The Maccabees Birmingham 10th May 09

The Maccabees Birmingham 10th May 09

The Maccabees, having recently released their second album "Wall Of Arms" embarked on a tour of the UK, stopping off at Birmingham O2 academy2. Having seen them before, and at a larger venue I anticipated a lively audience for the five-piece from Brighton however, this wasn't the case.

Beginning their set with new track 'No Kind Words' generated a lively response for those more dedicated fans near the front unlike those nearer the back, who resigned to a simple nodding of the head for the majority of the songs off the new album. On playing older, better known songs like 'First Love', 'Mary' and 'Toothpaste Kisses' (which was played acoustically) the crowd resonse was impressive, with the voices of youths from around the midlands almost drowning out The Maccabees. Also ' Maccabees played B-side to their most recent single 'Love You Better' which although good, didn't seem to have much of the audiences' approval with many people seeming a bit bored during the song. This is the second band however that I've seen in recent weeks who have decided to play a B-side as part of their set.

Only 45 minutes into the set, Orlando announced that they were playing their final song, before a break, having still not played single from the first album, 'About Your Dress'. With it being a personal favourite, I was quite disappointed that they chose not to play it, along with many other songs from their first album. Finishing their set off with the new single 'Love You Better' which seemed to generate a more exciting response from the crowd, similar to that of the older songs.

The performance was exceptional, and the audience response to the well loved tracks of their debut album 'Colour It In' was amazing, however I don't think many people had heard the new album yet therefore weren't so excitable. The Maccabees were also lacking any merchandise, the only things people would be taking home were the flyers left on a table next to a pretty vacant mailing list.