When you leave a gig singing the chorus to a support act’s song, you would think something had gone terribly wrong for the headliners. But despite bouncing out of the O2 Academy on a wet Glasgow Friday evening reciting ‘Go baby go baby go, don’t upset the rhythm!’, the Noisettes did not, thankfully, manage to upset Maxïmo Park’s rhythm.
Marking the launch of their third studio album, Maxïmo Park took the stage at the O2 Academy to an air of expectation. It is a venue that undoubtedly suits the sounds of their fringe-of-indie-rock originality, but with mixed reviews on ‘Quicken the Heart’, it would seem they still had something to prove; that said, the four-piece never fail to deliver an energetic live performance.
Their new tracks may have experimented with the synth-guitar balance successfully, but on this performance the older tracks still appear to provide more bite. Delivering some old favourites brought an exciting entrance; Paul Smith – with his awkwardly cool moves – owns the stage and provides the obligatory cue for the crowd to dance along. The relentless attack of ‘Our Velocity’ and ‘Books from Boxes’ kept the crowd on its toes and the floorboards straining under the pressure. Pause for breath guys? No thanks.
Recent release ‘The Kids Are Sick Again’ proved to be a little more subdued but nonetheless created an atmosphere which kept the audience in the palm of their hands. Coupled with their true Northern honesty, a band like Maxïmo Park can only continue to grow – they do the job, and they do it well.
