“All night, all night waiting for you”: At The Octagon in Sheffield on Monday night, an eclectic assembly congregated, reminiscent of a captive class eagerly awaiting their instructor’s insights. And who better to whisk these minds through the corridors of time than West London indie darlings The Vaccines?
After a raucous warm-up set from Australian rockers, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, the outfit kicked off with ‘Love to Walk Away’. The band traversed a syllabus of fan favourites, drawing upon the pages of their critically-acclaimed debut album, What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?, like chapters of a well-thumbed textbook. Hits like ‘Post Break-up Sex’, and the anthemic ‘Wetsuit’ elicited cheers, transporting fans back to a time when life felt simpler and troubles were distant. The lyrics “time gets harder to outrun” and “we all got old at breakneck speed” linger, a poignant reminder of the transient nature of youth and the immutable passage of time.
Frontman Justin Hayward-Young’s movements, reminiscent of a dad attempting to find his groove on the dance floor, elicited chuckles and knowing glances from a crowd old enough to remember the early 2010s Tumblr hyperfixation on touring member Matthew Hitt’s cheekbones. With introductions made to the rest of the band during ‘Teenage Icon’, the dawning realisation that an act isn’t as cool as you thought they once were smacks of seeing your favourite teachers in the pub years after you’ve left school and realising they’re all human too. It’s strangely comforting.
Lighting matching the discography artwork served as a helpful reminder of where the audience was in The Vaccines’ timeline for anyone struggling to keep up during their high-energy set. The buoyant ‘Headphones Baby’, ‘Jump Off The Top’ and ‘Handsome’ elicited some modest moshing, while stems from the band’s latest album, Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations, were equally well received, no doubt thanks to the band’s familiar formula of catchy, staccato choruses, which mean you can sing along with relative ease even if you’re not entirely au fait with the lyrics. Highlights from the new release included ‘Heartbreak Kid’ and ‘Sometimes, I Swear’, both powerful treatises on emotional vulnerability – “Let your heartbreak kid / ‘till you’re feeling it” – that refreshingly contrasted the leather-clad arrogance of earlier hits like ‘Handsome’.
Amidst the nostalgia fest, there was a moment that prompted introspection among Justin’s pupils. Now a seasoned mentor in the school of life, he sat back and let the crowd close out the set by themselves with ‘Nørgaard’. With its somewhat problematic lyrics “She’s only seventeen so she’s probably not ready”, the set closer served as a reminder of the wisdom that comes with hindsight, and the cloying realisation in the wake of #MeToo that 36-year-olds probably shouldn’t be singing about inappropriate age gaps (take note, Pigeon Detectives).
Read more: Track Review: Heartbreak Kid // The Vaccines
As the closing chords reverberated through the hall, it was as though the final bell had rung, signalling the end of a captivating lesson in delivering nostalgia while also updating your catalogue to suit the times. The Vaccines’ performance in the city where they first recorded 2018’s Combat Sports was, therefore, a masterclass in the enduring power of music to transport fans through time: both backwards and forwards.
Words by Beth Kirkbride
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