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08 May
2012

The Shins 4/30 Terminal 5 NYC Review/Photos

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By Michel Dussack

Just when it seemed that The Shins were done, James Mercer surprised everyone by announcing the band’s heavily anticipated fourth album, ‘Port of Morrow’. Despite Mercer being the only original member still in the band, the album was a fantastic effort that received glowingly positive critical reception. On April 30th, the band came to New York’s Terminal 5 for the second of three sold out shows at the 3,000 capacity venue.

Opening the show was Brooklyn based Chairlift – consisting of singer Caroline Polachek and bassist Patrick Wimberly. During their live performances, the duo receives help from additional members including a drummer, guitarist and keyboardist. Their 30 minute long set included numerous cuts from their newest album ‘Something’ including the lead single ‘Amanaemonesia’. However, the real highlight of their set for the crowd who seemed unfamiliar with the band was when they played their biggest hit ‘Bruises’. There was a moment where the entire crowd seemed to recall that they in fact were familiar with this song (from an iPod commercial back in 2008) and they finally gave back the energy and dancing that such a fantastic opener deserved.

When Mercer and co took to the stage, the audience screamed until the first notes of the music began. Throughout the course of The Shins’ hour and forty-five minute set, they expertly mixed up material from their entire catalogue. ‘Simple Song’, arguably the bands biggest single ever, came as the second song of the set – surprisingly early in fact. While many rookie bands typically save their biggest and newer singles for last in the set, it is truly a testament of The Shins’ confidence and devoted fan base that they were able to save older songs for the close of the night.

I must confess that before the show started I was nervous as to how the new members of the band would hold up to the legacy set before their arrival; however these fears were alleviated as soon as the band started playing. Drummer Joe Plummer, bassist Yuuki Matthews, guitarist Jessica Dobson, and keyboardist Richard Swift all more than held their own and faithfully recreated all of the older material as well as formed so new pieces during extended jams led by Mercer. Dobson was particularly impressive, shredding some of the most famous indie rock riffs of the past decade without so much as breaking a sweat.

Mercer is known for being a man of few words, and this night was no different. There was nearly no interaction with the crowd, however it’s to count this as a negative of such an amazing night. Before playing the last song of the night, ‘One by One All Day’, he formally introduced his new band and thanked the crowd remarking that it was a “great night”. After a lengthy encore break, he returned to play a song solo for the crowd, which then led into a gorgeous performance of the title track off ‘Port of Morrow’. A particularly raucous and extended version of ‘Sleeping Lessons’ followed to close out the night, which for many of the devoted audience, was merely the second of three nights to be spent in Mercer’s musical company.

All photos courtesy of Michel Dussack


07 May
2012

Childish Gambino 4/30 Starland Ballroom Sayreville NJ Review/Photos

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By Keeyahtay Lewis

In the past year or so I can literally name two artists in hip hop that have come up and caught my interest. One would be J. Cole, the other, Childish Gambino. If you are reading this review, I assume you already know who Childish Gambino is; the alter ego of actor-writer-comedian Donald Glover. If you don’t know who CG is, then you are probably confused by this statement. It doesn’t seem that an actor-writer-comedian would make a decent rapper. Normally that sounds like a recipe for utter disaster, but in the hands of Donald Glover, Childish Gambino is poised to take over the world.

He was supposed to be at Starland Ballroom a few months back, but the show got moved because he fractured his foot. I waited anxiously, and finally on Monday 04/30/12 he made his way to a very, very sold out show at Starland Ballroom. He had an opening act, but honestly I was not impressed by them at all. I won’t even mention who they were or waste any more words on them.

9:00 rolled around and it was time to start the show. The stage was nothing short of gorgeous. Huge LED panels across the back, multicolored spot lights pointing into the crowd, I knew it was going to be a good one. The lights went down and the strings and choir came up. The intro was gorgeous and it faded beautifully into his first song, Outside. This is also the opening track for his latest album, Camp. CG took the stage backed by a live band, something rare in hip hop. 5 seconds into the show it was easy to see why CG fractured his foot and had to postpone the tour, his energy was off the scale. He followed up with another song from his latest album, Firefly. Firefly has a much different energy than Outside and it sounded great. Next up was a definite crowd favorite, Freaks and Geeks. The video for that song when released almost 2 years ago definitely raised his status and hype. He addressed the crowd before hand saying, “you should all know the words to this song, but if you don’t, the words will be on the screen.”

If you are familiar with his music, you know that violins, keyboards, and some actually really beautiful singing is a huge part of his songs. CG sang all the singing parts live, and his falsetto sounded strong. Backed by drums, bass, and a guy on either side of him that each had a keyboard, guitar and violin, everything sounded pretty amazing live. It is something special to see, these aren’t samples, there isn’t a DJ backing him, when you hear the violin you can see the two guys playing it. And the LED screen, man oh man. Sometimes it flashed lyrics. Sometimes it played pictures. Sometimes it danced with fireflies or stars, making you feel like you were really at “Camp Gambino.”

Camp is CG’s first proper album, but released a ton of music for free on the internet, his set list didn’t forget about those songs. So Fly, Do Ya Like, Difference, I’m On it, All The Shine, all of these older tracks were met with roars from the 2500 or so people who sang every word. At one time he sampled Adele’s Rolling In The Deep which was a hit for him. He played that on Monday night, albeit with John Legend singing Adele’s part. All the members of his band came to the front of the stage playing drums along with the song until his rap part kicked in. I thought the people inside would bring the building down with the energy they were putting out. So good.

A personal highlight and also an audience highlight would have to be the one two punch of Letter Home and Heartbeat. The latter being one of those songs that gets into your head and never leaves. In the best way possible. You See Me, Bonfire and Sunrise rounded out the rest of the set before his encore.

Everyone left the stage and CG returned by himself. Rack City was next, backed by the LED screen.Then he broke into a 5 minute freestyle and he was joined on stage by another rapper to help him out with this. Make Me Mad was next and finally, Lights Turned On. During the last song which is high energy already, he kicked it into an even higher gear. Lights flashing, him running and jumping everywhere, 2500 people with hands up soaking it all in. What a way to end the night.

In his music CG often bounces back and forth between knock out punches and insecurity. Live though, there is no missteps. There is no hesitation. It is clear he is a comfortable, and frankly, pretty great performer. It is hard to believe when you watch him that rapping/singing isn’t his main job. Somehow he finds time to do it all, and he does it all well. His lyrics are clever and full of double entendre. Sometimes he will spit a line and you will realize exactly what he said 30 seconds later and he is so far past that then. It’s pretty great. His band sounds tight and carry him along perfectly. He moves around with a little swagger, but in the next second he will sing a beautiful melody. He is comfortable with who he is and doesn’t seem to be trying to be anything but that; himself.

One of my favorite shows so far this year. My only compliant was that it felt like it went by fast. His set list was 20 songs deep but we all wanted more when he left. I spent a little time hanging out with him afterwards and he was engaging and funny in person. I know too that he has a few shows in the NYC/Philly area this summer, and I will be at all of them. And if you are reading this you should be there as well.

All photos courtesy of Keeyahtay Lewis of DeadBoltPhotos.com


07 May
2012

Death Cab For Cutie 5/4 ACL Live at the Moody Theater Austin Photos

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Just as Death Cab For Cutie was about to wrap up their sold-out spring tour, the band just announced the first set of dates of a summer tour. The band played ACL Live at the Moody Theater in Austin on Saturday night. Our photographer Phil DeSimone was there to get some cool photos of the band.

Check them out below along with the band’s newly announced tour dates.

JUNE
30 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON The Commons (w/The Tragically Hip)

JULY
1 Barrie, ON Burl’s Creek (w/The Tragically Hip)
3 Cleveland, OH Jacobs Pavilion
4 Rochester Hills, MI Meadow Brook
5 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
7 Des Moines, IA 80/35 Music Festival
8 Lawrence, KS Liberty Music Hall
9 Springfield, MO Gilloz Theatre
10 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
12 Chicago, IL “The Taste of Chicago”
13 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
14 Charlottesville, VA nTelos Wireless Pavilion
15 Cincinnati, OH Bunbury Music Festival
17 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
19 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theatre
20 Holyoke, MA Mountain Park
21 Cooperstown, NY Ommegang Brewery
22 Dover, DE Firefly Music Festival

07 May
2012

Rammstein 4/26 Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia Review/Photos

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By Keeyahtay Lewis

On April 26th Rammstein came to Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia on their current US tour. I asked to cover this event after hearing from so many people how incredible their live show is. I went into it knowing almost nothing about the band beyond Du Hast and the fact that they are German. As soon as people found out I would be covering it though, all I kept hearing was about how jealous a lot of my friends were and there would be fire. Lots and lots of fire.

I got the arena and all of the press was held downstairs until the 9 o’clock start time, then we were led upstairs. Normally, when shooting concerts a photographer gets the first three songs to get your shots. We were told that we would be getting songs, 3, 4 and 5 for this show. When I asked why we were told it was because the fire was too intense for us to shoot. To be honest, this made me excited and also a little bummed I wouldn’t be able to shoot that part of the show. They brought us backstage and to the side a bit for the first couple of songs. My view was obscured but I was able to see a bit, and what I saw intrigued me greatly.

Again, my view wasn’t the best from where we were standing but I could see a huge bridge that was lowered and connected to the stage. Then I could see the band coming down the isles led by lit torches. What can only be described as cult music played over the speakers while they marched down to the bridge. As they got closer I could see that some of the band members had robes on with hoods drawn over their heads. They marched slowly across the bridge and then lit two huge fires on the stage as the bridge went up. Then all hell broke loose.

I will say right now I have no idea what any of their songs are about, I do not speak German. I would bet too that the crowd also doesn’t speak German, but thousands of voices sang and chanted with the band while the flames rose. Even from where I was standing I could feel the heat of the fire, it was no wonder they wouldn’t let us shoot this. (For the record though, the shots would have been incredible and worth the risk.) The explosions were aplenty, the energy was super high, and I just wanted to get out there to see the show. At one point I could see the guitar player and he had something around his neck that was shooting out rockets into the crowd. Effing insane.

Eventually we came out to shoot the show and I was impressed visually right away with how everything looked. The set up was intense. The background looked almost like an industrial set up: huge fans, circular lights suspended from the ceiling. Colored smoke and on occasion, more fire. At one point the guitar players microphone stand was completely engulfed in flames. Led by singer Till Lindemann, Rammstein pounded through every song. Their music was intense with a driving beat that you could feel going through your whole body. It didn’t matter than no one knew what they were saying, everyone just let themselves get lost in the music.

The band sounded tight and polished. Richard Zruspe and Paul Landers on guitar and vocals. Ollie Riedel on Bass. Christoph Schneider on the drums, and in the background wearing what looked like a bedazzled body suit, Christian Lorenz on keyboards and samples. At one point it looked like Lorenz was on a treadmill as he marched in time on stage. This was shaping up to be the weirdest, and probably coolest thing I have ever seen. The movements of the band could only be described as robotic at times. Jerky motions were common, especially from Lindemann. But just when you thought there might be a lull, something would explode.

Again, I have no idea what songs they played. It was impossible to not be mesmerized by the band, though. They played a pretty long set followed by two encores, and of course lots of fire and smoke.The background continually changed colors, and at times, shapes (or so it seemed). It was absolutely one of the most elaborate and entertaining live shows I have been to in a long time. They didn’t talk much at all beyond a “Thank you” at the end. It didn’t matter though. No one in the building was let down by what we had seen. I am sure it won’t be the last Rammstein show I go to.

All photos courtesy of Keeyahtay Lewis of DeadBoltPhotos.com


04 May
2012

Roger Waters 5/3 Frank Erwin Center Austin Photos

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Roger Waters brought The Wall Live to Austin last night. We’re quite jealous of our photographer Phil DeSimone was not only at the Frank Erwin Center last night to catch the show but also because he was in the photo pit to get some great photos of Roger and the entire amazing spectacle that make up The Wall Live show.

Check out the photos below and go to rogerwaters.com to find out when the tour is coming to a town near you.


03 May
2012

The Fray 4/29 Stubb’s Austin Photos

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By Jennifer Murtha

Touring in support of their recent release, Scars & Stories, The Fray knocked the socks off a sold out crowd at Stubbs with an energetic set. Formed in Colorado this exciting live act makes sure everyone in the crowd feels involved and boy do they love it. With three studio albums under their belt and a slew of adoring fans it is no wonder people were lining up super early to sing along with these very genuine guys who were enjoying the show as much as anyone in the crowd.



03 May
2012

Daughtry 4/20 The Mac At Monmouth University Review/Photos

By The Audio Perv , Tags : ,


Keeyahtay Lewis

Daughtry has been touring behind their new album, “Break The Spell” and Friday night, April 20 found them stopping by NJ’s own Monmouth University for a tour stop at The MAC. I have never been to this venue before, but I was struck right away about how nice it was. I had heard good things and I knew we were all in for a good night.

Daughtry brought Mike Sanchez and a band I really love, Safetysuit, along for support. I was excited for Safetysuit to play, and the people I talked to around me siad that they were fantastic live. They came out while Daughtry’s set was draped with a white cover, and for 8 songs, they owned every inch of that stage. Opening with “Believe” which is a new track from their album, These Times. They started their set off on a high note.

Hailing from Oklahoma, Safetysuit is made up of Doug Brown on lead vocals and guitar, Dave Garofalo on guitar, Jeremy Henshaw on bass and Tate Cunningham on drums. They had some success a few years back with their Life Left To Go album and their next song, “Something I Said” was from that album. Most of their set was from their new album. “Let Go”, “Staring At It”, “These Times” and the closer, “Stay.” They also included an absolutely beautiful rendition of “Hallelujah”. I absolutely love that song and they did an incredible job. Their next to last song, “The Moment” was the only one on their previous album.

The energy was high for their whole set. Garofalo was all over the place, spinning and jumping. Brown’s vocals were on point and you could feel every emotion coming off of him. He came into the audience more than once, and for the last song he strapped a camera on his head, and literally ran all over the arena. From the first row all the way up to the top. Making everyone feel like a part of the show. They sounded and looked great, and the set felt too short.

Daughtry were up next and you could feel the packed house holding their breath for him. The stage was still covered with a huge white backdrop that showed random pictures of Daughtry and other things while the riffs of “Renegade” started. After 20 seconds or so, the backdrop fell down to reveal the band in full rock mode. Say what you will about Chris Daughtry and his band, but they certainly know how to put on a good rock show. It was clear that it was going to be a fun night.

The stage had a huge red banner across the back with Daughtry written on it, flanked by two smaller white banners with red stars. The drum kit was up on a riser made to look like it was made out of bricks. In dead center was Chris Daughtry flanked by 3 of his band members. “Renegade” is a heavier track of theirs and it got everyone’s energy up right away. Chris Daughtry is known world wide for being on American Idol, but since then he has built up a catalog of really solid songs, and he has become a great front-man for his band. And it does feel like a band. Although it bears his name, Daughtry never once acted like he was the star that he is.

Their next two songs kept the energy high. “Break The Spell” and “Feels Like Tonight.” Backing Chris was Josh Steely on lead guitar, Josh Paul on bass, Brian Craddock on rhythm guitar and Robin Diaz on drums. He also had a 5th member who was pretty much hidden behind the drum riser, but he played keyboards and guitar for the whole show. I would like to say again how nice of a place The MAC is. It certainly doesn’t feel like you’re at a college. The band sounded amazing, and the stage show was on point.

Daughtry said early on that they would be playing a lot of new songs and it was true, they played almost their whole new album. “Crawling Back To You”, “Losing My Mind”, “Outta My Head”, “Crazy” and “Start of Something Good” were next, all new tracks. They were polished like they had been playing them for years though. After that round of new songs, Chris came out and played a couple old ones acoustically. “What About Now” and one of his earliest hits, “Home.” Before “Home” he talked to the audience a bit about his first big record meeting and playing that song for the guys who would eventually sign him. He played one more song by himself, a brand new track called “4 AM”. He wrote it as part of an Esquire song writing contest for charity and it was absolutely gorgeous.

The band joined him on stage for the next song, “Spaceship”. Before this song the banners with the stars dropped down and the whole background became a mass of colors and then shooting stars. It was pretty and fitting, based on the track they played. “Louder Than Ever” was next then a couple of back to back older hits, “Over you” and “No Surprise.” The Tom Petty cover “Runnin’ Down A Dream” was next followed by “September.” The Petty cover was a surprise but they did it justice.

They left and come out for two more songs for their encore. Another cover, “Rebel Yell” was first and it was pretty fantastic.And then they closed out their show with their first hit, “It’s Not Over” which struck me as ironic, since in fact, the show was indeed over after this song.

I left having a new respect for Chris Daughtry and his band. I would say I have been a casual fan of theirs over the years. Some of their songs I liked more than others but overall I don’t know what kind of show I expected them to put on. There aren’t many “rock” bands these days it seems. Rock radio is dead in the NYC area and so many bands coming up scream most of their songs. Chris has great pipes whether he is singing cleanly or a little rougher. Their set was pretty long but everyone kept the energy up the whole time. Combined with the great light show and visuals, it just felt like a great rock show. Not to mention how great Safetysuit was live, this is definitely a great tour to catch if they come to your area.

01 May
2012

The Wombats and The Static Jacks 4/26 Webster Hall NYC Review/Photos

By drainu182 , Tags : ,

By Emilia D’Albero

When The Wombats’ last show at Webster Hall in October ended in thunderous applause and shrill cheers, it was clear that they would definitely be back again soon to shake the venue with bouncing bass riffs and catchy synth melodies. Last Thursday, The Wombats did indeed return to New York City- to Webster Hall again, in fact- and elicited perhaps even more excited and intense reactions from the audience than they had in October. Even before doors opened, female fans donned Wombats apparel and accessories and lined up down the block, hoping for a good spot from which to watch their beloved foreign rockstars sing the songs that they love so much. Fortunately, these fans were certainly not disappointed. On Thursday, The Wombats whipped out a more varied setlist, impressive opening acts, and visual effects that made the show an experience that will definitely be difficult to forget.

Opening the show was Flagship, a five-piece band from Charlotte, North Carolina. Flagship took the stage with confidence and for 30 minutes, entertained the crowd with music that was as ambient as it was powerful. Their original songs have a light, dreamlike quality to them that can give the sensation of floating and relaxation, but can also keep one grounded and focused because of the pounding drums and heavy guitar chords from Michael Finster and Matt Padgett, respectively. Frontman Drake Margolnick wailed his way through their set, his voice raw and full of power and emotion, and by the end of Flagship’s set, the audience was pumped up and ready for the next act.

The second opener, The Static Jacks, are relatively well-known in the New York/New Jersey area for their garage rock sound and moderately rowdy live shows, at which their fans and friends alike can be seen jumping, thrashing, and singing along wildly to both new songs and old. Unfortunately, on Thursday it appeared that Wombats fans were not familiar with The Static Jacks, as only a handful of audience members jumped, thrashed, and sang along. But that did not deter The Static Jacks from putting on a stellar performance. Opening with their newest single “Young Guns,” the band barreled through their set head-on and uninhibited, playing songs from their new EP, The Spray Tan EP, as well as songs from their debut album If You’re Young, and even a song called “Zombie Prom,” which is so new that it is not even featured on the Spray Tan EP.

One of the most memorable moments from their set was during “Girl Parts,” when Beast Make Bomb vocalist and guitarist Ceci joined The Static Jacks on stage to sing the female vocals for the song. The rest of the audience members were left nodding their heads and even shaking their hips to the unique punk/grunge sounds of The Static Jacks, even though most had never even heard of the band before. The last song, “Defend Rosie” (which the band typically uses to open their set) was rowdy, heavy, and the perfect way to end their set. Fans and first-timers alike were caught headbanging and even thrusting their middle fingers into the air at the end of the second verse as frontman Ian Devaney bellowed the lyrics and got the crowd excited and ready for the main event of the night.
As the lights dimmed for the third time Thursday night, the screams and cheers of The Wombats’ fans echoed throughout Webster Hall, as if beckoning the three men to take the stage as fast as they possibly could. The Wombats opened their set with “Our Perfect Disease” and the crowd absolutely loved it. From the first verse, the audience sang along with every word and continued to sing every word of every song thereafter, jumping during the choruses and shaking the venue until the floor was bouncing and creaking under the weight of The Wombats’ fans. The Wombats played an extremely varied setlist, with songs from their debut album A Guide to Love, Loss, and Desperation as well as their most recent release, This Modern Glitch. Fast-paced songs like “Girls/Fast Cars” got the audience jumping and dancing to the infectious dance-pop beats of The Wombats’ tunes, while slower songs like “Little Miss Pipedream” provided the opportunity for a venue-wide singalong, complete with slow swaying and even a few lighters and cell phones in the air.

Frontman Matthew Murphy is extremely charismatic and took the time to banter with the crowd and his fellow bandmates; he dedicated the song “Jump Into the Fog” to The Static Jacks’ former member Andrew Santora “in honor of his incredible sex drive” and proclaimed that they were playing a “golden oldie” while introducing the song “Last Night I Dreamt…” Closing out the main set with “Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves) was obviously a good choice, as the entire venue shook harder than it had during any other song in the set as their fans practically screamed the lyrics at the band in a frenzy of headbanging and sweat. Murphy is not shy in front of a crowd and certainly has a sense of humor, acknowledging the presence of the red balloons that had been released into the audience by thanking their fans “for coming out tonight to play with my big, red, inflamed balls.” The encore included hits “Anti-D” and “Let’s Dance to Joy Division,” both of which elicited thunderous applause from the audience and provided a wonderful send-off for the British band.

The Wombats always put on a fantastic show and every performance is their best performance; bassist Tord Øverland-Knudsen’s spastic bouncing around the stage is as entertaining as frontman Murphy’s banter, and it is impossible to be bored while watching The Wombats on stage. This band has the ability to combine rock music with dance beats to create a unique, fun sound that can only be the result of the hard work and passion of three dedicated, fun-loving musicians and it always feels like a privilege to watch The Wombats on the stage.

All photos by Michel Dussack


THE STATIC JACKS

THE WOMBATS

29 Apr
2012

of Montreal 4/25 Koko London Review/Photos

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By Michael Zonenashvili

of Montreal has finally struck a needed balance in their live show. Not only have they reduced the amount of hyper-sexual, costumed antics on stage to a palatable level, their set list has also struck the right chord in a distribution of songs from their latest 6 records to accurately showcase the sound they’ve developed.

With a stage setup that included small projector screens riddled around different points, of Montreal and their team of artistic geniuses developed a visual experience to accompany the show that I haven’t seen used before. One projector was able to line up different images on each screen bringing visuals reminiscent of the kind of characters exhibited on the band’s various album covers. During some songs, the costumes would be all white and choreographed in a way that images would project onto the costumes or props, which the crowd ate up.

Starting with tunes from the latest record, Paralytic Stalks, Kevin Barnes and his enormous live band seemed a little more “into it” than previous instances of seeing the band. It seems like the psychosocial and therapeutic outpouring of Barnes’ lyrics from the album were ready to be shouted in front of an audience. Perhaps Barnes more frequent smiles were a sign that he was finally hitting a new peak in his vocals and songwriting.

If my theory is true, Barnes might think his voice sounds the best when he’s at the point of screaming just before the voice cracks. At least with the chorus of “Spiteful Intervention,” these instances of cathartic yells are when Barnes truly shined on the album, and especially live.

These more disjointed, screams new songs segued well into the rest of the set, with Barnes introducing “St. Exsquisite’s Confessions” as their “sexiest” song. And damn, with the addition of live saxophone it might as well be one of the world’s sexiest songs.

It seems like of Montreal’s members might be hitting their own levels of instrumental virtuosity. K. Ishibashi created whirlwinds of violin noise to make set highlight “The Past is a Grotesque Animal” the panic attack inducing 12 minute epic it is. Even the drums hit a new high with lightning fast solos to intro “She’s a Rejector.” And maybe of Montreal is one of the few bands that could place two bassists on a song and double the funk without ruining the sound.

The band kept the crowd happy, between slow jams, all out shouted choruses, and even the straight up glam rock “Suffer for Fashion.” Perhaps the show was best described by their encore. The band led the crowd in a 30 minute medley of songs from “Skeletal Lamping” and “Hissing Fauna” that showcased the best parts of “Wicked Wisdom,” “Gallery Piece,” and “I’d Engager” before the whole versions of two Hissing Fauna tunes. This was a non stop 30 minutes of floor shaking of London’s Koko, and a true testament to how oF Montreal can continue to up the ante of their already bombastic and eccentric live show.


27 Apr
2012

The Vaccines 4/23 Webster Hall NYC Review/Photos

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By Michel Dussack

About 6 months after being forced to cancel their U.S. tour due to singer Justin Young needing vocal surgery, The Vaccines triumphantly returned to perform at Coachella for two weekends, as well as stop at New York’s Webster Hall for a sold out show that was everything a rock show should be. Their 15 song set went by in a blur of sing alongs, moshing, and teenagers suffering from alcohol poisoning next to me, partly because of just how well this band delivers their material, but also because the set clocked in at a mere 49 minutes. This wasn’t The Vaccines’ fault, as their limited amount of material, coupled with the short length of the majority of their songs meant the band simply didn’t have any more songs to play, even after playing three songs from their upcoming album.

The band came on stage backed by a giant back drop of the cover of the album “What Did You Expect From The Vaccines” and delivered a one two punch of hits ‘Blow It Up’ which was a slow start for the “post-punk” band and ‘Wrecking Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’ which was when the show truly took off. The band jumped around and ran all over the stage, and the crowd jumped along. Nearly every song was a hit with the crowd, though ‘Wet Suit’, ‘Post Break-Up Sex’, and ‘If You Wanna’ were easily the most popular songs in the main set. Young was a fantastic front man, leaning over and reaching out to the eager crowd that was pushed up against the stage (there was no barricade for this show), all the while playing guitar and singing.

The three new songs that the band played were simply great, and showed the band skewing their sound towards and edgier sound with less pop sensibility. Particularly of note was ‘Bad Mood’ which opened the encore. As Young introduced it, he noted that the crowd didn’t “know the words to sing with me, but you can still fucking dance!” and everyone happily followed. ‘Norgaard’ followed to close the show and as a giant pit opened up a few rows from the stage, it was clear that the time away from touring hadn’t taken away anything from the band. Their live show was just as energetic and chaotic, and their fans were just enthusiastic.

The Vaccines are one of those great young bands that prove that rock and roll will never be dead, even if it doesn’t reside in the forefront of popular music at the moment. But really, what did you expect from The Vaccines?

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