Some of us may dimly recall seeing an up and coming beat combo named Nirvana supporting Sub Pop no marks Tad, or Oasis being second on the bill to the little-remembered Whiteout. But the members of the Maccabees have trumped these by letting slip about the time when they were supported by fellow South Londoner Adele.
And this didn’t happen back in the dim and distant past, but in a Battersea pub as recently as March 2020, just as the lights were going out, pre Covid.
The band have been talking on Radio X this week about their comeback gig next summer when they will headline All Points East in Victoria Park. In the course of the conversation they talked about their last gig, which happened to be at guitarist Hugo White’s wedding.
“We had a line-up of people that were going to play,” said White. “We had hired out a pub and had the stage set up, and it was one of those things where I thought we should end the night with The Maccabees.”
He added: “Asking Orlando (Weeks, singer) was the big one and I was like ‘I don’t think he’s going to do that, even for my wedding’. But he did! He came along and we did the Maccabees again.”
White went onto explain that they had lined up other performers for the reception, including Jamie T and Florence Welch. “Then it was Adele,” Felix (White, guitarist) added, going on to recall how she belted out Rolling In The Deep, just before The Maccabees took to the stage for their set.
The Maccabees split up in 2017, curiously just as their career was coming to the boil. Their fourth album, 2015’s Marks To Prove It had topped the UK album chart and they were on the brink of attaining festival-headliner status.
In the years since they have all kept busy. Orlando Weeks has made three solo albums, and Hugo White formed a new band, 86TVs. Meanwhile Felix White has reinvented himself as a cricket podcaster – he’s a co-presenter of Tailenders, alongside England bowling legend Jimmy Anderson and Radio 1’s Greg James.
During the interview Felix revealed how he’d attended All Points East as a punter since the split. “I’d go and have a great time throughout the day, but there was always this pinch of regret watching headliners that we could’ve done it ourselves one day too. I thought that moment had passed, and it was something I was prepared to come to terms with that I was always going to miss. I think we’re all kind of shocked and excited that we get to do it together again.”
