The Maccabees, Rumble Strips - Camden Lock, London - Thursday 19th July 2007

What better way to spend your birthday, than going to see 2 great bands? This was a special "Best of Festivals" gig organised by MTV, Sony Ericsson and Orange, and open to competition winners only. I entered the competition in several places, all the while grovelling to be allowed in, as it was my birthday. Then, within an hour on Tuesday, I had 2 phone calls, each telling me I had won a pair of magic wristbands to get in. And a new Sony Ericsson phone apparently, which is a nice bonus.

The gig itself took place in a little square piece of land on Camden Lock. Right behind the stage was a canal, and there were even a couple of boats parked up next to the bit where the audience stood. Luckily, despite the worst summer ever, it managed not to rain for the event, which was most welcome. So, we spent the evening standing outside drinking Red Stripe, watching some decent bands playing in front of us.

First on the menu were the Rumble Strips, who ran through a half-hour set of their best material. Including singles Alarm Clock and Motorcycle, their set was as entertaining as ever, with plenty of brass instruments, and somebody playing a big drum at the front of the stage, looking mental. They really are a great band to win over people seeing them for the first time - if you pay attention, you can't really help but end up liking them by the end. Even if you've seen them before, and can't quite remember why you liked it, their live show reminds you pretty quickly.

So, another very good set - but now that they have released a couple of singles, you realise that seeing them live is really the only way to listen to Rumble Strips music. I can't imagine having their album on heavy repeat on my iPod, it just isn't really music that I would sit down and listen to on CD. The difference between how they sound when recorded, and the all round excellence of their live sets, is amazing. Which means people really need to go and see them play, to understand why nice things are being written about them.

The Maccabees followed the Rumble Strips, bounding on stage just after 9pm. Throughout the gig, there were some annoyingly blinding lights at the back of the stage, which made it practically impossible to take any decent photos, and not really very easy to see what the band were doing. It was, however, possible to see that one of the guitarists had his hood up, that Felix the guitarist was bounding around energetically throughout, and that Orlando the singer was doing strange things with his microphone stand. So, a standard Maccabees gig all round, really.

Their set was typically good I thought, playing Latchmere very early on to get people in the mood, putting About Your Dress (which in my view is their utter standout song and moment of genius - how that wasn't a massive hit, I will never know) slap-bang in the middle of the set, and finishing up with First Love and Lego, as per (fairly) normal. Felix and Orlando paused several times to banter with the audience, and obviously sent the majority home happy.

The Maccabees seem to be at a strange point in their rise to prominence at the moment - they are a key part of the London indie scene, along with Good Shoes, Jack Penate, and even Kate Nash. They also seem to have no problem selling out places like the Astoria, and there was a decent and committed crowd there for the gig tonight. But you get the feeling that, with their album already out, this may be the peak of what they do - it is hard to see them selling out a couple of nights at Brixton Academy. Great band in my view, and they should be more popular than they currently are - but it is hard to see how that might happen.