 The Vaccines are a by the numbers, indie rock
band. Most of the songs are catchy and simple,
a lot of the songs sound quite samey, They have
the same tone and seem to follow the same design
for every song, seem a tad boring really. A few
of the songs seem to follow we really want to
be Ramones sort of Patten, not very original.
The vocals ain't too bad, bit shouty, but not
screamo shouty, just shouting, the guitar playing
is pretty decent but there's nothing on offer
here that really seems original, even their songs
seem to have been written for someone else like
the Ramones, especially in the later songs in
there set. Drumming not bad, bass playing is in
there somewhere, but I really can’t hear
it. I'm pretty sure that they have the makings
of an average to good band that will release at
least one half decent albums, and then descend
into obscurity, before popping up randomly with
a hit single. But there pretty much playing to
their sort of crowd, lots of people who have never
been to a gig before I'm sure, and this bad are
getting the sort of reaction that most head liners
get, I can’t see it myself, but ok, I'm
going for the middle ground on this one
 Everything Everything, Not sure what to make of
this band, electro rock band, there a band that
seem to go along at one pace, steady, it's calm
music, songs seem to follow the same pace, the
vocals ain't bad, they are well sung, a bit soft
spoken/sung and melodic in places, it's good,
the songs seem to descend in places into chill
out songs and just peter out before they launch
into the next one. Theres a nice mix of band and
synth with the singer taking the role of vocalist,
guitar player and synth player, good steady simple
drumming, anything more and it would ruin the
sound scape that’s crafted here, bass in
there too following the drums, I can’t help
but feel annoyed though, that this could be doing
so much more, but again the crowd is lapping this
stuff up, and the music from time to time does
pick up and become more lively, It just feels
like something is missing, I think it just needs
a bit more umph, some balls perhaps, just something
to give it a bit of an edge.
 Magnetic men Erm not sure how 3 djs and an mc
got on this tour, but it sounds like all the other
dub step/dance that's clutters the other so ran
music stations and music channels, or as I call
it noise to be avoided at all cost. I'm sure one
person and a laptop could have done all this,
but there's sure plenty of dancing going on, which
I guess is the point, but this set seems rather
out of place, if this is the best new music NME
is touting these days then, oh dear. These acts
are average at best at the moment I. hope crystal
castles will save this gig from oblivion.
 And save it did well kind of, Id only really heard
this band in album form, but I wasn't really sure
how it would work live. I had to photograph this
set from the stage, which was fun. Alice hobbles
on to stage, she had broken her ankle before the
tour I think, either way, kudos to her for cracking
on so to speak, They open with Fainting spells,
Baptism, both good songs followed by Courtship
dating, these songs fly by, and it’s really
warm on stage too! The vocals live weren't really
to my taste, album fine, live not so good, kinda
squealy, and high pitched, but still giving it
her all on stage, even falling down too. Drumming
is pretty solid, probably the real driving force
behind the songs. With the synth player really
working overtime creating the rest of the song.
There also belted out Doe dear, crimewave, Alice
Practice that's a cool song, Celestica another
good song and a favourite, and they closed the
main set with Not in Love. They return with Intimate
and Yes No, a real good way to kick start the
rest of Saturday night, It was a good performance,
broken ankle and all, don't like the live vocals
though!
The Vaccines – 3/5
Everything Everything– 3/5
Magnetic Man - 2/5
Crystal Castles– 4/5
Review By Robert Lawrence
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