On Thursday, August 15th, Australian indie rock band, Vacations stopped by Observatory North Park to rock San Diego for their last show on their “No Place Like Home” tour in the U.S. The band’s sound mostly comprises a combination of woozy guitar pop and lo-fi elements that resonated with fans throughout the night.
The first opener, Alex Lahey kicked off the show with a smaller scale set, with their guitar and personal lyrical songwriting to leave an impression on the audience. Lahey had mentioned that after being sick the previous couple of shows, they felt confident enough to perform a few extra songs thanks to the crowd’s encouragement. Among Lahey’s set was a song called “Congratulations”, about the real-life story of their last two exes who ended up engaged together. Personal songwriting and guitar strumming made for a more intimate set to open the night than expected, but a welcome one. Attendees would see Lahey later in the show as a guitarist and saxophone player for Vacations.
Soft Blue Shimmer was the second opener and completely contrasted to the previous act. The dream pop band from Los Angeles brought an intense energy to North Park, prepping showgoers for the main act later that night. Lead singer and bassist, Meredith Raymond would sing blended harmonies with guitarist and vocalist Charlie Crowley masked beneath the droning sound of guitars and heart-beating drums. A major highlight of the set was Kenzo Cardenas on drums, making his presence known by every kick drum beat. At one point, someone around my area said “The drummer is actually really good.” Soft Blue Shimmer’s catchy riffs and fuzzy instrumentals caught my ears as a band I could see myself listening to regularly.
At approximately 9:43 pm, angelic music played in the background, and white lights shined for Vacations to appear and come on stage to finally play. Off the first song of the setlist, “Next Exit”, the indie rock band jumped off to a great start, as lead guitarist Nate Delizzotti jumped off the drum stage revving the crowd in excitement. Shortly after the song concluded, he noted how San Diego has always been a beautiful singing crowd. That rang true in the song, “Glow” as screaming fans sang along to every word. The disco bell from atop the ceiling of the Observatory came down and illuminated the venue.
Lead singer Campbell Burns asked the audience if anyone was from their home country, Australia. Several fans yelled out they were from Sydney raising a flag in the air, to which the band laughed, admitting they were not fans of the city. During the song “Off-Season”, Lahey came out with a saxophone blaring to the crowds of applauding fans. From far away up from the balcony area, fans were putting their phone flashlights on waving left to right with each song.
During the band’s encore, an old-fashioned chair you might see in an antique chair stood on the left side of the stage, and next to it appeared a phone of the old era that rang for Burns to sing into “Telephones.” The rest of the band joined him for the final song of the set, “Relax.” Overall, the show made for a thrilling time, punctuated by the easygoing music of Vacations.
Photos by Roman Aguilar