Gig Review... The Maccabbes @ Alexandra Palace, London, 8th June 2012

The Maccabees played their biggest solo gig last Friday at London’s Alexandra Palace. It may have the largest standing capacity in the capital but with the success of their third album the boys had no problem filling the venue with a mass of hyped up, chic dressed fans. ‘Given to the Wild’ has been dubbed as the bands ‘most accomplished work to date,’ the record got to number 4 in the UK album charts and there’s no doubt The Maccebees will continue to sell out their shows now they have secured their place in the Indie cosmos.

Ally Pally was still in daylight at the start of the gig with dusk immersing in through the windowed roof but the band kicked off the night with the stage saturated in a glowing royal blue light to the intro of the new album. Moving onto the gorgeous Child and Feel to Follow, I did wonder if the band were just making their way through Given to the Wild, until they then performed Wall of Arms from the same titled second album.



My favourite moment was the back-to-back performances of First Love and X-Ray, two of my best-loved songs from the band. Throughout the night the guys played a balanced mix of all three albums. This was the first time I had seen The Maccabees live, I have always heard great comments from their shows and I was not disappointed. The 5-piece were obviously overwhelmed by the energerised 10,000 strong crowd and Alexandra Palace was a perfect venue to accommodate The Maccabees sound.



During the gig lead Singer, Orlando Weeks announced that this wasn’t a song they played very often, but to much of the crowds enjoyment they preformed the cute Toothpaste Kisses from the band’s first album ‘Colour It In’. Followed by an amazing mix of Latchmere together with a slowed down version of About Your Dress.

The band ended the set with crowd favourites Love You Better and Pelican. Of course that wasn’t going to be the end. After a pause the band returned for an encore with more songs of the new album accompanied with a laser show to end the sell out gig. The show was a fantastic start to a summer of festivals for the band, if you’re lucky enough to catch The Maccabees over the summer. Let me know how they were!

Written by - Krystelle Kubicki



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