Maximo Park @ Billboard theVenue, Melbourne (12/03/2008)

Fri 14th Mar, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Maximo Park may have been in Australia only late last year, but their return to our shores so soon is still most definitely welcome. Last time they were here, they blitzed fans with sell-out club shows around the nation. With two fun-fuelled and extremely danceable albums in tow, those fans were even more delighted this time around. A much shorter tour ensued for the Newcastle five-piece however, with Brisbane and Melbourne the only two cities lucky enough to have sideshows for the band’s appearance at Playground Weekender in Sydney.

Local boys and girl Flamingo Crash opened the night at Billboard the Venue with a great load of optimism and energy. Having just begun to draw attention to themselves, the Maximo Park support slot was a perfect match of genre that surely gained them a little more attention from those in the room. As a whole, Flamingo Crash seemed like an amalgamation of The Cops, Architecture in Helsinki and The Mighty Boosh. Basic, yet catchy guitar hooks worked alongside more artificial elements from the keys – as well as some big hair.

The low drone followed by the immediately recognisable guitar riff of Girls Who Play Guitars chimed in rather quickly as the main attraction hit the stage. From the moment frontman Paul Smith emerged, he was a dancing mess of excitement. Dressed rather fancily in his black suit, bright red shirt and awesomely striking red shoes, he riled the crowd up with mid-air splits, hip thrusting and sliding about the stage – all in an attempt at getting the crowd pumped. And the crowd was more than happy to oblige, with responding chants of “It’s her life!” louder than the band itself. The single off Our Earthly Pleasures was a massive Triple J hit last year and was perfect as an opener, getting everyone psyched from the get go.

With MP not directly promoting any new material on this tour, the set consisted of a balanced mix between the two albums. Whilst in their recorded form, MP balance fast with slow rather equally, their live show exploits the heavy. Even the less manic tracks like The Coast Is Always Changing and Parisian Skies are amped up into full blown rock tracks, whilst the already hard hitting Apply Some Pressure, Limassol and the awesome set closer Our Velocity were taken to another level. Funnily enough, despite MP enhancing their live sound in such a way, most of the band still played relatively coolly in the background. Jamming along tightly, they let Smith do his crazy business, with Lukas Wooller on keys also head-banging and jumping about.

MP’s lighting was as equally fun as Smith’s unrelenting energy. Spotlights went crazy, occasionally singling out members for their respective instrument’s highlight. Whereas most bands would use strobe lights intermittently for effect, MP chose on one occasion to let the blinding, silhouette frenzy continue for a good two thirds of a song.

The thing about bands like Maximo Park is that, like Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party, they have grown massive back home and gained high-up slots at some of the biggest festivals in the world. In turn they’ve had to develop their stage presence phenomenally and – thankfully for the rest of the world – that presence then travels with them. Gigs like tonight’s have a stadium sized quality in the more intimate club setting, or “a nice square room,” as Smith would put it. With this in mind, actually seeing Smith bound around like a drunken monkey is much easier inside a small club, not to mention a lot more entertaining, with fans not subjected to tiny dots in the distance.

Despite many having negative perceptions of the venue, credit has to be paid to Billboard the Venue for its sound and lighting. The place is almost like a shinier, upper class Hi Fi Bar in its size and tiered structure. Regardless, the sound for MP was pretty much spot on in volume and clarity.

Maximo Park didn’t follow in the “upgrade your venue size” fashion of many international acts that visit several times within 12 months, which might suggest their popularity here isn’t necessarily on a rapid rise. From the packed venue though, it’s obvious the Newcastle boys have a loyal following that aren’t going to leave them any time soon. It’s not hard to see why – their tremendously fun stage antics and infectious tracks are worth their fans’ eyes and ears.