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Support
acts Rocket Science and You Am I provided two fantastic performances
(particularly from the latter, who were mesmerising), which really
revved up a packed Academy crowd.
So
much so that the venue was buzzing by the time The Vines came on
stage. They seemingly couldn't fail.
| "When
frontman Craig Nicholls stripped to the waist mid-set, revealing
the chest of a pre-pubescent boy, your only thought was 'Put
it away'...!" |
But
despite the great mood created by the support acts, the performance
of frontman Craig Nicholls and Co was, ironically, almost unsupportable.
There
were flashes of greatness: Get Free delivered the mosh pit
anthem goods, the teasing way Nicholls toyed with the speed of In
the Jungle surprised and impressed, while Homesick moved
as much live as it does on record.
The
Vines started out as a Nirvana covers band and at times Nicholl's
stage act seemed like a well choreographed tribute to tragic, flawed
rocker Kurt Cobain.
But
unlike Cobain, Nicholls just seemed to be going through the 'I'm
messed-up, me' motions.
predictable
Rock
and Roll? More rock and role... he half-heartedly dropped his guitar
midway through Highly Evolved - but the replacement was on
hand so quickly that it was clearly not unexpected by the roadie.
And when Nicholls stripped to the waist mid-set - revealing the
under-developed chest of a pre- pubescent boy - your only thought
was 'Put it away!'
All
this, ahem, 'crazy' behaviour seemed paradoxically predictable.
A caricature
rock band, ticking off a list of bad boy stage antics: attention-seeking
poses: check. Tuneless castrato howling: check. Over-the-top distortion
and feedback: check.
wasted
Towards
the end of the set they wheeled out their cover of Outkast's Miss
Jackson which has been given radio airtime too many times to
startle any longer.
However,
this was the only time the otherwise misplaced falsetto seemed to
fit, though Nicholls still had trouble deciding which octave he
wanted to sing in for more than a few notes.
His
attitude made the final encore, F*** The World seem a little
like a personal attack on the audience, who had 'forced' the band
to go through the 'agony' of a performance.
A notorious
stoner, Nicholls may well have been wasted throughout the show.
Funny that: so was an hour of my time.
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