The Maccabees at Rock City 5th October

As if the second interview with Orlando Weeks beforehand wasn’t enough, we queued anxiously awaiting our tickets that awaited us at the desk. After gaining entry, me and Rosanna’s eyes shot straight to the merchandise desk on the entry, which we immediately purchased items from. Now feeling content on buying a band shirt, we headed for the action!

Supporting The Maccabees were Lyrebirds. Before having any chance to take any notice of them, I dashed in front of the crowd barrier to snap a few shots. I loved the feeling of standing freely in front of the trapped audience behind me. But, the other photographers were incredibly greedy and thought it funny to get in all my shots! Anyhow, after my one song flourish of quick snaps, Rosanna and I made our way toward the back to get a better view of them. We concluded that the style was a much better match to that of The Maccabees than previous supporters Mumford And Sons, and in fact we thought their music wasn’t too bad. It seemed their downfall was the fact that not many fans knew their music, and the tension for The Maccabees coming onstage was building.

Rosanna decided to give up her photography opportunity to try and get a good spot with me. We pushed enough until we thought we could go no further without aggravating anyone. Yet, we all stood there waiting for the band to come on far ages! People setting and testing the equipment dashed on and off stage many times before getting sorted. We saw the stage manager come on lining and opening the beers ready for The Maccabees to arrive so as the next song finished, cheers whistled through the venue, only to be followed by a groan when another song came on. The crowd decided to pass the time by singing along to the songs, one of which was ‘Hey Jude’ by The Beatles.

So, after what seemed an age The Maccabees finally arrived to an enormous reception. The 5 strong group started their set with usual opener ‘No Kind Words’. The crowd were in full voice as they had much more time to learn the new album’s lyrics but they played their usual mix of new and old album songs. They continued their much improved set (which they have perfected over the festival season) with the likes of ‘X-ray’, ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ and ‘Latchmere’ to name a few. The atmosphere was electric!

The Maccabees rounded up their first energetic set on massive hit, and general fan favourite, ‘First Love’. They were rewarded with a massive response of screeching teenagers, bellowing men and howling women, all combined into one united voice that sounded note perfect. Oh and not forgetting to mention the riotous moshpit! Leaving the stage, the fans wanted more and called them back with cheers of ‘MACCABEES, LA LA LA!’ amongst other luring calls, started by a group of young men in the middle of the floor with a football hooligan type tone. As to everybody’s delight, they returned to play an encore kicked off with ‘Mary’ and finished (as they did at The Rescue Rooms) with ‘Love You Better’.

Overall, an amazing night. You could tell by the fans and the bands reactions about how pleased they were with the amazing performance. It clearly showed how much they’d been working on their live performance over the festival season, and it certainly paid off.

By Charlie Cooper