Maximo Park - Live Review

Maximo Park at the O2 Academy Oxford, twenty years on from A Certain Trigger, felt like a strange kind of homecoming. I can’t pretend this band didn’t soundtrack my university years (my old age now showing). Those songs are stitched into the background of old houses, late nights, and walks to campus. It’s great to be back in the same room where I saw them in 2022. I'd never turn down an opportunity to relive those important memories.

They came on just after 9pm, straight into “Signal and Sign.” No fuss, just that familiar jolt of energy. The set was tight, sharp, and somehow still urgent after all these years. Paul Smith was, as ever, impossible to ignore. Hip-shaking, dancing, holding the mic stand aloft, and making the whole thing look effortless. Some may say - "The Ultimate Front Man!"

He joked about the rain (it really has been relentless), and about how odd it is to talk about the weather at a rock show, but it landed. There were stories between songs: how they were written, who produced them, little bits that made the night feel more like a conversation than a performance.

The crowd was a real mix. People who looked like they could have been at those early gigs, and plenty who definitely weren’t. “Graffiti” and “Postcard of a Painting” came early, and the place just lifted. Duncan Lloyd kept things steady on guitar, Tom English’s drumming was as tight as ever, and Jemma Freese on keys brought a bit of extra spark (and the odd dance move that nearly stole the show).

The setlist wasn’t just a straight run through the album, which I appreciated. “Our Velocity” and “Leave This Island” kept things moving, and “Fear of Falling” was a rare treat. When they hit “The National Health,” Paul gave a nod to the fact it’s a song about society, and how, if anything, things haven’t really got better since they wrote it. It got a knowing laugh, but also a bit of a sigh from the crowd. One of those moments where you realise these songs still hit a nerve.

Smith’s voice has only got stronger. The held note at the end of “I Want You to Stay” was a proper goosebumps moment, and “Versions of You” felt especially tender. Maybe their best, if you ask me. The encore started with “Acrobat,” all spoken word and hush, before “Books From Boxes” and “Going Missing” sent everyone out on a high, arms in the air, shouting along.

It was a celebration, but not in a way that felt forced. Just a band and a room full of people, all a bit older, but still wanting the same thing: a night where the music matters. Maximo Park still deliver that.

Support came from Art Brut, who were as funny and odd as ever. Eddie Argos’s half-spoken delivery and that song about his brother got a proper laugh. They set the tone well.