London rockers The Vaccines have been ever-present on the music scene for the past two years, and with their new Come of Age tour - deriving from the eponymous album - arriving, the quartet played Glasgow's O2 Academy last Monday (26th November) and they look like they have not looked back since their formation in 2010. Tonight they start at around 9.30, but first they have a colossal THREE support acts playing prior to the long-awaited performance.
First up on the bill is mysterious moody electro-duo Pale. With a buzzing crowd, they managed to unfortunately create a bit of an anti-climax with their slow wavy beats and their The xx-like music. Although in it's own way it has beauty and is dreamy electro thumps with sleepy voices, it is all a bit queasy. Plus, the fans don't want to go to bed yet, so just as well Californian girl band Deap Vally were able to liven up the crowd.
Vocalist of the two-piece seemingly-dyslexic band, Lindsey Troy, sparked the crowd alive with her incredibly shrieking voice, hoping to be better than her spelling - and she didn't disappoint, sporting a pair of denim shorts which left the male crowd ogling her. Her and drumming buddy Julie Edwards showed that they were very much like The White Stripes, but with a little extra flair. Edwards only drums was one of the more energetic performances of the night, especially through songs like Gonna Make My Own Money. The girls were in my opinion, the best support act of the night. Cut right to the chase, played their songs brilliantly and left on a high note.
Finally, New York dream poppers DIIV finished as the last support act of the night with a drilling performance which prolonged its stay a little. Sure, they were quite fun and full of some thrashing sounds, but they also dragged on miserably and sent the crowd into a cloud of despair, just eagerly waiting for the main act to come on. They were given a round of applause and they departed as everyone waited for the moment they paid to see.
The Vaccines then took stage, much to the hysteria from the fangirls and ecstasy of the rest of the fans. They started on a high with upbeat fan favourite No Hope before continuing with their fast poppy track Wreckin' Bar (Ra, Ra, Ra). Front man Justin Young then takes a quick break to chat to the crowd with his slurry words and twinkling voice as the crowd go wild before saying "I think you know this one" and bursts into Tiger Blood with a screeching ten second chorus wowing the crowd. With all the sweat already covering the venue, the lads toned it down a little, with dreamy, slower song A Lack of Understanding which Young enjoyed as he sung half-cut and cheery. Next thing, the keyboard is out and a drone noise fills the O2, with festival favourite Wetsuit having all the fans rejoice together in a swaying motion. Things pick up after that with drummer Pete Robertson playing the famous drum intro to new single Teenage Icon that fuses with a crooning guitar riff from bass guitarist Arni Hjorvar who has been flicking his Rapunzel do around all night. The pop-rock returns for song number 7 with easy going tune Under Your Thumb which is followed up by sweet psychedelic-rock taken from the new album Come of Age which is called Aftershave Ocean. Performed brilliantly and such an innocent song, which has became a hit with the fans recently. More Come of Age is played in the form of Ghost Town which sounds like quite a dark song, reflecting the poor weather in Glasgow tonight. Then comes the great nostalgia. First comes the band's highest charted single Post Break-Up Sex which the crowd sings along to in delight. The next is one of their best. They play the beautiful All In White which the crowd scream at whilst Freddie Cowan ends the track in style. Then the pop rock comes back with second album song Change of Heart Pt 2 which keeps the fans happy on this rollercoaster concert. This is followed by two of their slower, but better songs, Blow It Up and as announced on the night, the new single I Always Knew which gets everyone screaming again. They finish their set with well-known song If You Wanna which has a festival-like atmosphere with the fans.
For their encore, they play badass and moody tune Bad Mood, which is their heaviest track to date, starting mosh pits around the venue and beginning the encore on a high note. To keep this fast beat going they trail onto well-named track Wolf Pack before finishing on a brilliant high with the band belting out Norgaard to finish off the best one and a half minutes of an encore. They may not have shown their badder side as described in their new album or shown any great rock material yet, but they played a great set and say farewell to Scotland in style
Best Part: Meeting Justin before the gig.
Worst Part: Trying to understand Justin on stage.
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