A proper family outing, this, then… my dear lady wife Rachel, a massive Vaccines
fan thanks to their evident classic 50’s rock’n’roll influences (albeit filtered
through a new millennial indie rock sensibility), had already booked us tix for
their forthcoming Alexandra Palace gig next month; however another, earlier
opportunity arose to catch them, this time at considerably closer quarters, at Marlborough’s
excellent Sound Knowledge record shop, where they were booked to do an in-store
performance and signing session promoting their forthcoming, 4th, album
“Combat Sports”. A phone call to the shop revealed a purchase of said album was
necessary to secure entry, so I simply treated this as the price of admission
and organised entry for the whole family. Rach is, as mentioned, a massive fan,
I’ve been warming to them over time and have always enjoyed them “live”, and
Logan and Kasey were both intrigued by some Vaccines numbers on rotation on the
car stereo, both in particular singing happily along to oldie “If You Wanna”…
We picked up our “Vaccinated” wristbands the previous Saturday, after an
abortive earlier trip, so had a drive down to this old Market Town after tea,
parking up in the middle of the High Street for 6.30. The event, being held in
Sound Knowledge’s neighbouring café Thirty8 (downstairs this time) was already
rammed, so we got drinks in the upstairs bar before taking a spot outside the
venue, next to the outside speakers and in neck-craning view of the side of the
stage. Even this patch of earth however got fairly crowded as The Vaccines
squeezed through to kick off their short set, and Rach took Kasey back to a
less crowded spot as the opening bars of newie “Nightclub” proved too noisy for
her! Logan and I stayed in, however, as The Vaccines powered through this
impressive, spiky opener, plunging headlong thereafter into another, similarly
swift and whip-smart newie “Surfing In The Sky”. Breathless stuff!
This was actually as good as I’d seen The Vaccines; however short, this
was a performance of impressive purpose, and I found myself musing how their NME-hyped
ascent up the ladder of rock’n’roll fame, a dozen rungs at a time, to Academy
level headliners in the blink of an eye had actually robbed us of the opportunity
to see how they performed in a small venue, where stages are cramped and
festooned with wires and equipment, and you can see the whites of the baying crowds
eyes. A shame indeed, as on tonight’s evidence they’d have been fucking great
in, say, The Joiners or The Thekla back in the day, for this was a committed
and razor-sharp performance, thrilling and dynamic, with vocalist Justin Young,
who had been developing nicely into an arena-level mass-communicator of some
note, proving even more impressive in these cosy confines, throwing shapes with
a commanding strut and swagger.
And I’m pleased to report that I was very impressed with all 4 new
numbers on display this evening; whereas swathes of their previous output had
seemed so much like a hotch-potch of their influences (Ramones-like big fun dumb
punk rock, naïve C86 jangle, and that ever-present Buddy Holly-esque 50’s soda
bar doo-wop), tonight’s newies sounded, well, like The Vaccines. At last. Well done boys, it’s only taken you 4 albums
(Ha! Well, for me, anyway…!)…
Logan sneaked into a spot by the side of the stage early doors, then a
steward ushered him around to a spot stage right at the front, whereupon I
spotted my mate Stuart Gould down the front, Logan squeezing through to join
Stu at this vantage spot. So for the inevitable “If You Wanna” my lad was front
center, bellowing the words back to Justin, a point not lost on the frontman.
Another fine newie, the Summery “whoo-ooh-oh” catchiness of “I Can’t Quit”
ended a splendid vignette, a serious appetite whetter for Ally Pally!
Rach and Kasey had danced at the side, then bagged early queue spots for
the signing session upstairs in Sound Knowledge itself. So after a short wait (during
which I chatted annoyingly loudly (allegedly!) with various friends, including
James, Laura, Rich Carter and Stuart “Langers” and family) we all met and got
pics and signed stuff with an affable band, Justin taking it in good humour when
Logan (referencing Frank Turner) asked him, “are you the last great romantic
poet?” A fun evening rounded off and we got the kids back home for a slightly
later bedtime. Fine stuff from The Vaccines, and nice to see them in front of a
couple of hundred folks; there’ll be 12,000 in at Ally Pally…!
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