FOURTEEN YEARS ON: THE MACCABEES CELEBRATE THEIR LEGACY AT ALL POINTS EAST 2025

The Maccabees. Born in 2004. Named after a verse in the Bible. To some, they mean everything. To others, they just haven’t discovered them yet. And yet, after fourteen years, the London-hailing group called it quits in 2016 after a string of farewell shows. That’s until All Points East. Stepping out to a tightly packed crowd in the capital city, the indie heroes reunited and vowed to make this ‘the best Maccabees show by a distance’ triumphantly.

This wasn’t going to just be the best show of their career; it was going to be an occasion. Hence why they brought along long-term friends Bombay Bicycle Club, The Cribs and The Futureheads as well as The Murder Capital, Divorce, Prima Queen, Sorry, Everything Everything and more.

The day got off to a flying start with Sorry taking to the main stage, spearheading artistic expression through their niche mix of emotional lyricism and marvellous vocal delivery.

Dublin’s new post-punk export The Murder Capital put on an equally stellar show, frontman James McGovern commanding the stage with the energy of Grian Chatten. During their frenetic performance, the band expressed support for the artists who stepped away from Victorious Festival after The Mary Wallopers’ set was cut short following comments about Palestine.

Watch our video from The Murder Capital on TikTok here.

While the day was so far packed with incredible artists, there was an elephant in the room. Dust. Not something you hear every day. Reports of extreme dust had been circulating due to a recent lack of rain. While face masks were advised and news outlets called it a ‘health and safety violation’, thousands still attended but underestimated the situation. By the middle of the event, it was visibly clouding the air, making distant food stalls difficult to even make out. Some took to social media, placing tissue and their t-shirt up their nose, or showing off their dirty clothes.

RAYE addressed the ‘dust situation’ the previous night and wished attendees well. In the face of it all, the show went on successfully. However, there was a raised eyebrow at how organisers could have remedied the situation further, by providing face masks to festival goers. Although admittedly, this could have been a logistical nightmare.

Elsewhere, Everything Everything and CMAT brought the fun and offered refreshing moments to dance. CMAT particularly drew in a colossal crowd, attracting a large majority of punters. She took the opportunity to self-indulge and play her new track When A Good Man Cries. The Future Heads and The Cribs were also fantastic as ever, adding to the indie nostalgia of it all.

One of our highlights, however, was Willie J Healey on the Radio X stage. Hotly-tipped for his thoughtful indie rock, the rising star has garnered support slots from Arctic Monkeys, Florence & The Machine and most recently IDLES. This may have been a small stage, but it couldn’t have felt bigger for Healey, opening up mosh pits and seeing fans sing back every word.

Bombay Bicycle Club was another highlight. They were unforgettable. Considering they haven’t played a show in a while, they were right back into the groove. They kept the good vibes going from indie-hits (Eat Sleep Wake) to electronic bops (Luna) and dance-worthy numbers (Shuffle). Smiling from start to finish, the quartet thanked The Maccabees for the full circle moment, after they supported them at the beginning of their career. The set finished on Always Like This, the crowd taking the reigns on the chorus before confetti showered them all.

By the time The Maccabees made their appearance, people were more than ready. Fronted by Orlando Weeks, they launched into Latchmere, Lego and X-Ray. “Oh my God, we’ve missed you!” he exclaims early on, before backing it up with Feel To Follow.

As they powered through their career-spanning catalogue, the set experienced multiple technical difficulties unbeknownst to the band while playing. On several occasions, the sound was entirely cut out, leaving the band visibly playing and singing with no sound for the audience. While these moments were frustrating to festival goers, the sound emerged fairly swiftly both times.

Later in the set, the band welcomed a special guest and old friend, the one and only Jamie T. Together, they played a rendition of Marks To Prove It before throwing in Sticks ‘N’ Stones too. This was easily the best moment of the set, particularly because it showed two artists with undeniable ties to early 00’s indie defiantly come together for the occasion.

“We played a show 8 years ago, which might have been our last. All Points East said you should do this, and all of you gambled and took that risk and got tickets and put faith into our band and the occasion this might be. It’s amazing. A big thank you for taking the chance on a band which hasn’t played in a long time. Thank you very, very much”

As an encore, The Maccabees played fan-favourites Toothpaste Kisses, Grew Up At Midnight and Pelican. All of which came with gorgeous and distinctive visuals. As they left the stage, we wondered, was this actually ‘the best Maccabees show by a distance’?

The setlist was the same as their recent tour, aside from Jamie T’s Sticks ‘N’ Stones. No new deep cuts thrown in for good measure. Numerous technical difficulties. The guest appearance did add a lot of flair to an already exciting performance, but there’s an argument to be made that their Glastonbury Park Stage headline earlier this Summer could take the crown.

That being said, in spirit and as an occasion, this All Points East was definitely something many people will remember fondly into the future.

Setlist:

1. Latchmere
2. Lego
3. X-Ray
4. Feel To Follow
5. Kamakura
6. William Powers
7. Wall Of Arms
8. First Love
9. Love You Better
10. Precious Time
11. Can You Give It
12. Spit It Out
13. Silence
14. No Kind Words
15. Marks To Prove It (w/ Jamie T)
16. Sticks ‘N’ Stones (w/ Jamie T)
17. Something Like Happiness
18. Toothpaste Kisses
19. Grew Up At Midnight
20. Pelican