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Uk gig review: The Maccabees, Manchester Academy - Nov 9 2006
Maybe I’m getting a bit old, or maybe I’m just a bit cynical, but what is it about MTV events that attract all the posy haircuts? Half of the crowd weren’t so much here for the bands as they were to be ‘at the right place, at the right time’. So much has been said in the past for being ‘on the scene’ for an important event, so it seems like the trendsters get together at every such potential evening just to be at that elusive happening. It’s possible that I just felt a bit old and I’m being nowty about that, but who’d like to admit that?! That said, I *was* ID’d at the bar, so that was fun… and unusual given my recent experiments with beards… But I should probably write something about the gig here…
Right. First up on this whirlwind Brand Spanking MTV Music Tour (yes, that’s what it was called) were the Maccabees, a band who for now I’m going to focus on given all the attention the headliners have been garnering all by themselves lately. The Maccabees are, like all good rock stars, a bunch of God-fearing failed artschool dropouts who have apparently devoted their time instead to music, religion and haircuts. All three of these aspects were included heavily in their set, right down to the ‘special’ Sunday-school-kid, geek-dancing that the lead singer took to between his vocal tirades. Really the religion thing may not be strictly true, but I upon looking up their name on wikipedia I found that it was actually named after a deuterocanonical book of the Bible… apparently. What I understand of the excerpts I read, it appears that the name derives from stories not so much featuring the miraculous nature of God, but of the work of some higher power being carried out through the actions of others, these individuals were known as the Maccabees. If this is the reason for the name of their band than I have to say that I think of them as being more than a little pretentious… However, I could be wrong, and nobody is on hand to set me straight.
Putting that aside for now and dealing instead where it counts, their music, they sound very typical of the artschool rocker, Franz Ferdinand template we have all come to know and loathe. There’s nothing new to be had here. While there’s nothing intrinsically bad about their sound, it’s just all starting to sound a bit familiar. If you couple this with their fashionista haircuts and spastic dancing, it’s all starting to seem a bit stagnant. Their new track, “First Love”, was their standout track of the show, featuring a catchy staccato rhythm combined with melodic and slowly building guitars, but the longevity of this track beyond a few plays on XFM is doubtful. To find a silver lining however, it has to be said that their devotion to performance was exceptional. As I’ve already stated elsewhere the lead singer was flailing like a maniac waving his mic around unselfconsciously, they were clearly out to attempt to capture the audience and were trying their hardest to deliver. Sadly though, the content of their delivery came up short. A valiant effort, and a mildly entertaining scene, but nothing to write home about.
www.themaccabees.co.uk
www.myspace.com/themaccabees
Words by Paul Walters, photography by Dave Logan - www.myspace.com/daveloganphotogallery
Paul Walters, MyVillage 22nd November
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