I’D been told to expect great things when I finally got to see Maxïmo Park live, and I wasn’t disappointed!

From the moment they opened with crowd-favourite Graffiti it was clear this was going to be a good night.

We were taken on a journey back in time with new album title track Quicken The Heart, followed by one from Our Earthly Pleasures and one from A Certain Trigger.

Wow! And that was just the first 10 minutes.

The boundless energy and frantic dancing of brilliant front man Paul Smith, combined with an intense light show, unleashed a barrage on all the senses, and Paul’s Geordie charm between songs only endeared him more to a clearly passionate audience.

The Maxïmo back-catalogue was well and truly plundered with Our Velocity, Going Missing, Books From Boxes and sure-fire hit-in-waiting, The Kids Are Sick Again.

The 70-minute Maxïmo Park tour of the last five years was bought to a close by a rousing rendition of Girls Who Play Guitars.

An encore was inevitable, as we were still to hear the song that put them firmly on the map way back in 2004.

The band returned to a near-deafening reception. After a couple of average slower songs, they thanked the crowd for their whole-hearted support, before throwing every ounce of remaining energy into belting out one of the best received closing tracks I’ve ever witnessed – Apply Some Pressure.