maccabees

The Maccabees announce special guests for 2025 All Points East show

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Following the phenomenal response to news of their forthcoming All Points East reunion show on Sunday 24 August 2025, The Maccabees have announced the first wave of special guests including Bombay Bicycle Club, Dry Cleaning, The Cribs, Nilüfer Yanya, The Murder Capital, Divorce and Prima Queen – with many more still to come.

The show will be The Maccabees’ first show in eight years and coincides with the tenth anniversary of the landmark album Marks to Prove It. The announcement on Monday was the news fans have been waiting for since the band paid an emotional farewell in 2017 with a sold-out three-night run at Alexandra Palace.

Guitarist Felix White says: “In the intervening years we’ve been to All Points East a lot, separately. It’s become a bit of a landmark festival for us, always checking who’s on the line-up. 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.”

As if the return of The Maccabees wasn’t exciting enough, the addition of special guests Bombay Bicycle Club guarantees one of the biggest  events of the year in British guitar music. Since Bombay Bicycle Club formed in 2005, accolades have included the NME Best New Band award and an Ivor Novello Award nomination for the 2010 album Flaws. The band returned in 2023 with their sixth studio album, the joyful My Big Day, and this year they followed that up with Fantasies, an EP of infectious indie-pop collaborations with the likes of Lucy Rose and Matilda Mann.

With many more names still to be announced, the bill is already packed with exciting talent. Modern post-punk icons Dry Cleaning have won a dedicated following with their mix of jagged guitars, driving rhythms and spoken-word vocals on absolute bangers like ‘Scratchcard Lanyard’ and ‘Strong Feelings’.

Perfectly formed rock indie classics will be delivered at All Points East next year by The Cribs. If you have any doubts of the band’s pedigree, ask Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who even joined the band for a few years, or check out the blistering live album, released last year, of a performance in Liverpool’s The Cavern in 2020.  
Nilüfer Yanya is a genre-defying musician and songwriter, who this year released the gorgeous album My Method Actor album on Ninja Tune. Pitchfork praised it as “an album of everyday luxury”. A remix edition is on the way in November.

Also on the bill are Dublin post-punk heroes The Murder Capital, who have been delivering exhilarating dark anthems since 2019’s debut album, When I Have Fears. Their latest release is the primal roar of the single ‘Can’t Pretend To Know’ and a third album is currently in the works.

2025 is set to be a big year for fast-rising Nottingham band Divorce, with the release of debut album Drive to Goldenhammer. The infectious, soaring single ‘All My Freaks’ was described by So Young as a “refreshing, sharp commentary on the music industry, delivered with the warmth and authenticity that Divorce have made their signature”.

Plus one of pop’s rising stars, Prima Queen will head to All Points East next summer. The melodic partnership of Louis Macphail and Kristin McFadden delivers tunes that are made for the airwaves and perfect for a sunny day in Victoria Park. Latest single Fool was described by Clash as “a whip-smart piece of alt-pop that is both striking and oddly understated”.

Speaking about the The Maccabees’ reunion as plans to headline All Points East came together, guitarist Hugo White said he was inspired, in part, by watching The Strokes at last year’s All Points East: “I could see that they were enjoying it , realising how great what they had created together was. Being a band, you are usually in a mindset of, ‘We can do better’ and you’re always chasing something else. This is an opportunity to realise that whatever we had in that moment was pretty special and get to enjoy it again. It’s a chance to appreciate everything, and especially how it impacts other people and created a community.”

For 2024, All Points East welcomed another round of huge headliners Kaytranada, Loyle Carner, Mitski, LCD Soundsystem, APE presents Field Day and The Postal Service & Death Cab For Cutie and carefully curated guest lineups for each day. Between the weekends, In The Neighbourhood returned for four days of activities and free entry in Victoria Park.  

Artist Presale sign up here: www.themaccabees.co.ukGeneral tickets available from www.allpointseastfestival.com

Amex Presale begins 10am GMT Monday 28 Oct, ends 9am GMT Thursday 31 OctArtist Presale begins 10am GMT Wednesday 30 October

General tickets go on sale at 10am GMT Thursday 31 October

Facebook / Twitter / Instagram | @allpointseastuk#allpointseast | www.allpointseastfestival.com

86TVs @ The Six Six Bar, Cambridge 17/09/2023

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The last time I saw Hugo and Felix White was when they were in The Maccabees. Since splitting back in 2017 they have created a new band called 86TV’s with their brother Will who was in indie rock band Talk Taxis and made a few years appearance with The Maccabees and Jamie Morrison who is Stereophonics drummer. With years of musical experience this new band is sure to bring something amazing to the scene. On their first tour aspartof the Music Venue Trust they stopped off at the rock venue The Six Six bar in Cambridge. Its a small music venue with a capacity of 160. The venue is decorated with old NME covers ,a huge Beavertown mural at the back of the stage and a Motorhead shrine. There is a great selection of drinks and a vegan eatery called The Vegan Witch.

The show was completely sold out which was not surprising have these musical icons visiting. Supporting them was singer songwriter Blair Davie who is from Scotland writes slot of songs about bisexuality, loss and heartbreak but also about the beauty that life can offer. With just a guitar and their voice the audience are wowed. The sound was incredible and their voice was so passionate with every word that they sung. Blair is one who everyone should experience.

After Blairs set everyone was eagerly awaiting for 86TVs to come on stage. The room was getting very hot and sweaty. The room was filled with cheers as the band entered. Felix mentioned to the audience that they were really happy for be performing and that the best thing about playing songs that no one knows is that if they mess up no one will notice. The main vocals were shared between Will and Hugo. Sweat was pouring off the band and all they had to wipe down was a tea towel which Felix joked saying he’s used his 5th of the towel and that the others cant use that section. The whole band were thrilled and so happy to be playing to people after working so hard on their music. They played a total of nine songs with their last song being the single ‘Worn Out Buildings’ which everyone was clapping along too.

After the show the band stood chatting to the audience members and selling merchandise. Hugo said its nice to be starting at the bottom again and working their way up in the music scene again. Their debut album should hopefully be dropping next year which we are all eager to hear. These guys are going to explode onto the music scene and it was great to be part of one of their first shows.

Review and photos by Kane Howie