On the back drop of a dark red stage surrounded by what looked like old lights from a 50’s film set The Vaccines run out onto the stage of Manchester Academy 1. The room is filled with young teenagers ready to spend the best part of their evening getting shoved by minds alike, sweating and chanting the hopelessly romantic well known indie bangers The Vaccines have been known to provide.

The release of their new album 10 days prior had me in the mind set that this would be all we would hear throughout the gig, however I was pleasantly surprised.  Under the light of a spectacular spinning disco ball the band reeled off classics such as ‘Norgaard’, ‘Teenage Icon’ and ‘Post Break Up Sex’ to a crowd of fans on shoulders who passionately sang every word back to them as you would expect. The almost cartoonish Justin Young flailing around the front of the stage like a thunderbird all the meanwhile.

As a whole the show spun me back to standing in a field at Boardmasters five years prior and being utterly amazed by the energy and passion they put into a live performance which definitely still stands today.  Theatricals aside however the band were tight and when songs from the new album were played they were well received by countless fist pumps, flying pints and even a flying shoe?

Some would say it would be easy to slate The Vaccines but you have to give credit where its due; they are a guitar band with countless, well loved indie anthems in their repertoire all of which have enough sweet melodies and dynamic shifts to put on a great show worth going to see. Just particularly enjoyable perhaps if you’re aged under 20 because the whole room seemed to capture pure, teenage joy.