The Vines @ [V] Live, The Forum (July 2008)
It’s official – the Vines are back and this time they’re better than ever! [V]J Jane Gazzo gives us the lowdown ... "On the eve of their 4th album Melodia – Craig Nicholls has never been happier or more coherent. The songs on Melodia are hits. And that’s exactly what tonight at The Forum is about. Being hit by a band who have been away and come back as a unit – stronger and louder.
We’re being treated to The Vines, track by track. Craig comes out on stage dressed in jeans best described as ‘painting pants’ – flares speckled and splattered with house paint. A green tracksuit top hangs loosely from his small frame. He still has the look of a deshevelled schoolboy who forgot to brush his hair for this intimate occasion.
He greets the audience whilst the rest of the band take their instruments and then launches into opening track, Get Out – assaulting our ears with the bleedingly loud guitar intro. And then he stops - and for a moment the audience thinks he’s going to smash something up or walk off stage. Nicholls yells out, "That was sh*t! Sorry, but we’re being filmed tonight and we want this to be good." We breathe a collective sigh of relief as the band starts up again.
The album is played in full. Perfectly, if not better than the record. Highlights include Autumn Shade 3 (which features a gorgeous acoustic guitar riff and sing-a-long melody), True is the Night (the beautiful ballad from the album which clocks in at over six minutes) complete with five piece string section and ‘Kara-Jayne’ in which Nicholls gets down on his knees and sings to the floor.
At times, Craig looked like he was going to fall over or fall into drummer Hamish Rosser when he was gesticulating wildly with his guitar – sometimes using the neck of his instrument to hit the symbols behind him. But Rosser remained seemingly unfazed by Nicholl’s actions, even when he was only left with one symbol after Nicholls smashed the rest to the floor! Bass player Brad Heald kept the band together in rhythm and provided backing vocals a-plenty, especially at the times Nicholls lost the microphone all together. Guitarist Ryan Griffiths never stopped strumming or singing.
Too quickly it was over – the album played out in full in true Vines tradition in just over thirty minutes. But we hadn’t had enough of them yet. We screamed for more and after the stage was re-set by the road crew, the Vines returned to the stage to treat us to an ear blisteringly loud Ride and F*ck the World. It was here that Craig decided to throw his guitar into the crowd, almost hitting a Channel [V] cameraman and side swiping a young female competition winner in the process! He climbs down off the stage to make sure the lass is OK before running backstage and lighting up a much needed fag outside.
The last time I saw The Vines play live was a woeful show at London’s Brixton Academy on their Winning Days tour. Thankfully, tonight that mess is well and truly forgotten. Time has produced an incredible album and the set tonight was just brilliant. They really are back – and better than we’ve ever known them. Look Out!"
-Jane Gazzo
[
source] (click for a few small photos from the gig)
There is also a gallery up, which you can view by clicking
here.
Also, I just love how the author refers to cymbals as 'symbols'.
EDIT: Also, you should check out Channel [V]'s
promo site for the band, that 'drag the cover around a bit' feature is way cool.
There's a promo video down on the page, too.
Craig ramblings are always good. 
swooped in to save the day with some free merch and er, *cough* avoidance of lawsuits. 
anyway.
I can't believe I forgot to watch it 
