The Vaccines certainly don't hang about on stage.
On they trotted to deliver 18 songs in exactly an hour, ploughing through two albums of material in the time it takes some bands to warm up. Yet if the brevity of their set suggested little had changed since they appeared last year, there were some notable differences.
Their confidence has grown, for one thing. Presumably chart-topping second record Come of Age has helped, and the foursome have now graduated with honours from the school of rock poses, from guitarist Freddie Cowan bounding on to the drum riser to frontman Justin Young thrusting away throughout. Drummer Pete Robertson even committed the hubristic sin of wearing his own band's T-shirt, but such indulgence can be forgiven.
There was little to distract attention away from the quartet, though. At a time when stage sets grow ever more elaborate and videos increasingly common, this was a defiantly old-fashioned rock show, the focus purely on a band barrelling through sing-a-long after sing-a-long.
Every track, even the enjoyable melancholy meander of Wetsuit, sparked delirium. A cynic might suggest this success is because they've cunningly cherry-picked all pop's best bits from throughout history, but that would do their ability to pen striking hooks a disservice.
Ghost Town and Bad Mood both zipped by in the style of the Cramps and I Aways Knew's guitar work redesigned Telstar for a new generation. There were hints of a growing complexity, notably on the superbly dreamy Aftershave Ocean, but the band's strength remains snappy songs to bounce to, which gigantic crunching versions of Blow It Up and If You Wanna provided. Not clever, not innovative, but certainly catchy.
HHHH
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