29 April 2026 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words and pictures by Bec Harbour
Maxïmo Park have not been to Australia in a hot minute (around 15 years) and while they were a staple of the early noughties, they had a fairly quiet run here unlike contemporaries like Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian and the like. It has been 20 years (hence the double X styling of their name on the tour poster) since the release of A Certain Trigger and they are here to play the album in full which should be fun!
Kicking off the night was Brisbane “band” Flamingo Blonde – the moniker used by James Bartlett. They have been around for a while and the members seem pretty static, I remember seeing them as supports for other tours a few years ago, it was nice to see them out and about again. They released an EP in 2023, Two Trick Pony and some supporting singles, which I assume made it into their short set. They were a good beginning to the night with upbeat melodies although their mix was murky in places.
Flamingo Blonde – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
The Triffid crowd was lively and a bit restless in the interval while the stage was changed over for Maxïmo Park with lots of oooh’s and ahhh’s as various stagehands scurried about the stage. The usual hope that the band might actually do their own stage set up lives hard with audiences. But then the music over the PA quietens and the band file onstage. Minus singer Paul Smith.
It was hard to see, but Smith was striking a pose on the entrance to the stage – complete ensemble of a red (or maybe rust) coloured suit and a black trilby hat – Smith cut a dapper figure. The band kicked into ‘Signal and Sign’ and the crowd went off, singing every work like it was their jobs!
Maxïmo Park – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
The directions on the packet said we were getting a 20 year retrospective of A Certain Trigger but we got a few other songs from other albums thrown into the mix on the 20 song plus set. After ‘Graffiti’, Smith greeted the crowd and the crowd responded heartily back and they wasted no time moving to ‘Postcard of a Painting’ with the full Brisbane gig choir singing along.
Smith struck poses and pointed to random places in the audience while the band worked like a well oiled machine behind him, never missing a beat on songs from the album we were here to celebrate, saving the best known song from the album until last, ‘Apply Some Pressure’ and returning for the encore with ‘Acrobat’, Books From Boxes’ (from Our Earthly Pleasures) and ‘Going Missing’.
Maxïmo Park – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
During the set Smith made time to engage with the audience and tell anecdotes about the songs in the setlist which made the Triffid seem small and intimate with several audience members calling out for particular songs to be played. Songs like ‘The Night I lost My Head’, Limassol’ and ‘Kiss You Better’ had the crowd eating out of Smith’s hand.
The music was tight (as it should be for art-rockers) and the set whizzed away at an amazing pace. Maxïmo Park put on a thoroughly engaging and brilliant performance. Let’s hope that they don’t leave it another 15 years before they come back!
Maxïmo Park – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
