Maximo Park and Special Patrol@ Fowlers Live (18/08/07)

Sun 26th Aug, 2007 in Gig Reviews

Walking through the doors of Fowlers Live I was expecting a high energy evening. I was disappointed that one of the first things I encountered was a sign that read Operator Please will not be performing tonight due to illness.” Hmmmmmm it left me pondering who would be taking their place but as I entered the venue the familiar lyrics of current radio hit Changing Emily confirmed it was local band Special Patrol.

I am surprised that I haven’t caught these guys live previously. This Adelaide five piece put in a good effort with front man Myles Mayo’s captivating gaze working hard to get this sold out crowd engaged. They gave it a good go but their chilled folk pop was the wrong genre for the feats and style we were about to witness with Maximo Park.

Taking to the stage like a seven year old that had just drunk a litre of red cordial front man Paul Smith tore around the stage as Maximo Park launched straight into current hit Girls Who Play Guitars. This high energy wasn’t short lived either, Smith in his signature bowler hat raced, roared and leapt through each song never tiring once. His air splits were enough to make both boys and girls alike jealous! Everyone knew they were in for a treat!

The majority of the set consisted of tunes off their current 2nd Album Our Earthly Pleasures but they did throw in a couple of songs from their debut A Certain Trigger, including The Coast Is Always Changing which Smith stated they “had rested for a while”, the crowd clearly appreciated this little diddy coming out of retirement and the band took a moment to absorb the crowd adoration.

Highlights included the crowd singlong to Our Velocity which resulted in a group chant of “Maximo Park, Maximo Park” upon completion, Books from Boxes and Apply Some Pressure. A lucky lady who brought the band a Go Betweens EP got her request met with Maximo Park delivering a performance of The Unshockable.

The band had no choice but to come back for an encore as the crowd erupted into chants of “Maximo Park, Maximo Park” once again, finishing a spectacular night of high energy musical power with Gone Missing. This band is not like a walk in the park but more like jumping on board a high velocity freight train, let’s hope this bands pulls up at Adelaide’s station again soon.

Maximo Park Photo Gallery