Maxïmo Park at Melkweg Oude Zaal, Friday 22 September 2017

Knowing how much fun I had seeing Maxïmo Park last time, I was looking forward to Friday’s gig.

The early evening was a bit rushed for $REASONS. I missed my bus and had to cycle in to Amsterdam. Fortunately it was a lovely evening. I didn’t get to Melkweg in time to see local band Yasmine‘s support act, but their EP Honey wasn’t setting my world on fire, so I didn’t mind. Maxïmo Park, however, were wonderful. Paul Smith has such great energy on stage, and looked like he was having a great time. The crowd were warm and loud, and excited to be there to see them. Unexpectedly emotional stand-out songs for me this time were socialist anthem “Work And Then Wait”, and “Risk To Exist”, the title track from their new album, which I hadn’t realized was actually about refugees crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.

  1. What Did We Do To You To Deserve This
  2. Risk To Exist
  3. I Want You To Stay
  4. Books From Boxes
  5. Brain Cells
  6. Questing, Not Coasting
  7. Work And Then Wait
  8. The Hero
  9. The National Health
  10. Going Missing
  11. This Is What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted
  12. The Reason I Am Here
  13. Our Velocity
  14. What Equals Love?
  15. By The Monument
  16. Girls Who Play Guitar

Encore:

  1. Nosebleed
  2. Get High (No I Don’t)
  3. Apply Some Pressure

I also got myself a gorgeous screen printed tour poster and a spiffy T-shirt. My colleagues have been commenting that the posters on my office wall (which they see in the background of every video chat) haven’t changed much recently, so it’s time to mix it up a bit.