REVIEW - Maxïmo Park
Monday 18th August 2008
The Corn Exchange
Often, despite best efforts, where there is room for error something will go wrong. And when this happens, just acknowledge it; deal with the problem, then come back stronger – something the success of which Maximo Park aptly demonstrated when a technical fault threatened their set.
Luckily for them, before they had even made it to the stage the Corn Exchange’s otherwise dull, pasty walls hummed with the chatter of an audience anticipating an exciting evening. So when the amps buzzed and all but cut out as the band belted out their first song, Girls Who Play Guitars, it wasn’t a huge surprise that the audience still loved it, cheerfully yelling the lyrics along with Mr Lead Singer.
And when the fault was fixed and Mr Lead Singer came back on to another round of raptuous applause, offering to play Maximo Park’s most recent hit all the way through again with better sound this time, the audience loved it even more.
What followed was an hour-long set with more energy than you’d expect from a Duracell Bunny who’d drunk a crate of Red Bull. As a result, even I, someone who was knackered from a hard day of Fringe labour and who possesses only limited knowledge of Maximo Park’s albums, was sucked in by the band’s enthusiasm. It was a joy to watch our frontman, dressed more sharply than a butcher’s knife, bound across the stage, swinging his microphone above the audience’s heads in order to pick up their word-for-word chants and just as brilliant to see the response: the rhythmic bouncing of an almost equally enthusiastic crowd.
Accompanied by snazzy lighting and performing in front of a massive, sparkly silver banner displaying their name, Maximo Park gave a lot and got a lot back, playing a range of songs old and new. The older songs were delivered with as much punch as you’d expect from having heard their records and whilst the newer stuff had a slightly more mature feel to it, the audience received it just as well and it promises to be just as exhilarating. I had come on the promise of entertainment and a good show, and in that respect Maximo Park certainly proved their worth.
Run Ends Monday 18th August 2008
Review by: Amy Brewer