It’s with a heavy heart that I write this but it has finally come the time and I can no longer put it off any longer, it’s time to bid farewell to The Maccabees. With your final ever live shows looming larger than ever with less than a week to go, it seems only right to pay tribute to the band that have meant so much to be throughout my teenage years. If there’s one word to sum up the occasion it is bittersweet, but better to look back over the fond memories, yeah?
The first I heard of The Maccabees was ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ at ripe old age of eleven, it was on a film soundtrack and it was just so quaintly lovely that I couldn’t help but listen to all two and half minutes of it’s glory for hours, looping it on the good old days of listening to music on YouTube. Branching out to further albums The Maccabees became part of my teenage years, by the time Wall of Arms came out I was truly enamored.
There are some formative teenage memories that have been sound tracked by The Maccabees. I remember listening to ‘Ayla’ on repeat walking home from my first house party, the first taste of teenage rebellion and freedom on my lips. You have no idea how many road-trips Colour It In livened up.
By the time Marks To Prove It was out I was seventeen and finally had the pleasure of catching The Maccabees live. When I got to the O2 Academy in Newcastle it genuinely felt like my chest was beating so hard it was going to the Alien thing and explode. Thankfully not though, I just had one of the best nights of my life instead. It’d been eighteen months maybe two years since I’d given any of your music a proper spin but somehow even your new music felt nostalgic, homely and lived in.
Now fast-forward to 2017, my music taste expanded vastly but it still breaks my heart a little bit to know you’re breaking up. I’m happy to see The Maccabees go out on a high, and one of the biggest highs of their careers but you will be missed. Thank you for the soundtrack to my teenage years. As I approach the big 20 it seems fitting to let go of one of the big parts of the past decade, so I guess that leaves me with nothing to say but farewell, and thanks for the memories.
[separator type=”thick”]
Woa, that toothpaste kisses is such a simple, sweet idea. And beautiful execution. I’ve actually never listened to them before but I can’t wait to start! Thanks for passing this along, Dale!