The Vaccines | Winter Gardens, Eastbourne | 6 December 2011

A review by Gary Marlowe

Back in May, The Vaccines were one of the most eagerly anticipated acts at The Great Escape, Brighton’s increasingly influential new music festival. Their Corn Exchange performance coincided with the bands’ turbo-charged rise to fame and preceeded slots at many of the summer’s biggest festivals. As 2011 drew to an end, The Vaccines were back in Sussex, although this time somewhat surprisingly playing, not in Brighton, but up the coast in Eastbourne. The expectant crowd at the Winter Gardens were certainly in high spirits, fired up by not one but two excellent supports: Howler from Minneapolis and Frankie & The Heartstrings, who hail from the not quite so exotic Tyne & Wear.

By the time The Vaccines took the stage the atmosphere in the old venue was highly charged and for the next hour there was no let up as the London four piece belted out every track from their highly infectious debut album at breakneck speed. On record, their songs are succinct to say the least (‘Wreckin’ Bar’ for example comes in at under a minute and a half!) and there’s no attempt whatsoever to pad them out on stage. Having toured virtually non-stop all year, it’s no surprise that the band is as tight as they are. Indeed, there aren’t many established acts who can match The Vaccines for sheer stage power. Yes, it was over far too quickly, yes they still need to learn some stagecraft and yes some more songs would help their show move away from being just an album playback, but it’s hard to criticise a band who have come such a long way so quickly. And for those of you already suffering from withdrawal symptons, you’ll be able to get your next dose of The Vaccines when they headline the Brighton Centre on May 7th. That’s a meteoric rise in little more than a year. But then what else did you expect from The Vaccines?