we all got old at breakneck speed

This week I made my triumphant return to the live music scene at The Vaccines gig in Glasgow. Triumphant is perhaps the wrong word since I struggled to finish my third cider and blackcurrant and almost fell asleep on the half past ten train home however it was fun to go to a gig again after what seems like forever. A couple of years ago my relationship with Ticketmaster was pretty intense and I would trek up and down from Aberdeen to Edinburgh and Glasgow in pursuit of bands that I loved and bands that I liked and other bands in between. In more recent years my fondness for electronic music has meant that I have spent more time at DJ sets than at gigs but there is nothing quite like the atmosphere at a packed gig where everybody is singing along, fist-pumping like a Guido, eyes closed.

The Vaccines have been majorly hyped and there are no doubt many people out there who won't believe the hype or who will have decided that Radio 1 has completely killed their credibility. The thing is they write damn catchy songs, they don't take themselves too seriously and they sounded great live. Despite having major instrument troubles and a poorly lead singer their set was fun and upbeat albeit short. The crowd was a massive mix of different ages although it has to be noted it was a bit of a sausage fest and I was disappointed to find a major lack of scenesters in geek glasses.

Also this week I went to see my little brother's band The Colours play at Whistle Binkies in Edinburgh. They are really good and musically really tight, although I may be slightly biased. In between all this music and Zumba I AM EXHAUSTED. Roll on the weekend.