Maximo Park, Little Lovers @The Zoo, Brisbane, 14/08/2007

Sun 19th Aug, 2007 in Gig Reviews

With Operator Please pulling out of the Maximo Park tour due to illness, it fell to local lads Little Lovers to fill in, and although they didn’t quite have the pull of Operator Please, they still put on an excellent set. They opened what was to be an interesting set with their self titled song, Little Lovers. What followed was a pop punk fusion that kept the crowd on their toes. The star of Little Lovers is without a doubt, drummer Ben, whose drum solos and backing beat were tight and consistent beneath a mix of messy guitar and distorted bass.

Whilst the show was highly enjoyable, at times the attempted on-stage banter between the guys seemed a little forced and a few of the tunes felt as though they had been thrown together at the last minute. However, this was to be expected given they had only just found out earlier in the day that they would be stepping in. With a little polishing Little Lovers will surely become a firm favourite amongst Brisbane crowds.

Maximo Park stride out on stage to the roar of the sold-out Zoo crowd, who have now all pushed up into the front area. They open with the guitar/drum interplay of The Coast Is Always Changing (from debut album A Certain Trigger) and follow it up with A Fortnight’s Time from latest album Our Earthly Pleasures. The star of the show is definitely frontman Paul Smith, who, without an instrument to weight him down, dances around the stage, and emotes to every lyric like an interpretive dancer. It’s a pity the rest of the band members aren’t a little more energetic, especially drummer Tom English, who, despite providing breakneck beats for the songs, doesn’t really get into the set until around four or five songs in.

The crowd is dancing enthusiastically, but it’s not until Our Velocity that things really take off, as a fully formed mosh pit arrives front and centre. The band feed off this new energy, lifting the tempo and energy across the stage. Smith dedicates Books From Boxes to Grant McLennan, stating “This is a song of ours, that I think he would have liked.” The real surprise of the night is the way many of the punters are singing along to every word of the songs – Maximo Park’s lyrics are quite verbose and diverse, but the crowd sings along like they’re well known anthems. They round out the set with uber-hit Apply Some Pressure, followed by Going Missing.

After a short break, they return to play Signal And Sign, before a new song, and then finish the night with their other massive hit from their first album, Graffiti. The entire crowd dances to the spectacular opening riff from Duncan Lloyd, and the band sign off with a promise to return soon. Maximo Park are one of the best and brightest from the current wave of retro mod-rock bands, and with a live show to back it up, it’s only a matter of time before this band achieve legendary status.

By Liam McGinniss aka gumbuoy and Kieren St John aka akaesha