Maximo Park at Whelan’s – Review

Maximo Park played Whelan’s on the 28^th of February

Support came from Sleep Thieves with lead singer Sorcha Brennan leading the frontline wearing a sparkly dress and belting out some pitch perfect songs which included City of Hearts, a catchy an explosive rhythmic song. A top notch performance from the band on Friday night.

Maximo Park arrived onstage with a real kick in their step, and lead singer Paul Smith wasted no time in jumping around the stage wearing a tweed suit and hat. Opening with Give Get Take, Smith moved from one side of the stage to the next, then leaning in towards to crowd and extending out his arm as fans tried to get that all important touch. His energy fuelled not only the band but the audience too with many of them singing along to every track. Smith was like an energy bunny onstage as he never stopped moving and dancing much to the delight of the fans who squeezed into a sold out Whelan’s giving off an incredible and moving atmosphere.

See also: Photos of Maximo Park at Whelan’s

Up next was Our Velocity, a powerful synthy track that moves the audience into a frenzy with Smith producing what was simply some fantastic vocals and melodies throughout.

Hips and Lips, a high energy song with pounding percussions and rhythmic guitar, fuels the audience even more, and with each song Smith gives more and more to the point where you are left standing in awe of this magnificent performance.

With Apply Some Pressure Maximo Park are in cruise control after unleashing a plethora of amazing songs throughout the night. With this song it is in no doubt one of their most liked tracks. The tones and rawness of it move everything in you and brings you back to the year 2005 and you begin to feel as though it was only yesterday that you had listened to it for the first time. It’s an epic and catchy song that drives the band’s performance on the night from amazing to a show that every fan who attended on the night will remember for years to come. It was a show fans will tell stories of to their friends and family and it’s the intimacy of Whelan’s that provokes this which is why time after time so many big bands play here.

A wonderful performance from Maximo Park and it’s safe to say that they most definitely still have the intensity, power and delivery to woo an audience and to still sell out shows 14 years later since they first formed back in 2000. 10/10

 Review by Ian Blount