Last night saw my second Vaccines gig of the year so far, both in very unique settings, with the first being at Manchester’s beautiful Albert Hall back in April and the second being on the picturesque docklands of Liverpool last night for the annual Sound City Festival.

The show begins with speed and ferocity as the drums thundered the opening beats to ‘Teenage Icon’ through the air, being swiftly followed by ‘Wreckin’ Bar’ and ‘Ghost Town’. With the gig taking shape nicely straight from the off, a plethora of people gathered in the centre of the crowd in chaotic fashion, all bouncing around in unison with one another, whilst pushing and shoving their way in and out of the moshpit throughout the whole evening.

The Vaccines showcased material from all three of their albums, with the third of course being the vastly approaching English Graffiti, the first glimpse that the crowd got of the upcoming album came in the form of the elegantly romantic ‘Dream Lover’, which was then accompanied by ‘Wetsuit’ -which arguably provides a highlight to any Vaccines gig as every member of the crowd, with no exceptions, are bellowing the lyrics back into the direction of the stage, leaving them to feel the spotlight is on them equally as much as it is on the band.

Throughout the whole of the show, the crowd saw spectacularly vibrant colours and images upon the backdrop of the stage, complementing each song perfectly. As frontman Justin Young proclaims that English Graffiti is their ‘finest yet’ it appears they are very confident with how things are going at the moment, without breaking the barrier into arrogance – if the new album continues to reflect the bands recent performances, then they are right to be confident.

As the tunes continue it becomes apparent that the Vaccines are developing a vast all-star setlist, with the liverpudlian crowd being treated to stomping versions of ‘Post Break-Up Sex’, ‘All In White’, ‘Handsome’, ‘Blow It Up’ and ‘Wolfpack’ just to name a few.

The pinnacle of the gig comes understandably during the finale, where the whole thing comes together as one big party, thanks to the relentlessly energetic ‘If You Wanna’ and of course, set-closer ‘Norgaard’, providing the perfect ending to a very, very good gig indeed.

James Cummins.

@CummyBear