Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

The Vaccines
The Sugarmill, Stoke
01/02/11

Whilst we in this country still have venues with flashing seizure provoking fruit machines. And venues where your nostrils are greeted by the all encompassing stench of bleach, then I'm confident that Britain and all of us here in Britian shall always remain free and hopefully bloody well entertained too. The Sugarmill in Stoke is such an emporium, both bleachy and fruity - and so f'in cold the beer doesn't require any artificial means to keep it chilled. The bar staff however do require Himalayan style woolly hats to survive, ok so they may loose a finger or some other extremity to frost bite, but the lager life blood will still flow, so drink deep you Stokie Boys, drink deep.

But wait a minute I'm forgetting myself, how did I get here? As you may already be aware normal protocol means I never listen to the band I'm going to see whilst en-route to seeing them. That way only madness leads. Anyway The Vaccines only currently have 2 sides of vinyl and a download to listen to, and that would only get me to the main road. No, for my 1hr and half journey to Stoke I had "Satta Massagana" by The Abyssinians (see them in Leamington Assembly on the 16th March) and "Forward" by Misty in Roots to listen to. "Be mindful, someone might be getting an eyeful, hawks on the street, hawks on the street" yeah - I was suitably entertained.

Who did I see last at The Sugarmill? Was it the Harrisons, it feels like it was, does anyone remember the Harrisons? Nah? Yeah? Well ok does anyone other than the Harrisons remember the Harrisons. No? OK I give up. First up were Stoke's very own wunderkind The Fortunas. These young whippersnappers had got a bit of the Artic Monkeys about them - But don't hold that against them. They reminded me a bit of the Harrisons, did the Harrisons ever play here? - But again, don't hold that against them. They did a fine cover of "Not Nineteen Forever" and it reminded me of seeing The Courteeners doing the same before a packed bar of 200 odd folk. And then it reminded me of "Falcon" (spit) - But don't hold that against them, cos everything The Fortunas did was massively youthful and entertaining, no hyperbole is required, the kids filled the gap and very nicely. From this day forward I shall mention The Fortunas in my prayers, bless them Lord they made me feel slightly warmer, play on!

Tequila Lips were next. The name says it all really. Now I have no time for folk who endlessly slag off support bands - it's too easy, in fact it's the easiest job in the world. 25 years ago I was in a band. Yeah I was, and I still have the scars. If a band is not for me I usually either try to be sick makingly constructive or give it the BLANK and keep schtum. But as far as Tequila Lips are concerned "I don't mean to be so rude, still I must speak frankly Mr Shankly" - Watching Tequila Lips was like being stabbed over and over and over again until I was finally killed by a million and one clichés. It was like Bon Jovi made indie! And this wouldn't have been so bad if the folk at The Sugarhill hadn't been enjoying this predictable load of old bollocks. It must have been me.

10:15 The Vaccines - "Wreckin' Bar" first, "Wolf Pack" a newie mid-set, and closing with the punkiest offering so far "Nørgaard" - drink, piss, blink and you'd have missed it. So what has changed for The Vaccines since we saw them last November in Birmingham? Well there's been another single "Post Break-Up Sex" (it charted, I think). There's an album & an NME tour not far off, front covers, they've been vaunted and lauded by all and sundry (which is painful, I was vaunted once and it still hurts when I sit down). They've been to the U.S of A and they've even got a bloke selling merchandise now! How good is that? A bloke selling MERCH! The crowd isn't any bigger yet, and it's still pretty much "look and see" rather than "anarchy" but everything seems to be moving in the right direction, so, let's give the management a peanut (or several).

Justin Young wasn't looking so much like the young Brian Wilson tonight without the stripy shirt, and he got slightly fazed by the Stokie Boy's singing. "What's that you're saying?" He asked. "Oh right a football song". Songwriters of the world and Vaccines take note. You'll know when you've reached immortality when you're song get transmuted to the terraces. Take the Ramones, track two of their debut. Every week in the late seventies you'd find me down the Wolves singing my head off to "Beat on the Brat" by the Ramones. "Beat on the brat, beat on the brat, beat on the brat with a baseball bat oh yeah oh yeah" OK so it was modified to "beat on the head, beat on the head, beat him on the head with a baseball bat oh yeah oh yeah", but the sentiment was the same. Communal singing eh, so poetic and so unifying, can the Vaccines reach immortality via the terraces, I think they can, it's definitely an achievable achievable.

30 minutes came and went far too swiftly again, I'd hardly got time to focus (the camera). I guess this will be the last time I see The Vaccines live. The NME tour is looming (and there's no way I'm going to see them on that). Then the album release. Furore - hopefully. They'll be some US dates. Some UK headline dates. The Summer Festivals (14 to 24 year olds only need apply). Another single, another Jools Holland TV appearance, a full UK tour in the autumn, second album early next year and then arenas. Shame really - it was good while it lasted anyway - good luck VACCINES, live long and prosper! Are there any tickets left for the NME tour?

CLICK HERE FOR FILM OF IF YOU WANNA

VACCINES SITE

The Fortunas site

Ed