Cardiff University - 13/05/2009
HERE’S a question for you: Which band that you like the least have you seen play live the most? For me it’s The Maccabees.
I somehow found myself watching the Brighton five-piece again this week and where previously I was unequivocal – I didn’t like them – their gig at Cardiff Students’ Union has muddied the waters.
Their just-released second album, Wall Of Arms, is a much more powerful rock record than its flat predecessor Colour It In.
That jump in scale and ambition works well on record but in the live arena it illuminates their failings. And Orlando Weeks is a real vacuum on stage.
I liked the White brothers’ contrasting guitar vibes – Felix celebrated like a frustrated frontman while Hugo leered with dangerous eyes at the crowd – as well as Rupert Jarvis’ funked-up bass work and Sam Doyle’s sweetly aggressive drumming.
But while earlier songs such as Toothpaste Kisses are genteel enough to let Weeks’ wet sounds emerge, songs from the second album, played with real gusto, simply overpowered Weeks.
On opener No Kind Words his vocal was beyond apologetic, and was barely audible.
And the sound isn’t to blame because when he actually leans into his mic properly, he is perfectly audible.
Oddly, it’s the limpness that many of the band’s fans love and girls tend to fall for his soppiness and propensity to make heart shapes with his hands as he introduces love songs, but he occasionally betrays himself with confidence and visibly reins it all in.
The Maccabees are not a bad band; they have a lot of talent and Weeks is key to the writing, but they will remain an unfulfilled promise until their frontman really steps up to the mic.
