Maxïmo Park brought both an energetic and humble set to the finale of Live at Leeds at the O2 Academy.

The Newcastle indie-rockers opened their set with ‘What Did We Do To You To Deserve This?’, a song that deeply resonates with the current state of British politics. The band then followed with the equally political title track off their excellent new album Risk to Exist.  Although the album had only been released in just over a week  previous to the concert, you would never have guessed it as the crowd eagerly sang and danced along.

It was refreshing to witness a band perform that are so very humble to their success and fans. Following ‘The Hero’, lead singer Paul Smith said “before we play this next song it was brought to my attention that it is somebody in the audience’s 50th concert of ours’”, before joking “more money than sense, my mam would say”. Following this, Smith thanked the audience and all of the fans, saying how nice it is to see people singing and dancing along to their music.

The audience were then treated to ‘Our Velocity’ from 2007’s Our Earthly Pressures. This was one of many favourites scattered amongst the set list, featuring songs such as ‘Girls Who Play Guitars’ and ‘Apply Some Pressure’, all of which Paul Smith debuted some rather incredible dances moves.

Maxïmo Park finished their set with new single ‘Get High (No, I Don’t)’ a dance-inducing, scream-along tune that Smith stated is “is about resistance in the face of repetition and coercion”. Despite the serious undertone, it seemed a fitting way to finish an outstanding gig. And as Maxïmo Park all thanked the audience one last time, I couldn’t think of a nicer way to conclude the Sunday of Live at Leeds.

Phoebe Berman

(Image: Music Feeds)