A momentous return for Elephant & Castle’s The Maccabees at their very own headline APE show
The band initially broke up in 2017, with several members taking on new ventures.
Photo: @ishashahphotography
Deemed as the last weekend of the festival circuit — the August bank holiday — which makes way for some heavy hitters such as Reading & Leeds, Victorious, Forwards, Notting Hill Carnival and the one we got stuck into: All Points East. APE brings a diverse mix of genres across its two weekends, with electronic music producer and DJ Barry Can’t Swim headlining the Friday and RAYE headlining the day before. This time it was the formidable South London five-piece, The Maccabees, on a triumphant homecoming show after their unforgettable Glastonbury performance in June.
Photo: @ishashahphotography
The day itself had a wide variety of acts that were perfectly handpicked by the band themselves, a heady blend of noughties bands alongside some exciting new names. With the conditions making for its own headlines on the day, CMAT’s set was undeterred amongst the stomps, creating a dustbowl for I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby!, proving that her presence alone is just — if not more — captivating than the songs. This is another female who is confidently dominating the music scene right now by making waves across most of this summer’s festival billings as one to watch — and rightly so.
Most of the noughties heads that day were also eagerly awaiting Yorkshire heavyweights The Cribs, a band that are looking and sounding even more on form than they ever have (like that’s even possible!). This day was really a celebration of the bands that have been at the top of their game alongside the fresh ones coming through, who are just as inspired and motivated as the ones who walked before them.
Another act that brought in quite the crowd over at the Radio X stage was Oxfordshire’s Willie J Healey, with his infectious, mood-boosting tunes that got everyone right up for the pending evening sets. Bombay Bicycle Club followed shortly after Dry Cleaning’s atmospheric set over on the West stage, and again brought a high-energy vibe that saw frontman Jack Steadman more than happy with the turn out, which was possibly one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever witnessed for this noughties throwback band.
Head to head with Bombay over on The Ordinary stage was Chicago-based alt-rock outfit Brigitte Calls Me Baby. The sound these guys carried on a much smaller stage was faultless and would not be out of place on any of the other stages across the site. This band are on the verge of something very special, especially after recently supporting Morrissey and, whilst scanning across the crowd, you can see they have built up quite the community of UK-based fans in a small amount of time.
Onto the main event, after moving across the dust-soaked fields, there was a steady sense of excitement radiating as The Maccabees were just about to take the stage on yet another beautiful summer’s evening. We have been spoiled this year for indie nostalgia, and it shows no signs of slowing down. As soon as their first track, Latchmere, got going, the crowd were more than ready to dance well into the night on an indie sleaze high.
You could sense this was a moment that the band will be treasuring for years to come, especially after calling it quits back in 2017 at Alexandra Palace. With their short film Elephant Days being relaunched on YouTube just weeks ago, giving an insight into the community and the love that the boys have for their hometown, Elephant and Castle, their sentimental feelings for their fan base were evident to see and hear throughout the set.
First Love, Precious Time and Love You Better proved just how good their abilities are at writing love songs that have created many personal moments for the crowd. A couple of sound issues left the band without any sound at points, but this didn’t detract from the experience. A surprise appearance from their close pal, Jamie T, went down a treat, with the crowd fully locked in and boldly singing back to both Marks To Prove It and Jamie’s anthem Stick ‘N’ Stones. Even the visuals throughout this set, including the emotive look back into the band’s history, then panning to a camera following them onto the stage, had everything lined up to make this one to remember.
Toothpaste Kisses had frontman Orlando Weeks whistling crystal clear into the mic whilst the crowd all tentatively listened, with arms around one another. Weeks also slightly tweaked the lyrics to this one: “I’m no longer yours, you’re no longer mine / But this song never changed with time.”
Orlando is right on this song, remaining as perfect as it was, yet The Maccabees’ fanbase evolves in time, but with one thing still a given: the love and admiration that comes from their devout fans.
All Points East will be forever etched into The Maccabees’ minds as a career-defining moment; this is a band that just keeps on getting better and better. To be able to soak up this moment with them is one that will be forever etched firmly in our minds, too.
