Maximo Park - Academy, Manchester, 23/5/2009
by Dixie Ernill
published: 22 / 5 / 2009

intro
At a sold out gig at the Manchester Academy, Dixie Ernill watches Maximo Park play an impressive set to their enthusiastic crowd
Back in 2004 Geordie Pete, a friend of mine, came down to Manchester in a mini-bus to see a band I’d never heard of and due to prior commitments I couldn’t make the gig. That band was an up and coming bunch of upstarts from Newcastle by the strange name of Maximo Park. It would be a good year or so later before I finally got to see them play live, sandwiched between the Cribs and the Kaiser Chiefs at the Manchester Apollo, by which time they were already established NME stars. Tonight they are headlining a sold out Academy to promote their freshly released third longer player 'Quicken the Heart', but, despite coming on stage nearly 15 minutes late, they still find sufficient time to mix in a good helping of tracks from both their earlier albums with their new material. Indeed they choose to open proceedings with a riotous 'Graffiti' from debut 'A Certain Trigger'. If any re-assurance was required that the band were performing to an ardent following, then confirmation was provided by the bucket load from the joyous reaction the song provoked amongst the crowd. Singer Paul Smith is on top form with his trademark stage leaps and kicks mixed in with his bizarre disco dancing and between song banter, but he is merely one cog in the finely oiled music machine that Maximo Park have become. Songs form the new album don’t quite get the same reaction as established classics such as 'Going Missing', 'Our Velocity' and set closer 'Girls Who Play Guitars', but in time they will do. 'Let’s Get Clinical', 'A Cloud Of Mystery' and the brilliant forthcoming single 'Questing Not Coasting', which appears in a three song encore alongside a new song and a pumping 'Apply Some Pressure', all stand up next to the earlier tracks. As enjoyable as the gig is, I still think that the missed show in 2004 could well have been even more special. The moral being when Geordie Pete comes to town, cancel all plans…
Band Links:-
http://maximopark.com/https://www.facebook.com/maximopark/
https://twitter.com/maximopark
Picture Gallery:-


interviews |
Interview (2005) |
![]() |
Newcastle band Maximo Park's debut album 'A Certain Trigger' has been one of the bestselling albums from a new group this year. Aaron Brown talks to them about their success and acclaim, and instant popularity |
live reviews |
Albert Hall, Manchester, 19/5/2017 |
![]() |
Dixie Ernill watches Maximo Park, despite a below par current album, still put on a great gig at the Albert Hall in Manchester |
Warehouse Project, Manchester, 23/9/2010 |
Carling Academy, Newcastle, 10/12/2005 |
Northumbria University, Newcastle, 28/9/2005 |
Apollo, Manchester, 15/10/2005 |
features |
Maximo Park (2007) |
![]() |
In the latest in our 'Photoscapes' photographic series, Katie Anderson shoots Maximo Park at a show at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth |
reviews |
Our Earthly Pleasures (2007) |
![]() |
Lavishly-produced, but nevertheless bitingly sharp second album from Maximo Park, the follow-up to their bestselling 'A Certain Trigger; |
A Certain Trigger (2005) |
Apply Some Pressure (2005) |
Patonki (2001) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
John Philip Shenale - Interview
Yardbirds - Interview with Jim McCarty
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Vapors - Interview
Johnny Cash - Video Vault
Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Waeve - Club Academy, Manchester, 18/3/2025
Kim Wilde - Photoscapes
previous editions
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl EPKen Loach - Interview
Allan Clarke - Interview
Paul Clerehugh - Interview
Retro Spankees - Interview
Barrie Barlow - Interview
Beautiful South - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Au Pairs - Interview
Moriarty - Interview with Dr Haze
Paul Weller - Stanley Road
most viewed reviews
current edition
Bryan Ferry and Amelia Barrett - Loose TalkIvor Game - When Will You Fall Into My Loving Arms?
Gabriel Moreno - Nights in the Belly of Bohemia
Bryan Adams - Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2024
Brooke Combe - Dancing at the Edge of the World
Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham - Big Blue Sky
FKA twigs - Eusexua
Leon Bridges - Leon
Mystery Fix - Life to Life
Permafrost - The Light Coming Through
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart