2009
If you’re expecting a review in the typical sense, take a deep breath and forget about it.
Yesterday I realised that this Brixton Academy show makes for the 10th time I have seen this clearly dearly beloved Teesside five-piece live. Over a five-year period starting with a Futureheads support slot, I have less-than-gradually succumbed to a point where I hoard a collection of B-sides, demos, covers… look, I’m obsessed with Pavement and other such but this is different. It’s now.
From the umlaut to the stage quirks, Maxïmo Park are the sort of band it’s natural to fall in love with. And gone now is the book prop of the early days; it’s been replaced with something far more big-scale, namely professionalism. I can recall figureheads for every single one of the nine shows: Brixton Academy in 2007, A Certain Trigger is played in order, Paul Smith almost (I think ‘almost’) cries after playing ‘Acrobat’ for one of the first times; a cover of The Go-Betweens‘ ‘I Haven’t Seen Her In Ages’ at The Forum last year, in the encore; ‘Once, A Glimpse’ at the Vinyl Factory in London with different lyrics read from a book (nameless, I think). Let’s not even get into the scissor-kick/falling-less-than-gracefully-into-a-heap-on-the-floor incident at Camden Barfly in January 2005.
Oh gosh. Darn it, it’s nostalgia. And how I cringe. I like the now, I live for it; this is just embarassing. Which is why being sat down in the circle at Brixton Academy to see the Park is the strangest thing that could ever happen. Call me uneducated in health and safety regulations, but what is this about? It’s like the dream I had once where I was in a dancing establishment and being charged 20p per dance move. Back to the now – every time I so much as twitch from my paraplegic state, I can feel the beady eyes of the employed security guards (and the punters, damn them) surrounding me, waiting to pounce and protect me from myself. It’s strange. Can’t we, as a crowd, somehow overpower this? No, no, we’re conformists. I’m one of them too, that’s the worst thing.
The thing about live music that compels me to engage with it on about 50 per cent of evenings is the involvement; the connection; the feeling of looking into the artist’s eyes and feeling their excitement. Seeing the songs in their natural form as well as hearing them, watching the interplay, looking at people’s instinctive physical reactions and garnering the joy that emits from the songs. It’s organic. Sitting upstairs in the circle is quite simply the most sterile, abortive and valueless experience a gig-goer should ever have to encounter. I can’t even see what’s happening downstairs, let alone get up. It’s like watching Live With <insert your favourite band’s name here> on a pay-TV music channel at your grandparents’ house. It’s simply godawful.
So I’m left with audio and let’s just say it sounds like the PA has been dragged headfirst through a tsunami, it’s that muddy. I lean forward and catch the occasional glimpse of one of the finest frontmen of my generation flailing around the stage like a matchstick man, Lukas on keyboards as frenetic as ever. The between-song talking seems to have been censored a tad, which is a shame as I’m clutching at things to connect with.
Here’s what I can tell you, which is pretty futile. Much like my existence here:
- that single-note bassline on ‘Your Urge’ is so easy to slip by, but its effect is absolutely startling. And lyrically, that song is extremely extremely sad
- ‘Now I’m All Over The Shop’ is back in the setlist, but where have ‘Postcard Of A Painting’ and ‘Russian Literature’ gone?
- this band have got a pretty phenomenal back catalogue now
- anyone who says they peaked too early should really compare ‘Limassol’ with ‘Tanned’, via ‘Books From Boxes’ – it’s a different sound entirely
- I’ll do graffiti if anyone sings to me in French
- ‘Let’s Get Clinical’ is absolutely tongue-in-cheek, though this of course was obvious
- Maxïmo Park are still the most gracious band you’re ever likely to see
- too much strobe-lighting is grossly unpleasant
- there is filler in the ~16-song set: ‘The Penultimate Clinch’ and ‘Girls Who Play Guitar’ feel a tad gratuitous
- we’re still waiting for the album where the Park step up and become even more of a tour de force
- ‘Roller Disco Dreams’ has the most oversized chorus I’ve ever heard
- the new prop of choice may well be a megaphone
- Our Earthly Pleasures clearly isn’t in favour on the tourbus…
- Lukas (keys) may well be planning to take over the world – or at least the electronics are getting evermore prevalent
- ‘Questing, Not Coasting’ is the next single, surely the easiest option
- the way they package clever lyrics and extremely intricate song structures into something this easy to take in is still simply phenomenal and unrivalled
Ach well. That was a delightful run down… bring on the 11th showing, I’ll be at the front.
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