Maximo Park @ Liquid Room, 31 Mar

Is that the greatest live band in the UK right now or what? enquires a certain verbal and bespectacled Xfm presenter after Maximo Park complete their night's work as the latest in a line of live shows being put on by the radio station for lucky competition winners. Although the answer is a fairly unanimous chorus of "yeeeah!", one felt the conviction from the floor was more alcohol-fuelled than the voice of reason. On tonight's performance, you'd struggle to question the band's honesty when it comes to putting on a live show and frontman Paul Smith certainly strains every last sinew to convey the 'Park's message. However, the songs, and the new ones in particular, are all too inconsistent in their quality, leaving a certain thirst for a little more variety. But the dedicated seem happy with the goods regardless and Now I'm All Over The Shop still seals the night as a success. [Jon Seller]