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| The Vines Manchester Uni Sunday 23rd June 2002 Unless you've been spending the majority of the past 6 months under a large moss covered rock, you'll know that a lot of people have been making quite a fuss over these Aussie scallies. Both journalists and musicians alike have been salivating over every note of their muscular garage rock screamers and heartbreaking, trippy slowies so it came as quite a surprise when me and my buddy ambled along to the venue to find just eight or so fans casually sitting on the steps, smoking and chatting as though they were on a lunch break. Come on people- where's the excitement?! The screaming masses who had camped out all night just to ensure they were the first into the venue?! Had the hype machine put everyone off? Thankfully the gig had sold out (eventually- it took a good few weeks) and the venue soon filled up with eager youngsters just itching to see what all the fuss was about. As the band emerged from a dimly lit doorway and ripped into "Outtathaway!" you could see the looks of confusion on people's faces- a dilemma of "should we just stand here and 'dig the vibes' of this unfamiliar yet ear pleasing song or just go fucking nuts 'cos it rocks?!" After a minute or so half of the venue chose the latter. (I'd just like to add at this point that I would've liked to have been a part of the mania down the front but unfortunately a nasty stomach bug had got the better of me pretty much leaving me routed to the spot in fear of making an unpretty pattern on the floor) Not following the 'High Fidelity' rule of making their second song even more thrilling than the first, the band instead pull out the first of their psychedelic ballads, "Autumn Shade". Despite the out of tune acoustic intro, this one goes down a treat suiting the atmosphere of the dark venue perfectly. Strangely their breakthrough hit "Highly Evolved" was casually tossed off as early as the third track. This one really got the venue throbbing making me even more sad that I couldn't join in the fun in the pit. After sapping yet more sweat from the crowd with another couple of rockers, Craig jangled out the first notes of the epic "Mary Jane" surely sending shivers down the spines of everyone present. Some 6 minutes of yearning vocals, ethereal rhythm guitar and Sonic Youth style screeching feedback later I was left in no doubt as to what my highlight of the gig was to be. A stunning song. A close rival in terms of definitive gig highlights was the even trippier "Country Yard". The endlessly repeated coda of A, C#m, G and Bm ranked as the most powerful moment of the night. Unfortunately nausea got the better of me at this point meaning that while I was getting some water and generally feeling unwell, the likes of "1969" and their cover of "Miss Jackson" went by without me really noticing. On a lighter note, while I was outside the 'performance' part of the venue, I spotted Jimmy Goodwin, the singer from Doves, obviously down at the Uni to check out his labelmates. I returned just in time to see the band rip the living shit out of main set closer "Get Free"- it may just have been my imagination but Mr. Goodwin- who was stood nearby- just looked at the stage in awe! The amount of power pouring from the amps was just amazing. One mercilessly abused Strat and a bucketload more feedback later, the band left the stage to let people reflect on what they'd just experienced in the previous 45 minutes. A few moments later, Craig returned with just an acoustic to strum his way through a newie "Autumn Shade Part 2"- a sure sign that LP #2 will be worth wating for. The rest of the band rejoined him to kick our asses once again with curtain closer "Fuck The World" (another newie). A strange song to end the night on but still great- a real 'angry bull' kind of a song. Basically- if you get the chance to see the guys in action GO! You won't be sorry. Hopefully I'll be able to make up for my lack of 'down the front' action at their Leeds Fest show. Until then at least I have the album to keep me going! Jamie Azzopardi. Here's a rough idea of their set on the night: "Outtathaway!" "Autumn Shade" "Highly Evolved" "Sunshinin'" "Ain't No Room" "Mary Jane" "In The Jungle" "Country Yard" "1969" "Miss Jackson" "Get Free" *********** "Autumn Shade Part Two" "Fuck The World" |