The Vaccines, w/Brigitte Calls Me Baby @ Leeds o2 Academy, 09/03/26

What Did You Expect? - The Vaccines Turn Leeds O2 Academy Into an Indie

Singalong Riot. A packed Leeds crowd shouts every word back as The Vaccines prove their debut album still hits just as hard 15 years later.

Leeds O2 Academy has always been the kind of venue that suits The Vaccines. It’s loud,

sweaty and close enough that the barrier might as well be part of the stage. Tonight, the

band returned to a packed room that already knew exactly what it came for: fast guitars,

big choruses, plenty of shouting and a complete run through of their first album “What Did

You Expect From?”

Before all that, though, Chicago’s Brigitte Calls Me Baby set the tone in a completely

different way. Their sound is theatrical and dramatic, built around frontman Wes Leavins’

crooning voice that feels closer to a vintage lounge singer than an indie rock vocalist.

Opening with the slow-burning “We Were Never Alive”, the band ease the crowd in with

shimmering guitars and a moody atmosphere. Early on, songs like “I Can Take the Sun

Out of the Sky” show off the band’s knack for turning heartbreak into something cinematic.

Leavins commands the stage with cool confidence, throwing shapes and gestures like he’s

performing in a black-and-white movie rather than a support slot for a British indie band.

Mid-set tracks like “The Pit” and “Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction” inject some momentum,

while “Pink Palace” and “Slumber Party” bring a slightly playful edge to the band’s

otherwise brooding sound. By the time they wrap up with “Impressively Average”, the

Leeds crowd has warmed to them properly. It’s a stylish and self-assured introduction for a

band’s debut in Leeds and placed them on my “ones to watch” list for the future.

The Vaccines don’t waste time easing into things. As soon as they hit the stage, the

opening stretch sends a jolt through the room. They open with 12 tracks from the “What

Did You Expect From” album, which means “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)” arrives very early

and the reaction is immediate — the entire floor jumping and shouting every word back at

Justin Young.

What follows is essentially a victory lap through the band’s debut, and it’s clear just how

deeply these songs are embedded in the crowd’s memory. “Post Break-Up Sex” normally

reserved for later in the set, is song 3, but as expected it turns into a mass chant, while “A

Lack of Understanding” and “Wetsuit” bring some of the loudest singalongs of the night.

Young spends most of the set pacing the stage, occasionally stepping forward to let the

crowd take over entire choruses. It barely feels like he needs to sing at times — Leeds has

it covered.

“If You Wanna” lands exactly where it needs to, sending the room into another surge of

bouncing bodies, its jangling riff still sounding effortlessly sharp more than a decade on.

Then after the melee of the debut a chance to stretch into their later catalogue and even a

tour debut of “The Dreamer” from last years album release. Just when you thought they

might have peaked too soon, “I Always Knew” gives the night one of its most uplifting

moments, the chorus ringing out across the venue like a shared memory.

By the closing stretch, the encore is pure celebration. “All My Friends Are Falling in Love”

was the track reserved for the finale, and it turns the room into one giant choir, arms in the

air and voices straining to keep up.

The Vaccines have played bigger rooms and bigger stages, but nights like this are where

they feel most alive. Packed shoulder to shoulder with fans who’ve grown up with these

songs, the band deliver exactly what everyone came for — sharp, fast indie anthems that

still feel impossible to resist.

Fifteen years after they first burst onto the scene, The Vaccines haven’t lost their touch.