Maximo Park by Han Quintrell - see more here
Maximo Park owned the stage of Wembley Arena for an entire hour - if that's not something to tell your grandchildren, I don't know what is.
They mixed it up a bit, shoving new, old, and very old (I Want You To Leave, anyone?) songs into their set, which did nothing but illustrate how good this lot really are. That they can afford to do this just shows how they know by now which songs are duff and which ones rock a venue to its foundations - with the exception of new track A Fortnight's Time, which should be banished to Room101 and then killed horribly.
Still, one awful song doesn't make their brilliant ones any worse, and with that exception the second lp is something to definitely look forward to.
MP3: Maximo Park - I Want You To Leave
MP3: Maximo Park - Graffiti (Live at Lowlands Festival)
This was the night New Order pulled out all the stops - playing not one, not two, but FIVE Joy Division songs at the start of their set. It was at this point I realised I would never go to a better gig than this; now I can tell my grandchildren I'd moshed to live Joy Division songs!
I can't truthfully comment on their set after this however, as I left to prat around in the foyer and get drunk, but it did sound good, and sneaking in at the end for Blue Monday before legging it to the station was the best way to end the night.
Overseeing the whole thing, I do doubt I'll ever have a better night out. It was all best described by Maximo's iconic frontman Paul Smith - "Bloody hell!"
