Headlining tonight are THE MACCABEES, a very tight and very lively sounding quintuplet from Brighton. Having see them play at the Brighton Escape Festival after show party back in May, I was well up for this one in the same way as I would look forward to being locked in a Stella Brewery.
Anyway, they come on to a raucous greeting of youthful enthusiasm and joy that spilled over everywhere. The “mosh pit” was definitely a young man’s game tonight.
The backdrop is eerily spooky, like some sort of Francis Bacon face portrait. The music couldn’t be more different: it is impassioned and meaningful with an authentic underlining realism to it. Formed in 2003, they are continuing on an incredible sonic journey.
Orlando Weeks is the animated singer, his voice is unique in itself, almost sounding like he’s in distress and that his life depended on every last lyric, yet he has a charismatic charm that puts you ender a spell. On lead and rhythm guitars are brothers Hugo and Felix White: they play faultlessly in a rank n file style. Behind the drums is the very adept anchorman Robert Dylan Thomas, and last but by no means least, exercising his right to play deep punk skuzz riffs on the bass is Rupert Jarvis.
There are a hell of a lot of dynamics that make this group great. Wonderful stage presence, vibrant and gritty as well as inch perfect timing between them all. Wafts of youthful sing-a-longs pour out all over the place.
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This is no corporate well-oiled machine. The Maccabees play by their own weird and wonderful rules, with tales of the mundane exploits of their everyday lives spicing up an already exotic musical melting pot.
For example, “Latchmere” is a massive crowd favourite, simply about a swimming baths installing a new wave machine, while “Bicycles” - their encore tune tonight - is about how shit the train service is and how everyone is buying bicycles. It’s so simple that it's genius. Just don’t let David Cameron know about this one, he’ll probably use it for some tree hugging green climate change campaign.
Pure zeal and resonance smacks the crowd round the face and sticks like a wet packet of shit. With a range from sweet melody to high pitch tangents, The Maccabees put on a real stormer of a perofrmance with mutual appreciation on show.
They take the name from the Jewish mutineers who overthrew a Hellenistic Dynasty in 167 B.C. Like there namesakes, The Maccabees are definitely rebels, but pursuing their own cause!
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