Maximo Park have always been a crowd pleaser, and tonight is no exception with a dedicated fan base sold out show at Brighton’s Concorde 2
Maximo Park recently released their eighth Studio album ‘Stream of Life’. The album itself is inspired by a short story by Ukrainian-born Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector, who ponders why people do the things that they do and how there’s an inner flow to every individual. Tonight’s show has more of an emotional intensity, reflecting the new material and the album as a whole! The band itself shows that their emotions are synonymous, but uplifting songwriting shines through throughout the show by digging deep into existential questions!
Tonight’s support comes from North East based ‘Melanie Baker’ Her songs delve into direct, honest lyricism and capture themes of self-reflection and anxieties of modern life! Melanie Baker latest Ep ‘Burnout Baby’ caught the attention of BBC’s 6msic Steve Lamacq and youcan see why, by the catchy grungy performance from the band to please the early arrivals to the Concorde 2! The songwriting is raw and accomplished with some deep baselines. Melanie Baker grew up in the Cumbrian countryside, but now is part of the Newcastle music scene and is very much inspired by the likes of Phoebe Bridgers and Marika Hackman.
It was not long before Maximo Park’s lead singer Paul Smith appeared, with loud cheers, on the Concorde stage wearing his trademark black Trilby and Blazer. He soon took them off to reveal a white T-shirt bearing the logo ‘No War’, which in itself is a reference to the Russian-Ukrainian invasion!
Tonight’s Indie anthem opener, ‘Your own worst Enemy,’ as an intriguing sing-along chorus line, “Here comes that horrible feeling, your own worst enemy”, is accompanied by crunching guitars and tells the story of a narrator who can quite seem not to make mistakes over and over again!
The political references bear right through the show. The song, ‘No Such Thing as a Society’ in itself is taken from the infamous quote from former prime minister Margret Thatcher and deliberates the state of the world!
On the album itself, it is called ‘Stream of life’. guest vocalist and pylon singer Vanessa Briscoe Hay is
featured and brings the fire to the high octane ‘Dormant ‘til Explosion, and it was a real crowd pleaser when the floor became alive in the tightly packed Concorde.
Tonight’s show was more of a showcase of the new album, with the older fans anxiously waiting for older classics to be played when Paul Smith eventually took everyone back to the beginnings with ‘Graffiti’, which was written over 20 years ago. Maximo Park was full of gracious vigour and can still show everyone how to perform a brilliant foot-stomping set.
MAXIMO PARK SETLIST:
Your Own Worst Enemy
Postcard of a Painting
Dormant ‘til Explosion
Questing ‘til Coasting
The End Can Be as Good as the Start
Armchair View
The National Health
Quiz Show of My Making
Partly of My Making
Doppelgänger Eyes
Drinking Martinis
Our Velocity
What did We Do to You to Deserve This?
Favourite Songs
Books From Boxes
Apply Some Pressure
Encore:
No Such Thing as a Society
Nosebleed
Graffiti
