LIVE REVIEW: The Vaccines, Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers, Divorce, O2 Guildhall, Southampton, 14/02/2024
Photo Credit: Jack Delve – O2 Institute, Birmingham on 5th February 2024
In support of their sixth studio album Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations, The Vaccines headed to Southampton Guildhall for a night of Valentine’s Day magic to spread the love and steal the hearts of the sold-out crowd.
When you think Valentine’s Day, you don’t always think Divorce (or at least we hope you don’t!) but the Nottingham outfit were firmly on our mind tonight. Introducing themselves with their groovy yet at times dreary tracks Sex & The Millenium Bridge and Birds, the breath-taking dual vocal effort of Tiger Cohen-Towell and Felix Mackenzie-Barrow echoed round the slowly filling venue. Unfortunately, it took a little too long for the band to really get into their stride with the crowd struggling to get behind their emotive lyrics and twirling instrumentals. As closer Checking Out became the standout moment of the set. With the band blending together in perfect unison, saving the best til last and giving an indie-pop dance along to round off our introduction to them. 7/10
Teen Jesus and The Jean Teasers are a band who’ve featured on Bring The Noise previously and with their debut album I Love You released last year we and many others had high hopes for their set. The Aussie outfit from the moment AHHHH! kicked off, made it clear they weren’t here to mess around as the riot grrrl energy hit a high. Their gritty guitars caught our attention on the title track of their album as we found ourselves dreaming about this show but in a sweaty grassroots venue as vocalist Anna Ryan roamed around the stage. Showing off their musical versatility, Salt as Ryan explained was ‘bringing it down a little so I can breathe’, the sincerity of the track and the vulnerability exhibited opened up a new side to the band.
Having successfully won over the crowd, as their set began to draw to a close a rocked up take on Billie Eillish’s Happier Than Ever. As we all followed their instructions, ‘let’s dance then we can party hard to The Vaccines’, Lights Out rounded off their set with an incredible light show, a bouncing crowd and a successfully hooked crowd. The quartets set felt like we were watching a headline set from the band and we look forward to seeing a headline UK show in the future! 8/10
As the familiar sound of Wings’ Live And Let Die prompted a full crowd singalong, it was time for The Vaccines to deliver their Valentine’s day present to Southampton. Beginning their set with latest single, Love To Walk Away, Justin Hayward-Young and co. took no time to get into their stride encouraging the crowd to match their energy instantly. Their extensive touring experience means this is a showcase in teamwork and playing on each other’s strengths, as seen in I Can’t Quit with Timothy Lanham, Yoann Intonti and Árni Árnason providing the punchy musical offering as Hayward-Young made his way across the stage showcasing his impressive vocal offering.
The great thing about The Vaccines, is everywhere you look on tonight’s setlist is a song which takes you back to a time whether that be a festival in the sun with your mates or an indie nightclub in your university days. Joking ‘You’ll have to go back to 1973 for the next one’ was anthemic, albeit moody offering Post Break-Up Sex straight into Wetsuit. The later of which saw Southampton taking over crowd duties and chanting ‘Put a wetsuit on, come on, come on, Grow your hair out long, come on, come on’ much to the delight of the quartet.
From 2018’s Your Love Is My Favourite Band with the recognisable guitar lines, getting underneath our skin and making it impossible to not grove along to latest album track and incoming new fan favourite Discount de Kooning (Last One Standing) as the band sung, ‘I’m not going anywhere’ we couldn’t help but agree. Now onto their sixth studio album, the band have become one of the best live bands on the circuit as highlighted tonight. With Headphones Baby and Jump Off The Top, it was clear to see the band enjoying the night as much as the crowd from front to back. Whether they were down the barrier bopping along or the younger fans with their girlfriends and parents, it was impossible to not enjoy The Vaccines live show. Our only criticism of tonight? At times we struggled to distinguish between tracks due to the similarity and sometimes questionable sound quality of the venue.
Hayward-Young is a Southampton local and The Vaccines are no stranger to Southampton, ‘Southampton, we meet again. You’re looking as good as ever! The place of my birth. A bit of a hometown show. If you told me I’d be thirty six and spending Valentines Day with my parents…’. Taking a trip down memory lane, ‘This is our fourth time headlining the Guildhall. The longer we do this the more it means to us. They would never let us (Hayward-Young and friends) skate on the steps outside and chased us off’, sounds about right for Southampton!
As we headed into the later part of the set, the chaos and lightshow really began which felt as if the band had levelled up. Standout moment came with Heartbreak Kid, first wishing the venue a happy valentines day before the twangy guitars and rock-vocals came to the forefront. I Always Knew provided the romantic moment of the set, for partners to share a magical moment and have a little slow dance. Before we went straight back into the carnage of If You Wanna with a swirling light show, fans taking to shoulders, arms flying around and a final party as the set began to draw to a close.
After All In White, the band disappeared off stage before returning for Sometimes, I Swear with a dramatic shadow backdrop and Hayward-Young roaming across the stage indicating for the crowd to sing louder and every time. Closing with All My Friends Are Falling In Love, the acoustic guitar made an appearance along with a euphoric singalong and chant to the songs chorus. Tonight The Vaccines made sure nobody regretted choosing them as their Valentine’s date and as a fan banner said, ‘who needs a valentine’s when you have The Vaccines?’ 8/10
Written By: Nicola Craig
