The Maccabees' Felix White reveals one of his biggest regrets with the band

19 December 2024, 14:00 | Updated: 20 December 2024, 13:42

A White Christmas on Radio X with Felix & Hugo White

By Jenny Mensah

The Maccabees guitarist has recalled the time the band played a special festive session of Top Of The Pops.

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Felix White has shared one of his "biggest regrets" about his time in The Maccabees.

The First Love outfit - who first formed in 2004, announced their split in 2016 and played their farewell gigs in 2017 - thrilled their fans when they announced they were reuniting and headlining All Points East next year.

Although the the band are excited to be able to play the East London festival for the first time, the guitarist admits he has regrets over missing out on more things with the band, such as a performance on the weekly edition of Top Of The Pops, which was cancelled in 2006.

Speaking to his brother Hugo White on A White Christmas on Radio X, he recalled: "When The Maccabees started, one of the most heartbreaking things for us is that Top Of The Pops had just ended, but it did come back every time at Christmas and we did it once or twice.

"And one of my biggest regrets with The Maccabees is performing that in fingerless gloves, because it got pre-recorded in the summer and it wasn't actually Christmas, obviously."

Describing the festive show, which came complete with fake snow and props, the Marks To Prove It guitarist added: "I thought to ham up the Christmas-ness of it, if I did it in gloves it would look cold."

The performance in question was actually a Top Of The Pops New Year's Eve special, which you can watch here, but Felix is indeed wearing the fingerless gloves in question and looking pretty sheepish about it, too:

The Maccabees - Pelican (Live New Year's Eve Top of the Pops)

Listen to A White Christmas on Radio X with Felix and Hugo White now on Global Player, watch it above or hear the show on Christmas Day on Radio X from 7pm.

The Maccabees - Stay Another Day (acoustic)

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Felix White with The Maccabees inset. Picture: Ricciuti/Redferns/Getty, Phil Sharp/Press

The Maccabees - completed by frontman Orlando Weeks, bassist Rupert Jarvis and drummer Sam Doyle - will play All Points East on Sunday 24th August 2025.

They'll be joined on the day by a specially curated line-up of acts, including Bombay Bicycle Club, Dry Cleaning and The Cribs, Nilüfer Yanya, The Murder Capital, Divorce and more added to the bill.

Speaking about the upcoming bill-topping set, Felix also told Toby Tarrant that the shows were "too magical" to pass up.

"In a way, All Points East has sort of become that for the indie generation, because Reading and Leeds has changed a little bit, so you always look at the line-up," he admitted.

"So, that was the one that, like, when it got offered to us, it was like, ‘Argh! We can’t not do that!’ It just feels too great, too magical. So that’s where we are.”

Watch Felix and Hugo talk about the show to Radio X's Toby Tarrant below: