If All Points East wanted to end its 2025 run with a statement, The Maccabees’ return was about as definitive as it gets.
A band who bowed out gracefully in 2017, only to find their legend growing in their absence, Orlando Weeks and co. strode back onto the hefty Victoria Park stage like they’d never been away. For a mixed crowd that was composed equally of twenty-somethings reliving their teenage years and middle-aged groups eager for a Bank Holiday Weekend indie shindig, it felt like Christmas came early.
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But it wasn’t just nostalgia at play.
The Maccabees looked lean, confident, and visibly grateful to be there. Weeks’ voice still soars with its fragile urgency, while Felix and Hugo White’s guitars locked together in the angular chaos that made those early records so addictive. By the time Can You Give It dropped, the frontman’s plea for “vertical movement” had turned the entire park into a bouncing sea of limbs.
Then came the night’s ace card: Jamie T swaggering on to launch into Marks to Prove It, the crowd already delirious before he dragged them further into chaos with a punk-spattered Sticks N’ Stones. It felt less like a guest spot and more like a gang of old friends running riot one last time.
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And of course, the encore was pure catharsis.
Something Like Happiness tugged at heartstrings before the inevitable singalong of Toothpaste Kisses and the skyscraping Pelican brought the curtain down. For fans who’d been holding their breath since the farewell shows, this was release, relief, and celebration rolled into one.
Elsewhere, Bombay Bicycle Club owned the West Stage, weaving brass, streamers and surprise guest CMAT into a set that reminded everyone why they’re festival favourites. Their giddy run of Eat, Sleep, Wake through to Feel and Shuffle was pure sunshine, even under a darkening London sky. CMAT herself had already stolen hearts earlier with her irreverent country-pop carnival, whipping the East Stage into submission with lasso tricks, powerhouse vocals and songs that sound tailor-made for a bigger platform.
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The supporting cast ran deep: Black Country, New Road mesmerised with shapeshifting arrangements, while Felix from The Maccabees’ in-house label Yala!’s stage buzzed with cult heroes and future icons alike.
Elsewhere, Everything Everything delivered a hit-laden set that arrived complete with some of the best live vocals you’re ever likely to hear; and The Cribs, ever-reliable, proved that scrappy anthems like Men’s Needs still hit as hard as ever.
But this was The Maccabees’ day. A homecoming, a reunion, and maybe a glimpse of a future none of us dared to expect. Sure, in the year that the Gallaghers gave us a Dark Fruits Brat Summer, this might not have been the most hyped reunion of the summer – but, in the eyes and ears of everyone in attendance this evening, it might just prove to have been the most memorable.
