The Vines & the View at the Forum

Oh The Vines are back in town. They've been gone ages - and at one point we thought they'd never be coming back. So what are they like now?

Well, they played all the hits – the shouty screamy ones, the swirly whirly ones (although less swirly now without the lush production) and the inbetweeny ones. But I found the entire show ever so slightly underwhelming. Possibly proving that there is a time and a place for everything and for the Vines that time was 2002. Oh dear.

They finally hit bottom with an outstandingly poor rendition of the lovely "Autumn Shades" (cats drowning in a sack). I was even thinking about leaving, when suddenly they whip out "Ride" - and the audience finally find their moshing shoes. (not me tho, I’m in heels). By the time they get to the encore the entire night is turned on its head and they bang out the quite fantastic "Get Free" and then an unexpected cover of "Miss Jackson", before closing on "Feck the World" and trashing of guitars and drum kit (for old times sake). Thank goodness. Was almost a bit worried there.

I could mention that yes Craig is no longer mental, has obviously been at the pies, and yes, does desperately need to get his hair sorted, but there was also really nice matey directness between him and the audience and you could tell he wasn’t entirely sure of himself (or off us for that matter) which made for a different – if less exciting – experience.

The less said about tonights support - The View - the better. I really tried to like em, honest guv, but they don’t make it easy do they. A bit of focus, maybe an original guitar riff or a completely new musical direction might help.