The Maccabees

3rd May, 2008. Concorde 2, Brighton UK. There is something naive and sweet about the Maccabees. The cute lyrics and poppy tunes probably disguise the amount of thought that has gone into making their first album. It would be easy to dismiss them as just another arty band without any real substance, such as Art Brut. But then you would be wrong. I love the album and the homemade videos and artwork. Playing a gig on their home ground and in a small venue, meant that tickets were gone before the concert was even mentioned in the Concorde newsletter. Luckily for me, a mutual friend was able to get me on the guest list. Never in my life, have I ever managed to get on a guest list and it was worth the wait to say those words to the bouncers. It made me feel like Mother Maccabee, haha. The place was packed and steaming and with three support bands, the evening started early. They all went down well, apparently everyone was mates with everyone else, but the place really took off when Orlando took to the stage. He didn't say much and often stood back from the mike to allow the crowd to sing the songs - they were word perfect of course. He seemed apologetic at playing new songs, but the crowd were putty in his hands and would have listened to anything as long as their favourites came along. Toothpaste kisses for example, was sung by predominantly shreaking, female voices. Latchmere was a riot and the set passed in a frantic buzz of jumping, screaming and community singing. I have never seen a show with a crowd that was so word perfect and above all, loud! A 10 out of 10 for the band and the crowd!
This is a link of 1 of my 4 videos on You Tube:
First Love

Young Knives

17th October, 2006. Concorde 2, Brighton. How happy was I to see that the Young Knives were playing in Brighton in the same week that I was going to be there! I quickly ordered tickets in Holland, beacuse this was going to be a sell-out. Many years ago, I had held my 18th birthday party at the Concorde together with 5 other friends. It wasn't until I had ordered the tickets that I saw that the venue has moved furthur along the seafront to another building - hence the name change to Concorde2. Duh, no return to my old birthday haunt, but to a concert held in the lobby of the lift that used to take people up from the beach to the top promenade. Interesting. The Young Knives - they have a particular 'look' of should I say style, which can best be described as a 1960's geography teacher crossed with Jarvis Cocker. They look so square that they're trendy. (The merchandise on sale included Young Knives ties!). They play wonderful punky songs with witty lyrics which are totally addictive. They came over really well in the small venue, joking around with each other and the crowd. The songs sounded great and the crowd were really rocking. People climbed up on the pillars and stood on the window sills to get a better view, or maybe to get out of the heat. It was boiling in there! The bass player 'House of Lords' was pissed but still played and sang really well. Part timer, Weekends and bleak days, the Decision - brilliant. Their single - She's attracted to - sent the crowd crazy. Everyone was singing 'You were screaming at your mum, I was punching your dad,' in the extended version of the song, with extra lines such as, punching hif f****** face in, thrown in by Henry. What a laugh. Everyone left dripping wet, with a big smile on their face. Hope they come to Holland soon!
The Young Knives