Maximo Park / 26th November 2005 / Postbahnhof
Tom English - Drums
Paul Smith - Vocals
Archis Tiku - Bass guitar
Lukas Wooller - Keyboards
Duncan Lloyd - guitars
Once again, i was running late for a gig. Me and my friend were scurrying towards the Postbahnhof when we heard Paul's distinctive singing and broke into a run to get inside. I've been to a few gigs at this venue now, and usually there is still a crowd of people hanging out at the bar during the show, watching it on the screen there i suppose (WHY?!!). At this gig, there was nobody who wasn't jam packed in front of the stage. it was CRAMMED full in there. Maximo Park had the place in riots. Their set was intensely loud, energetic and surprising. They played everything, plus new songs, "I want you to leave" & "Wasteland" (on a new Warchild album). My music is still in storage back in Dublin, so I havent been able to listen to "A Certain Trigger" for a few months now. I had forgotten how much i totally love the album, totally as in every single song on it. Maximo Park don't do filler. Graffiti, I Want You to Stay, Once a Glimpse, I Kiss You Better, Postcard of a Painting, Now I'm All Over The Shop, Going Missing, The Night I Lost My Head, Limassol, the Coast is Always Changing...they saved "Apply some Pressure" til last and their new stuff went down really well. Paul Smith doesn't stay still for one moment, his feet hardly touch the ground as he spends most of the time in the air, and by the end of the gig he looked so exhausted, pale and drenched in sweat, I felt exhausted just watching him. Lukas Wooller becomes an extension of his keyboard when he is playing, his fingers never leaving the keys, plugged in almost, he dances in jarred, robotic moves, cutting the air with his free hand and stamping his feet on the ground.
After the show, Lukas came down to the bar and I was lucky to get a chance to talk with him. When I first heard Maximo Park i knew it was a different band to the Futureheads, but at the same time i was astounded at the similarity in sound. At the time I didnt notice that the media had picked up on it. But since then I guess things have changed, Lukas said the media would love the bands to go at it with eachother, but the situation is quite the opposite actually. I asked him about it saying, obviously there were differences between the two groups, "well, we have a KEYBOARD." he pointed out. I hadn't meant to put it so simply. The difference in vocal techniques and lyrical content is very distinct, the Futureheads take an abstract approach in their lyrics, where Maximo Park seem to prefer a narrative. So I was standing there beside Lukas and thinking of the video for "Hounds of Love", and there is nobody running through the forest with a keyboard. Who came first, the Futureheads or Maximo Park? If you work it out tell me what you find.
That was Saturday night. The GO! team played in Magnet on Sunday. This venue is so tiny, and the Go! Team are SO BIG. They have two drummers, three guitarists and their amazing singer/mc dancing like a go-go girl for all she's worth. the GO! Team are making music that sounds like something from a long time ago. I suspected alot of sampling when I heard them first. But it's all live instruments and vocals at the show. The more shows I go to here in Berlin, the more I realise that the crowd loves to get involved. The Go! Team really like to get everyone to take part, giving the audience words to shout so we could join in on the new songs, they had us chanting, waving lit up phones & lighters, everyone was dancing, jumping, clapping and singing along, everyone knew the words. The new songs they played were taken up immediately by the crowd. Especially "Doin it Right". Their set seemed a little short, but all the good ones were in: Ladyflash, Everyone is a VIP to Someone, The Power is On, Huddle Formation, Junior Kickstart, We Just Wont Be Defeated, The Ice Storm (a b-side). There was one song that one of the drummers came out to sing, in the sweetest voice. The rest of the band left the stange and she was left with two of the boys on the keyboard. It was beautiful. Coincidentally, the Go! Team have contributed to the Warchild album aswell, with "Phantom Broadcast".
I don't know what this support band curse is that i have, but I fucked up on the way to both these gigs, distracted by a vernissage on Saturday night and misled by the door times, then the U-bahn got the better of me on Sunday, so I missed Her Space Holiday. I caught the last few minutes, it was a good five minutes.
After this weekend my hearing is fucked, my heart is beating really fast, my wallet is empty and im still hungover. I'm out.
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