The Vaselines at Lincoln Hall: The return of Kurt Cobain's muse
If it weren’t for a little group named Nirvana, Scottish group the Vaselines would still be unknowns in the U.S. After releasing one album then taking a 20-year break, the duo is back with a new record and a tour.
In 1987, twenty-somethings Eugene Kelly and Francis McKee formed the Vaselines in their native Scotland and eventually added two more members to become a quartet. They released their indie pop meets punk record Dum-Dum two years later, then immediately disbanded. It seemed like the band would forever be stuck in Europe, but when Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain discovered their music and threw his immense support around the group in the early '90s, suddenly the Vaselines crossed over to the States. Cobain loved their music so much, he covered Son of a Gun, Molly’s Lips, Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam and even named his only daughter after Francis McKee. With their new found ubiquity, U.S label Sub Pop released a compilation of the band's two EPs and record in 1992 called Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History, then released the deluxe version, Enter the Vaselines, last year.
After being dormant for almost two decades, the Vaselines began performing together again in the UK, which propelled them to tour the U.S and play Chicago for the first-time ever last spring. This fall the reformed group tours the U.S again in support of their first record in 20 years called Sex with an X featuring the newly released single I Hate the ‘80s.
Live, McKee and Kelly exchange witty and sometimes subversive zingers with each other like an old married couple, which keeps them and the audience on their toes. With Lincoln Hall’s intimate setting paired with the Vaselines’ comical banter and influential music, October 28th will surely make for for an unforgettable concert.
Posted by Garin Pirnia
