The Vaccines At Brixton Academy – London

The Vaccines AT BRIXTON 02 BYMaja Smiejkowska

London – Somehow, a strong whiff of marijuana doesn’t feature too highly in the list of things you expect to encounter at a gig by teen-friendly indie band The Vaccines. Sure, you could locate other shows in London’s 2015 diary where the combination might feel more jarring – Catfish & The Bottlemen, S Club 7, or Peppa Pig’s Big Splash maybe – but still, it feels like an unusual pairing. Speaking, however, as someone with friends who once decided to get enormously stoned before going into a midnight cinema screening of Spiceworld: The Movie, and maybe there’s something to be said for introducing a little inventive experimentation into your hobbies.

The Vaccines ticked London’s 20,000 capacity O2 Arena off their bucket list in May 2013, whilst promoting their second album, Come Of Age. This time round they’re touring the follow-up (English Graffiti) with three nights at the (5,000 capacity, maths fans) Brixton Academy, perhaps with the sensible philosophy that they can either put on a 7/10 show in an arena, or set out attempting to prove they’ve completely mastered the art of the theatre show.

Though they’re back in smaller rooms, it’s certainly kind of them to bring the level of stage design of an arena gig with them. It’s quickly apparent that this is amongst the most slick, high production shows available in theatres – the stage almost overstocked with different lighting options.

The Vaccines at Brixton 02 by Maja Smiejkowska

Justin Young still makes for a curious frontman. Despite how common it is for actual fans of the band to not be able to recall his name, he remains a man aware of the fact that he can illicit screams from tonight’s audience simply by walking to the front of the stage and standing still.

They kick off firmly in ‘lead single’ mode, with ‘Handsome’ then ‘Teenage Icon’. Too much too soon? Tonight is as much a reminder of just what a knack for creating tight little indie pop classics The Vaccines have. ‘Dream Lover’ follows shortly after, which is obviously an excellent song, isn’t it. The Vaccines are quite good when they go all mid-paced and sexy on us. All out balladry suits them less well, as the solo acoustic version of ‘No Hope’ that kicks off the encore is the only time they seem to lose half the room, quite a few people seemingly reacting “look m8 it’s a passable version but it’s not exactly Karma Police is it.”. ‘Post Break-Up Sex’, however, remains the track to get all the girls singing along, whilst (justifiable fan favourite) ‘Wetsuit’ is the one that gets all the lads up on each other’s shoulders.

As Young happily states, this is the band’s tenth time playing the Academy, and so you could somewhat expect them, by now, to bring a level of skill to proceedings. Tonight, they could hardly be playing any tighter. They’re not exactly harmed by fantastic sound, too. Things end apocalyptically, the confetti cannons brought in to add firepower to the usually-chaotic-anyway ‘Norgaard’. It brings to mind just how many acts rush to play their first arena shows. If it’s a choice between a 7/10 arena show and a 9/10 theatre show, it feels cruel to deny your fanbase the pleasure. Mastered the art of playing these rooms? Pretty much.

Photography by Maja Smiejkowska.
Mark Muldoon is on Twitter and Instagram.

The Vaccines continue to tour the UK. Details on their website.

Set list:

Handsome
Teenage Icon
Ghost Town
Dream Lover
Wetsuit
Minimal Affection
A Lack of Understanding
Wolf Pack
Bad Mood
Post Break-Up Sex
Melody Calling
In Love
Give Me A Sign
Wreckin’ Bar
20/20
I Always Knew
If You Wanna
All In White

Encore:
No Hope
We’re Happening
Norgaard

Mark Muldoon

Mark Muldoon

Mark Muldoon lives in Chancery Lane in central London and is out nearly every night soaking up the most fun music, food, comedy and events the city has to offer. He then also writes about them for Drowned in Sound and Brixton Blog, and discusses them on Instagram and Twitter.

He also judges the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award and Glastonbury's Emerging Talent Competition, is never ever without his camera, once backpacked Syria, and also likes Burning Man, the Nottinghill Carnival, BBC 6 Music, India, Taylor Swift, Japan and blueberry muffins.
Mark Muldoon