Imagine Robert Wyatt’s phrasing and isolation in ‘Shipbuilding’ and you get some idea. The set ended with what he described as a bit of a shorter jam than usual because we’d been so polite as to listen to him. Essentially it imploded with apocalyptic de-tuned, atonal multi-pedal mayhem. The lyrics were moodily Gothic. ‘The End’ was an inevitable comparison. What his full band line-up get up to we await in trembling anticipation – 2011.

The Glee Club deserved its title on this bitter, early Winter’s, evening with a warm reception at the box office and even the doorman anxious to get us in out of the cold. The audience were likewise disposed, not reverential but certainly attuned to the ambience.

Paul Smith (yes, Maximo Park, that one) is a self-effacing performer, his song-writing is introspective, heart-on-sleeve candid, but not indulgent; reflective but never maudlin. (Though some album critics have claimed the latter, particularly with ‘Strange Friction’). Literary, with contemporary Pop subtle nuances and empathic sensibilities: melancholic and ambiguous? Perhaps. His is a craft that reminds this reviewer, at least, of those more innocent days of quintessentially English compositions from the likes of Martin Stephenson & The Daintees, Stephen Duffy’s Lilac Time and Prefab Sprout.

The performance drew principally on songs from Smith’s 2010 album, ‘Margins’ through out which his engagement with the audience was warm, effusive and inclusive. Likewise, they were affectionate in their forgiveness when he fluffed a couple of songs. Crafty stage ruse that, Paul, show your venerability and they cuddle you all up.

I’m bidden to say that his voice has echoes of, but with far less vibrato, early Brian Ferry (the North East lilt?) and drawing the comparison further, the intelligent use of counter-beat rhythmic arrangements and shifting time signatures together with the ethereal keyboard harmonies, had suggestions of Roxy Music. Some songs saw Smith really exposed, his breathing, pauses, sense of moment complimented and emphasised the fragile context of the song’s narrative, no more so that with ‘I Drew You Sleeping’. His talent is to distill the every day ephemera, the ebb and flow of relationships and expose the essence of the human condition: albeit cryptically at times.

But they could party though with the rice-wine heady, calypso swinging ‘This Heat’, or as Smith would have it, his Kiora rhythm song. Much more but too little space to elaborate. The encore broke with convention with Smith going solo. Well, he did the evocative ‘Pinballs’ with drummer/producer, Andy Hodson, on ukulele, and closed with a medley including ‘I Lost My Head/Apply Some Pressure’. A charming evening.

Stage set list: While,North Atlantic Dream, Crush, Improvement/Denouement, Alone, Strange Friction, I Wonder if, This Heat, A Little Lost, Drew You Sleeping, Tingles, Dare Not Drive, Our Lady Of Lourdes, Pinballs, Everybody Hurts. (improv medley).

Review – John Kennedy
Photos – Katja Ogrin

“It’s the kind of place where you feel comfortable,” Smith says of his home in Newcastle. Raised in Billingham, near Middlesborough, the singer moved to Newcastle when he started university, and hasn’t felt the need to leave since. “It’s quite culturally active, there’s a volunteer-run cinema where nobody makes any money called The Star and Shadow, where people just go in and put on films that they like”. Smith’s label, Billingham Records, is (as those of you paying attention will know) named after his hometown. If remaining up north wasn’t proof that success hadn’t gone to his head, acknowledging his roots through his label certainly has.

“It’s kind of a nice untouched piece of Britain, and in another way it’s as cosmopolitan as any other place”, he continues, “It’s near the coast where I can get away from things. I enjoy my life up here so although I’m sure there are many other great places to go, I’ve never felt the need to move”.

This isn’t to say that Smith is a homebody. As enthusiastic as he is eloquent, he says that one of the best parts of his job is his chance to explore the world. Many artists complain that the infamous tour bus/venue/hotel itinerary prevents them from some much-needed sightseeing, but this isn’t always the case.

“Although I’ve got a lot of interviews and sound checks to do, I always try and squeeze in a morning out in a new place. Some of my favourite days have been just going to a Viennese art exhibition. It’s one of the things I indulge if I can”.

This is good news. As it’s now December, the tradition of most publications is to provide round-up of the year’s offerings and to pick out some highlights. So what did Smith make of this year’s artistic contributions?

“I’m trying to think, I generally forget everything as soon as I’ve seen it,” he laughs nervously, having been put on the spot. As if by magic, inspiration hits. Amidst a “spare few hours in London” he had ventured over to the Tate Britain to see the Henry Moore exhibition.

“If you had to name one sculptor, most people would say either Barbara Hepworth or Henry Moore. You realise what an amazing artist he was, rather than the popular conception of him,” he enthuses, “Actually being in the room with these amorphous sculptures in amazing. One of the things I loved about the exhibition is that you could take a different look at his sculptures and walk all the way around them, and from each angle they look amazing. Some sculptures work from the front only, but he had an absolute mastery of form”.

“He did loads of drawings as well of people sheltering during air-raids in the Second World War. He’s got an absolutely beautiful collection of drawings of people huddled together. He really captures the fear and the mood. There are some really beautiful drawings and etchings”.

As an appreciator of art, he may feel the pressure for his photography book, Thinking in Pictures, to be well-received by the art world. “Whether it’s any good or not is not for me to say,” He admits, “I’d taken thousands over the past five years and I tried to whittle it down to ones that I thought other people might be interested in on their own level. I’ve kind of filtered out anything that might have a connection with being in a band”. Coming complete with a copy of his album Margins, this venture is something entirely separate from Maxïmo Park.

“It’s more about shapes, and some bits are funny. There’s a picture of a sign that I saw in America, coming down a desert highway. We could just see this sign that said ‘CHEESE’”. He breaks to chuckle, before continuing, “It was hilarious, but because of this big blue sky it’s kind of a nice little picture, but because of the sign it makes it humorous”.

Natasha Parker

Maximo Park will be holding a free charity show at the Newcastle College Performance Academy on March 24th to celebrate their return. This one-off event will be open to people who turn up on the day for a wristband and fans are being warned to turn up early.

The band will be signing 250 ‘Wraithlike’ 7″s at the event and these will be the only copies available in the UK. They will cost £3 each but fans are encouraged to donate more if they can with the proceeds going to charity No Surrender (set up by the band’s friend Jason Boas, who recently passed away, to support cancer sufferers around the world).

Containing 12 brand new tracks the band recorded the album in LA with famed producer Nick Launay, who has also worked with the likes of Talking Heads and Nick Cave in the past, as well as recording the latest Yeah Yeah Yeahs album.

“We’re raring to go, especially since we’ve just crafted a record that’s imbued with the kind of uplifting spirit that Britain’s crying out for in these troubled economic times. Our audience are far from passive, which makes for a unique atmosphere at each show”. Paul Smith

Tickets go on sale Friday 30th January at 10am and are available from www.gigsandtours.com (all dates except Glasgow) and www.ticketweb.co.uk (Glasgow only).

MAY

14 NEWCASTLE – Academy – tickets £16.50
15 GLASGOW – Academy – tickets £16.50
16 LIVERPOOL – University – tickets £16.50
18 SOUTHAMPTON – Guildhall – tickets £16.50
19 BIRMINGHAM – Academy – tickets £16.50
20 NOTTINGHAM – Rock City – tickets £16.50
22 LEEDS – Academy – tickets £16.50
23 MANCHESTER – Academy – tickets £16.50
24 NORWICH – UEA – tickets £16.50
27 LONDON – Brixton Academy – tickets £17.50
28 BRISTOL – Academy – tickets £16.50