From the off; I promise no gags or mentions about The Vaccines name and you know what. OK? Er, I just did, didn’t I? Moving on… Third night of the 14-date UK tour for the headliners; their umpteenth time in Nottingham and a fair few shows at this venue in the 14 years they have been around. In fact..
The band played their very first ever show anywhere, here in this city in 2010 soon after forming, but tonight’s near capacity 1,000 fans beats the total number of paying punters in to see them back then by 1,000. That was zero. Zilch. Bugger all. They played to the lady behind the bar, their manager and his wife! The band still vividly recall that night next door to Rock City at The Rescue Rooms.
That was before they changed their name to the Vaccines, and as they sat outside The Rescue Rooms in their van, they saw hundreds of people queuing around the block. Excited they had drawn such a crowd for an unknown band on their first gig.
When they got inside, they realised it was a fraction of the capacity of Rock City and the big queue was not actually for them. They did get to play Rock City in 2011, several times since and the local arena.
Triple treat tonight; two support bands: Nottingham’s rising stars Divorce and Australian band Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers. Divorce, the first one on stage, kicked off their set very early before 6.45pm and when there was only circa 200 in the room.
A real shame as this band is Nottingham-based and bloody good – our tip to break through in 2024/25. Very enjoyable set and we will be covering a gig in their own right asap.
Second up, the wonderfully named Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers who this magazine covered last spring at Brighton’s Great Escape Festival. The four ladies did a neat job.
Sean Dyche was in the audience tonight, the current Everton FC boss and a youth player with Nottingham Forest from 1987 to 1990. Presumed to be a Vaccines fan then.
The pretty carnation flowers adoring the mic’ stands and the drum riser a wee clue to their latest album’s title: “Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations” which dropped in January 2024 – their sixth – from which they played half of it tonight.
The Vaccines delivered 22 songs – 17 + 3 encore songs [the full setlist can be seen at the bottom of the page]. The venue maybe 80% full tonight (capacity 1,000), with many loyal fans in whom have booked for several shows on this tour, and who have notched up double figures of how many times they have seen the band live over the years. A very wide age range of fans here too.
The four guys: Justin Hayward-Young aka Justin Young (lead vocals, guitars), Árni Árnason (bass, vocals), Timothy Lanham (guitars, keys, vocals) and Yoann Intonti (drums), opened with new song, “Love To Walk Away” .
They had the fans where they wanted them for the get go. The audience were seemingly just about as much up for the newer stuff from the recent LP as they were for the hits and classics.
Singer Justin Hayward-Young in fine voice and a commanding presence on stage. It was a very nicely balanced setlist, and the first five songs scored big. The fab “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra) up second after “Love to Walk Away”, then “I Can’t Quit” and “Post Break-Up Sex”. I think I sussed there were songs from all six of the band’s long players.
“Teenage Icon” was on 2012’s “Come Of Age”, and a biggie for the fans here included the classic “Wetsuit”. Fan fave “Discount De Kooning (Last One Standing) prompoted a mass sway…Lead single “Heartbreak Kid” from the new album sounded mighty live and in the flesh.
Among the hits came “Headphones Baby” and “If You Wanna”. Their three-song encore closed with “All My Friends Are Falling In Love” after two new ones, “Sometimes, I Swear” and “Lunar Eclipse”.
The current album’s title came from a line of lyric in an old Vaccine’s song. They began the writing process in late 2021 early 2022, worked out the direction in March 2022, and went into the studio in September 2023.
It is the first album without guitarist Freddie Cowan, who left in March 2023, as a new father reluctant to be away on tour. Timothy Lanham added lead guitar to his duties.
Both the album and this gig prove beyond reasonable doubt that this band still have a lot of gas left in the tank and are very much worth your cash for a ticket and their new music.
Leaving Nottingham fans very happy indeed. As for local band Divorce, they may well be headlining this same venue one day soon is my bet. Tenner on it?
The remaining UK tour dates:
10 – London, Troxy
11 – Margate, Dreamland Margate
13 – Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall
14 – Southampton, O2 Guildhall
15 – Bristol, O2 Academy
17 – Oxford, O2 Academy
18 – Brighton, Dome
19 – Sheffield, O2 Academy
21 – Leeds, O2 Academy
22 – Glasgow, Barrowland Ballroom
23 – Newcastle, NX
The Vaccines: Nottingham setlist
1. Love to Walk Away
2. Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)
3. I Can’t Quit
4. Post Break-Up Sex
5. Wetsuit
6. Your Love Is My Favourite Band
7. Discount de Kooning (Last One Standing)
8. The Dreamer
9. Headphones Baby
10. Jump Off the Top
11. No Hope
12. Handsome
13. Heartbreak Kid
14. Teenage Icon
15. I Always Knew
16. If You Wanna
17. All in White
Encore:
18. Sometimes, I Swear
19. Lunar Eclipse
20. All My Friends Are Falling in Love
