4. Electric Brixton, London, 08.04.15
“You’re not seeing them again, are you?” my friend who accompanied me to the Village Underground show asks, her arms crossed, when I am handed a flyer advertising the Vaccines show to take place at Electric Brixton this April. I say nothing, but inwardly I think, of course. How can I miss a proper Vaccines headline show in London (one not only won through a competition…)? I doubt I’ll ever get tired of seeing them live, their energy and music so infectious. I meant it when I said that singing along to their songs is a great form of stress relief. Plus, to put it simply, they’re such a bloody good live band. On a side note, this same friend who was extremely judgmental of me possibly seeing The Vaccines twice in a year and very patronizing when she discovered I knew all the band members’ names (“I can’t believe you know all their names”) has now, as of August 2015, seen The Vaccines on four separate occasions and knows the gender, age, and name of Pete Robertson’s child.
It’s when I’m about to leave my flat and take the bus to Brixton that I see ShortList Magazine has tweeted about a tiny Vaccines show to be held tomorrow at a London pub, entry free along with a copy of the magazine. I leave messages to my friends to please, please, pick up a couple extra copies of ShortList magazines if they happen across it, on the off chance they get lucky. Again, I don’t think too much of it. Once at Brixton, I am (naturally) only the fourth in line of eager Vaccines fans. The band themselves pass by us to get in and out of the venue across the evening, giving us a wave and looking bewildered as to why we’d stand so early for them. The answer is simple – it is because we are all bonkers!
Having hold of the rail at a Vaccines show of this scale, in London, is something special. Electric Brixton is a small enough venue with a capacity of 1,700, a perfect size for an indie band like The Vaccines and their trademark genre of highly shoutable, danceable, infectious alternative rock. Opening with a thundering rendition of ‘Teenage Icon’, Justin sings, “I’m no teenage icon, I’m no Frankie Avalon, I’m nobody’s hero…” Except you are our hero, Justin. Speaking in hindsight, this setlist probably is the best ever Vaccines setlist I’ve been fortunate enough to hear live. With classic anthems of ‘I Always Knew’, ‘Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’, and ‘Melody Calling’ all on the bill, the crowd are treated to two surprises, two very rare performances of ‘No Hope’ and ‘Family Friend’; the latter receives its tour debut. ‘No Hope’, performed with only Justin on his acoustic guitar, is a beautiful, intimate number that has the whole of Brixton singing along to every word. Live rarity ‘Family Friend’ (the first Vaccines album’s closer) is a grand, whole band number that features a sweet and emotional first half ballad that ultimately crescendoes and erupts with a stadium-echoing chorus: “Well you wanna get young, but you’re just getting older / and you’ve had a fun summer, but it’s suddenly colder / if you want a bit of love, put your head on my shoulder, it’s cool…”