I knew next to nothing about the Vaccines when I walked over to the stage they were playing at Lollapalooza 2013 but sixty-minutes later, you could call me a transformed believer. Right from the skillful opening of "Blow It Up" to the fist-pumping fan favorite "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" the Vaccines literally owned the stage and revitalized the crowd. Their set occurred in the festival's twenty-fifth hour right around the time fans begin sitting sets out, but singer-guitarist Justin Young was a man possessed. I would have loved to see the Vaccines and the Palma Violets face off against one another to see who could make who pass out first. Young and the three other band members ripped through seventeen songs in less than 60-minutes never allowing the crowd to take a breather. In fact, with each passing song, the crowd grew more frantic and familiar with the band. The band rewarded them with a traditional old school performance the Ramones would have had to approve of for not just its breakneck pace but for the craze the band brought to the stage and poured back out to the all too animated crowd that ate it up like the greatest indie rock show ever done.
"Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" is a raucous romper reminding me of the first time you heard music. It captures you and transforms your mindset. Isn't this the very definition of rock n' roll?
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