The Maccabees’ return “almost felt embarrassing” after “definitive” break-up, says Felix White

 The Maccabees‘ Felix White has said their return “almost felt embarrassing” after their “definitive” break-up.

The band announced their comeback after eight years away last October and confirmed they would be topping the bill at Victoria Park in East London on August 24. The show will also coincide with the 10th anniversary of their fourth and final album, ‘Marks To Prove It’ and you can find any remaining tickets here.

Ahead of their All Points East set, the band reunited for a huge show at this year’s edition of Glastonbury, and before that played their first gig back on June 20 at London’s The Dome for a charity gig in aid of MS Society.

Now, White has reflected on the reunion which came after what seemed like a “definitive” break-up in 2017.

Speaking to John Kennedy on Radio X, White said the recent shows have been “incredible”, adding: “I anticipated it was going to be good, but I didn’t anticipate how much I was going to feel it.

“Like, how much adrenaline I was going to get from it,” he continued. “So, I think we’re all in a sort of half state of shock of how much we all kind of enjoyed what’s just happened and playing those songs.”

He went on to confirm that the band aren’t working on any new music, saying: “Maybe because we’re not writing anything at the moment, there’s no tension. Or that idea of like, ‘Where’s the band going?’ It’s just like, ‘Oh, nice to see you!’ and then getting to kind of like bathe in all the catalogue is kind of great.”

White then looked back on their initial split, saying: “I think it took a second to get around the fact that, like, we said it was the end of the band. So, it almost like it felt embarrassing to be like, ‘Oh, actually…!’”

“It really felt definitive at the end of the thing. Like, really clearly,” he continued. “And it’s just that horrible thing of like, ‘Oh no, we’re like all the other bands that eventually do it again.’ But then you get into that point of like, ‘Oh well, life’s short. If certain things have healed, if everyone feels the same way, why not, you know?’”

Speaking about their first show back together earlier this year, White told NME: “There was a lot of feeling in that room. It surprised me, actually, because I was finding that on stage, in a split second, I was euphoric and then I was actually crying at Tufnell Park Dome and then feeling other things. “You felt all this feeling inside your body that the action of playing the music brings out in us, and it was all happening in there and just felt amazing.”

For their Glasto set, NME gave it a full five stars and praised the slot as “their most euphoric show to date”.

“It’s only when finale ‘Pelican’ rolls around that the bliss that covers The Park stage starts to slowly fade,” it read. “It feels too soon for The Maccabees to be leaving after living without them for so long, but the hour they spend on stage is perfect and not to be taken for granted.

“Now, their reunion rolls on to more UK dates and their big day out at All Points East. Start praying now that they decide to continue beyond that, too.”

The Maccabees were joined onstage at Glastonbury 2025 by Florence Welch, who provided guest vocals on ‘Love You Better’ before performing Florence + The Machine‘s ‘Dog Days Are Over’.

For All Points East, they’ll be joined by Bombay Bicycle Club, The Cribs, Dry Cleaning, Nilüfer Yanya, The Murder Capital, Divorce, Prima Queen, CMAT, Black Country, New Road, Everything Everything, Sorry, Katy J Pearson, Youth Lagoon, TTSSFU, Max Baby and The Juice, Warmduscher, The Futureheads and Westside Cowboy.

Ahead of the huge homecoming gig, the band have launched ‘YALA! TV’ – a weekly video series featuring live music, interviews and more, and are also celebrating their reunion by re-releasing two of their albums: ‘Colour It In’ and ‘Given To The Wild’.