> Reviews > Reviews 2007 > Maximo Park

Review by Rob.

Good news. New songs just as good as the old ones .

Leeds is not really overflowing with quality gig venues. Sure there is the cockpit for smaller bands, and the Faversham for even smaller ones and Rios, just opened in the Grand Arcade shows promise, but there is no real out and out venue with a capacity of, say, 3000 or so to catch those bands who have made the step up, yet reside below arena level. So we rely on the Universities to bale us out and prevent journeys to Manchester or Sheffield. Leeds Met gets bands just breaking with first albums out, plus a decent range of cult acts or comeback ensembles, and is a great venue. The main University, where we are tonight gets bigger acts often with 2 or 3 records out and an established fan base. It is also pretty rubbish. Situated in the excellently named Lower Refectory, it is a long narrow affair with an excuse of a balcony always thinly populated and for guests only. Under this are line of pillars. Get behind these and there is no view to speak of. Indeed get back more than halfway in the venue and the view is poor, as is the atmosphere. Added to this a recent refurbishment has added too much light and brightness to the venue - rock n roll should be dirty ok? Fire safety lights stay on throughout the gig robbing the venue of much needed face saving darkness. Add to this big queues for a drink and a mile long hike to the toilets and usually we look forward to a gig here with nothing more than average enthusiasm.

Lucky then tonight we are saved by the one factor crucial to a venue's success, namely the music. The uni does get its share of excellent bands and tonight we can add Maximo Park to that list. Whether we will be able to also add Art Brut to it is a matter of some debate however. Their name translates as 'rough art', and indeed there were elements of this knocking about tonight, especially the sound quality which did them no favours. Art is the key word to their music and they come on a bit like a rockier suede, and have elements of Pulp and Talking Heads about them. Playing material from both of their albums, the bits I heard from the back sounded both interesting and dull, if that makes any sense, and they were allocated a generous amount of time. The audience was large if a little quiet and I guess like me, a lot were not familiar with their music. The best songs featured at the set's conclusion and I will be listening to them further, so I guess its job done from their point of view. And did I mention the singer goes by the wonderful name of Eddie Argos?

Quiet is not really a word one would opt for when Maximo Park arrive onstage after a fairly short gap between bands. Things get going straight from the start with the familiar riff to 'Graffiti' starting things off. According to Ivan's mobile phone temperature sensor, it was 95 degrees Fahrenheit at the start of the gig and surely the magic or should that be mental 100° would have been reached during that opening song. The band are all on top form and over the course of the next hour and a half, treat us to nearly all of the new album, best tracks on the night were 'Girls who play Guitars' and recent single 'Our Velocity' though my favourite was 'Unshockable' which even got bit of singing along, not bad for a new song. Special mention also to 'Fortnight's Time' which with its line "5 X 5 = 25" does its bit for the education of the youth of today.

Older stuff is not neglected, indeed they touch on nearly every track from the debut. 'Apply some Pressure' and 'Going Missing' are both ace as usual, but the best song of the night is 'The Coast is always Changing', surely the best single never to be a single.' The thing about these songs is that they were written to be performed live, 3 minute blasts of energy to send the audience into a frenzy. Between song banter is kept short tonight but that's no problem as it allows extra songs to be squeezed in. They even dip into the b side collection to give us the rarely played 'A19'. Their time on stage flys by and all too soon 'Limassol' rounds off proceedings. I'm sweaty, knackered, hot and never thought I would be glad to get outside into the cool Yorkshire air for a much needed breather. Great gig, roll on the summer festival appearances.

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