The Maccabees have announced plans for an intimate charity concert in London ahead of their forthcoming UK and Ireland shows.
The band will play their first show since they announced their return in October, at The Dome on June 20.
Only 300 tickets are available for the exclusive show via a ticket ballot, in aid of the MS Society, which has been organised by guitarists Felix and Hugo White. The brothers have supported the charity for many years as their mother lived with multiple sclerosis (MS) and passed away when they were teenagers. They were announced as MS Society Ambassadors in 2016.
The ticket ballot is now open here, entry is £5 per ticket, and fans can apply for up to two tickets per order.
Entrants can apply to the ballot multiple times but can only win once with the ballot closing at 10am BST next Monday (June 2). All successful entrants will be contacted by 2pm BST on the same day and will be charged £20 (+ booking fee) per ticket, based on the number requested in their winning entry.
“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. We’re really excited this has come together – it’s going to be a special night,” said Felix White.
His brother 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.”
All funds raised will go to the MS Society’s Stop MS Appeal here.
Later this year, the band will hit the road for a host of shows in August including one at All Points East 2025 on August 24. Any remaining tickets for those shows can be purchased here and can be viewed here.
As preparations get underway for the big reunion, the band recently invited NME into their rehearsal space, where Felix White told us it felt as if “no time had passed” since they last played together in 2017.
“It’s so strange. In the chunk [of time] from the last show, you could conceive of The Maccabees as a different existence, but as soon as we started playing, it was as if we hadn’t stopped,” he said.
The group also responded to rumours that new music could be on the cards, with White telling NME: “The plan is to do [All Points East] and see how much we love it.” Drummer Sam Doyle jokingly added: “We might hate each other by August.”
Frontman Orlando Weeks also explained: “Everything we built together as people is very connected to being in a band. We’ve been able to achieve relationships outside of that, but there’s a totally other level of comfort in each other’s company when this is the reason we’re hanging out.
“The particularness of this type of companionship that doesn’t exist outside of this… It feels rarefied.”
