REVIEW: ‘A beautiful town': Indie legends The Vaccines rock Scarborough Spa

The group first played on the Yorkshire coast 12 years ago when they performed at Bridlington Spa in support of their second album Come Of Age.

Wednesday was the first time they played in Scarborough and after a triumph set, ‘I don’t think it’ll be their last time’, said Louise Hollingsworth who reviewed the show.

The night started with retro-indie soloist T Truman (who is actually a member of The Vaccines) and Australian garage punk band Delivery, who both performed stellar sets and are guaranteed to have some new fans from the night. At 9.15pm, the five members who make up The Vaccines live band hit the stage and went straight into ‘Love To Walk Away’ from their new album ‘Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations’, much to the delight of the avid fans watching. They then performed some of their older, much-loved songs ‘Wrecking Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’, ‘I Can’t Quit, ‘Post Break Up Sex’ and ‘Wetsuit’, much to the delight of the crowd. The crowd was lively and enjoying every song, and joined in with dancing with lead singer Justin Young as he showed the crowd his moves on stage. They then played some newer songs such as ‘Your Love Is My Favourite Band’, ‘Discount De Kooning’ and ‘The Dreamer’. The band offer a sense of nostalgia for their older fans by playing songs from their debut album and magically entwine them with their newer singles to showcase their six albums worth of great tunes to the fans who were in the crowd, no matter how long they’ve been on the journey with them. It’s great to see how far the band have come since their 2011 debut album ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines’ and how they effortlessly mix romance and indie to create their sound of 2024. The crowd were then treated to two of their songs you can’t stand still to - ‘Headphones Baby’ and ‘Jump Off The Top’, two absolute toe-tappers that both the crowd and band seemed to thoroughly enjoy, with Young enthusiastically engaging with the crowd on stage. Lead singer Justin Young then told the crowd that it was their first time in Scarborough and it was a “beautiful building and Scarborough is a really beautiful town”, before rocking on with ‘No Hope’, ‘Handsome’, ‘Heartbreak Kid’, ‘Teenage Icon’, ‘I Always Knew’, ‘If You Wanna’ and what is undeniably one of their best songs ‘All In White’. The room was very warm and sweaty by this point, and the band went off stage for an encore. When they came back, they played some of the songs from their latest album ‘Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations’ that brought the band to Scarborough, and performed ‘Sometimes, I Swear’, ‘Take It Easy’, and ‘Lunar Eclipse’ before ending the night with ‘All My Friends Are Falling In Love’. It’s safe to say that it’s always a good time seeing The Vaccines, and Scarborough Spa proves time and time that it’s a great venue right on the seafront.

If you enjoyed The Vaccines, make sure you check out what else is on at the iconic venue, including Scarborough’s own hottest band The Feens who play the Spa on Saturday, April 5.