Maxïmo Park (20th Anniversary Show)

Maxïmo Park play The Engine Shed on Wednesday 16 December, part of their 20th Anniversary Shows. The set is built around songs from their debut album, A Certain Trigger, alongside their greatest hits, so it's a night that looks back as much as it looks forward.

For those who only know the hits, the debut is where it all started. A Certain Trigger came out in 2005 and went gold in the UK, and it earned a Mercury Prize nomination. The band has put out eight studio albums since then, through to Stream of Life in 2024, with the first two both going gold. Much of their songwriting draws on post-punk and new wave legends like The Jam, XTC, Wire and The Smiths, and that lineage is easy to hear in the angular pop they've stuck with.

They're a Newcastle trio, formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne and fronted by singer Paul Smith, with Duncan Lloyd on guitar, bass, keyboards and backing vocals and Tom English on drums. They started as an avant-garde, largely instrumental group and took their name from a meeting place for communists in Cuba. This Lincoln date is one of several 20th Anniversary shows, so the focus is on that debut album and the songs that followed.

Doors open at 19:00 at The Engine Shed, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool (LN67TS), with support. General admission is £35.84 including fees, with a face value of £32.00; early bird tickets are £29.12 including fees, from a face value of £26.00. The show is 14+, and under-18s need an adult.