The Vaccines: Scarborough Spa
27th November 2024

Audiences are funny things. So much so, that touring must sometimes feel like an endless string of first dates; you can show up in exactly the same way, night after night, and yet sometimes the rapport works and sometimes, less so.

Preceding reviews from this tour have had nothing but good things to say about the London based indie rock band and surrounded by ride-or-die fans, pressed up close to the front of the stage it’s easy to see why. Musically, the show is immaculate, the rock riffs are dirty, and tight, the multi levelled staging, and excellent lighting combining to produce a highly polished show, showcasing the work of their latest album ‘Pick-up Full of Pink Carnations’, alongside earlier discography including ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?’ (2011), ‘Coming of Age’ (2012), ‘English Graffiti’ (2015), and ‘Combat Sports’ (2018).

This year has seen them tour extensively, including festivals and as support for Kings of Leon, so Scarbrough Spa represents a smaller, more intimate venue, and perhaps an opportunity to connect to a loyal and enthusiastic fan base, and perhaps win a few more hearts – but at times it felt like that opportunity was missed.

Frontman Justin Hayward-Youngs certainly has presence. As the intro strains of ‘Live and Let Die’ played out across the crowd, he swaggered charismatically to centre stage like he was channelling David Tennant’s Crowley, complete with shades. Launching into ‘Love to Walk Away’, the band wasted no time in showcasing their latest work before treating the fans to older favourites ‘Wrecking Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’, ‘I Can’t Quit, and ‘Post Break Up Sex’, which really started to get the room warmed up.

They then returned to showcasing current work, including ‘Discount de Kooning (Last One Standing)’, ‘The Dreamer’, ‘Headphones Baby’, and ‘Jump Off the Top’, before heading into a run of more familiar, anthemic numbers including the signature hit ‘If You Wanna’, which were met with approval from the crowd.
The musical performances of the band members were exceptional, though there was at times a slight sense of disconnect both between those on stage, and the stage and the crowd, resulting in a slightly distracted ‘not really in the room’ feeling.

The Vaccines are an experienced band, with a well-developed and mature evolution to their sound, but a tendency to lean on classic progressions and similar tempo choices. While they showcase more nuance in their albums, the setlist for this tour has something of a uniformity – fantastic if you’re an enthusiast, there for lively consistency, but at times leading to a sense of predictability that didn’t seem to win over less familiar audience members.

However, their return to the stage for an encore consisting of ‘Sometimes, I Swear’, and ‘Lunar Eclipse’ from PFOPC, and ‘Take It Easy’, from Combat Sports won the room back, with ‘All My Friends Are Falling in Love’ rounding off the night.

Ultimately, musical skill is always a pleasure to watch, the Spa never disappoints as a venue, and there were lots of enjoyable moments – but gigs like this show that there’s more to live music than just performing well and addressing a room. Missing a deep connection might make some question a second date, but given their following, we can assume they’ll never be short of admirers – although if you want to see them again on this tour it’ll have to be long distance, as the tour continues into 2025 through the US, Canada and South America.

As for me, it was an enjoyable evening, but short on fireworks. I think we’ll just stay friends.