| Maximo Park Diary Entries |
| These are diary entries by Maximo Park members from the Official Maximo Park Website. |
Good Night Britain |
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| 13 Dec, 2005 |
I am on a train heading up to Newcastle, my home.
Earlier, in Kings Cross station, beneath the departures screen, my fellow travellers stood waiting dutifully, willing the small, orange, horizontal line to turn into a
platform number. I was limply gazing at the floor when I heard the barely audible shuffle that signalled the start of a minor stampede. I looked up and turned towards Platform 2 in the same motion and began to join the mass swarm. Nobody wanted to miss the opportunity of a seat for the long journey, which left no room for politeness or decorum. Scores of people scurried down the platform, which seemed narrow like a clotted vein struggling to cope with the flow of blood cells. I recalled those scientific videos that simplified bodily proceedings into diagramatic animations.
An explosion at an oilworks caused a balloon of soot to rise skywards yesterday, but we will silently sift our way through it tonight protected from this ugly spectacle by the darkness. I read foreboding placards with their diagonal grills holding in place the paper sheets proclaiming, "POISON CLOUD HITS LONDON TONIGHT", scrawled in blue permanent marker.
It seemed so apocalyptic, but I saw no fuss. Call it calm before the storm, but the storm rarely arrives unless contained in a teacup, where the evening papers are concerned.
Yesterday, we played our final British concert of the year, which lends the current climate a reflective air. However, I would resist the temptation to over-analyse things. I mean, we've only just begun as a band, and I feel like the more records we make, the clearer our identity will become. The charity Shelter was the benificiary last night and we found ourselves in the cavernous Brixton Academy, listening to our music twiceover; once as we played it, and for a second time as it rebounded off the walls a milisecond later. We took the opportunity to play our album in its recorded order, which defied conventional concert logic. I reckon people have played the album a lot by now and so they could anticipate the unfolding of it like a favourite film or a cherished book.
The whole UK tour was a success, but we have come to expect such warmth and excitement from our followers, though we do not take it for granted. Glasgow deserves an honourable mention for the sheer fervour which we experienced that night at the Barrowlands. The building has a visible history as you walk around it, with tiny stars tacked onto wooden surfaces everywhere. Playing with Field Music and Clor has been a pleasure, and in both Wolverhampton and Newcastle I was so moved by the song You're So Pretty, which was sung with utter abandon by David Brewis of Field Music. When he reaches the part about his subject's 'demeanour' and his veins are visible on his neck as he pushes out the words, it makes me want to shatter into a thousand pieces.
Everything in this country seems familiar, if not safe. Uncertainty can blight your life...
I went to London Zoo today and I was totally enthralled by the animals and the whole structure of the place. I spent a wonderful day just staring at the unique markings on the various skins as bodies breathed beneath them.
I sometimes feel like an impartial observer on my own life.
Night night,
Paul And The Park
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