The Maccabees Live

The Maccabees @ Piano's, New York (10.19.07)

Myspace // "Precious Time" [mp3]

When we first met up with The Maccabees back in December '05, they were just another band with a few good demos on their Myspace page. Despite releasing a string of great singles, I wasn't totally sold on their debut LP Colour It In -- everything sounded too clean and it lacked the spark and immediacy of those demos.

The true test of a band is the live show, and to put on a great show, a band needs to be playing like it has something to prove. And when I finally got to see The Maccabees at CMJ, that's exactly how their set went down. I was just able to wedge myself into Piano's downstairs room after the band had already begun playing, but my discomfort was worth it. Too many established bands from the UK come over with attitudes (umm hello Hard-Fi), but these guys played like their lives depended on it, and the crowd reacted positively. It was only after catching this set that the album finally clicked, easily making it onto my year end best of list.