The Maccabees / Pete & The Pirates – The Junction, Cambridge, 07/08/2008

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It’s been a while. I’ve met both the main protagonists this evening before. One I’ve met personally, the other I had the good fortune of seeing in the back room of a local pub a couple of months previously. Both have toured a well received debut album extensively, and tonight we get to hear where they’ve got to. A one off show, with a 14+ age limit on the door, it was an interesting crowd and by far the most interesting thing, musically, to be happening in Cambridge in August… The less I say about the number of glow sticks present this evening though, the better.

Pete & The Pirates have used the months since I’ve last seen them well. Sounding more focused, they’re a tighter, louder and darker version of those young lads I’ve seen previously. The months on the road have honed their sound and stage craft, though their dance moves leave a lot to be desired. There’s still not much interaction with the crowd either, but the songs still get you singing along and their quirky one-liners put a smile on your face. One aspect though that didn’t sit quite so well with me was the volume. Whether this was the venue or not I don’t know, but P&TP had it turned up to 11 which distracted the listener from the lyrics and concentrated the mind on the hack-saw riffs that dominate their sound. The new songs, therefore, sounded meatier than those on the current album but still retained their trademark style and whit, they were just a little deeper in the mix.

After sufficiently entertaining the crowd, it soon became clear who the crowd were actually here to see. It’s been some time since I’ve seen a crowd go wild for a band in this way. Even on the numerous previous occasions I’ve seen The Maccabees, I’ve not seen them get a reception like this. It also doesn’t take long before we find out the reason for this one-off show; they’re showcasing new material. And not all of it works. They also seem to have beefed up their sound, taking cues from U2 in their chiming guitars and thunderous, but slightly darker, choruses. It was also odd to see Orlando look bored whilst playing the infinitely more popular songs from their debut. They look like a band who are sick to the back teeth of playing those same songs over and over again. Only guitarist Felix White was giving it the energy their songs need to leap off the stage. He also got his moment to be The Edge on one of the new songs, a very odd skittish song that featured his deadpan vocals over a folk-tinged verse before it thrashed around into a wall of noise during the chorus.

If anything the new songs lacked focus. They have to be admired for trying to move out of their comfort zone but the problem at the moment seems to be that they don’t really know where they’re heading. They’ve lost the innocence of their debut which, I guess, is to be expected, but the new songs don’t quite have the charm to replace it. Perhaps once the new songs have had a chance to breathe and find some space of their own, it’ll be different. But, tonight at least, it’s the young pretenders that have shown the way forward.