South London’s indie favourites The Maccabees have announced their live reunion yesterday, 20 May. The band, formed of brothers Hugo and Felix White on guitar, along with Orlando Weeks on vocals, Rupert Jarvis on bass and Sam Doyle on drums, will be performing an intimate gig at London’s Dome to raise money for the MS society. The performance will be in honour of the White brothers’ mother who suffered from the condition.
The performance on 20 June will be a comeback from their eight year hiatus after splitting at the peak of their career in 2016. The gig will have a capacity of only 300, organised by Hugo and Felix White. With Dork Magazine, Felix had this to say: “This show means a lot to us as MS is a cause close to our hearts. When we knew the band were getting back together, we really wanted to do something again to support the MS Society.”
Hugo added, “Our mum had MS so we know the devastating effect it can have on young people and families. We’ve always done what we can to raise awareness and funds for the MS Society, and we’re delighted to be able to put on this show.”
The band have worked closely with the MS Society for years with the White brothers becoming MS Society Ambassadors in 2016. They announced their return in October 2024 with the news of their upcoming headline performance at All Points East on 24 August.
The Maccabees broke up at their “creative peak” after 14 years of working together and achieving their highest charting 2015 album ‘Marks To Prove It’, which spent 10 weeks at Number one on the UK Official Albums Charts. Upon announcing the reunion, the band spoke with Radio X about how it came to be, stating “it’s been kinda delicately being approached for the last year or so”.
@themaccabeesband Who’s gonna say it first? #themaccabees @Radio X ♬ original sound – The Maccabees
At their first rehearsal after reuniting, they performed their widely loved singles ‘Love You Better’, ‘Lego’ and ‘X-Ray’ for NME, sharing that “It’s felt to me like no time has passed,”.
The band have many standout tracks, including the acoustic, floaty romance single ‘Toothpaste Kisses’, which has amassed over 100 million listens on Spotify.
The intimate London gig will have tickets available to buy on a ballot. Entry to the ballot opened yesterday (20 May) with £5 entry and will close on 2 June. They will also be embarking on a UK and Ireland tour in August with support from Sorry. Tickets are available on their website.
