Maximo Park & The Blood Arm

Perhaps there's something of the fabled May Day mysticism in the air, because there's a buzz in the audience tonight, and it's very much the buzz of youth.  Self-conscious huddles of mums and dads hover near the back of the venue as their pubescent offspring, who make up the bulk of the crowd tonight, pogo to their heart's content in the sweaty pit down the front.  Not that there's anything particularly unusual about that - alternative music being the privilege of the young and the wannabe young - but tonight's bands are hardly the epitome of rock & roll idols that normally attract this kind of adoration.  Maximo Park, headlining, embrace geek chic in their clothes and manner, and frontman Paul Smith, with his greasy locks and goggle-eyed, frenetic stage movements, is no Chris Martin.  But refreshingly, this band is about substance over style, and maybe it's this dedication to producing good music rather than looking hot on the cover of the NME that gives them the genuine charisma that no amount of rock poise could bring.

As the most promising newcomers in "regionally-accented indie rock" (if you're into your genre-spotting), Maximo Park deliver an energetic performance that inspires impassioned singalong from the crowd - particularly impressive considering this is a band who haven't released their first album yet.  Support from The Blood Arm - fresh out of LA, in stark contrast to the northern England origins of Maximo Park - was received with almost equal enthusiasm, and their catchy songs were the ideal warm-up for the melodic rock of the headliners.  It's an exhausted and sweat-splattered gang of teenagers that emerges from the front at the end of the gig, still happy even after a crushing from the hardy crowd-surfers who braved the Zodiac security.  It remains a small mystery why this particular show attracted so many young teenagers -a field trip for GCSE Pop Music Studies, perhaps? - but whatever the reasons, it can only be a good thing that alternative music is alive and kicking in this age group.  The kids are alright.