After supporting Mumford & Sons on their Gentlemen Of The Road tour around the country, British group The Vaccines found time to play a Sunday set (8 November) in the hangar of The Triffid on a suitably rainy, London-esque night.
With some raucous support from local boys The Jensens and The Belligerents, the show started early for the punters, and despite the rain the turnout from the get-go was great – everyone knew it was going to be a good’un.
The Belligerents - Image © Zoe RussellThe Vaccines sauntered on stage at 8pm to flashing lights and intro music, full of well-earned self-confidence, the place was packed and they knew it. Playing a mix of songs from their three records, the boys barely stopped for breath or on-stage chitchat, which is exactly what the songs and crowd demanded of them.
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The rhythm of the set list was pretty damn perfect, going up when it needed to, settling down for patches, something which the group also demonstrates on their albums; a certain critical judgement about the placement of songs that makes the listening experience more enjoyable.
The Vaccines - Image © Zoe RussellLyrically, a large majority of The Vaccine’s songs contain no complicated structure while also hitting at some emotionally poignant subject matter, a technique that ensures the crowd will always be with you to sing along.
Sunday night was no different. Everyone knew every song inside and out – it felt more like a massive house party than an actual show. Sure, a house party where you just happened to have a groovy band play. But there was a great sense of sameness that came out of the night, every man and his dog was in it 100 per cent.
Punters enjoying The Vaccines - Image © Zoe RussellPersonally, only being really intimate with their first record, it was great to be introduced to their more foreign material in a live setting. These kids clearly get a massive kick out of what they do, and any cocksure exhibitionism that may come along for the ride, just seems to come with the territory now.
The Vaccines - Image © Zoe RussellThere were times when the outstretched, quivering arms of the singer grated a little, when you wanted to yell ‘let the music do that instead’, but this is real nit-picking. They were bloody good.
The encore was as well planned out as the rest of the set list, starting out with a solo, acoustic rendition of ‘No Hope’ and finishing with a ripper of a play of ‘Norgaard’. Although there was a slight hiccup between those two where the bass player had a go at the mic, and everyone in the crowd looked a little confused.
The Vaccines - Image © Zoe RussellI also want to throw out some mad props to The Triffid’s sound guy, who absolutely killed it for the whole night! All the sounds were there and present, which just made the gig that much better.
The Vaccines - Image © Zoe RussellAll in all, for their first ever headline show in Brisbane, The Vaccines absolutely brought it, and more. And if the response from the crowd was anything to go off, here’s hoping they know they’ve got some real support in the Sunshine State and come back soon. It was a super tight set, and a hell of a lot of fun.
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