Australian Indie-Pop Band Vacations Kicks Off Their First North American Tour

BY KRISTINE PASCUAL

This week in Pomona, California, Glass House hosted Australian band Vacations on their first North American tour. Surrounded by fellow college students, mostly women, I sat in front of the barricade chatting with fans about their excitement for Vacations. They were ecstatic to be in attendance for Vacations’ first U.S. tour. The fans near the front of the barricade sported Vacations merch from band tees to tote bags, proving to be loyal fans of the band.

Soon, the opening act, Harmless came out in a hot pink hoodie, radiating energy. From the start, the artist was flirty with the crowd, pointing out fans one by one, serenading them. He made eye contact with each of them, making everyone in the crowd feel special. Many of his songs were romantic, his sound reminding me of alt-indie singer, Cuco. He even said, “We’re hoping to find you a boo with these romantic songs,” which made the fans scream in excitement and joy.

By the end of the night, Harmless had every girl swooning. He even pointed and looked directly into my camera as I captured the moment. There were also many occasions where he took fans’ phones and took videos of him singing and showing off the crowd. He ended his set with his viral TikTok song Swing Lynn. He had the whole crowd singing and dancing with the easy going guitar beat. Harmless charmed everyone in the crowd and made sure to hype them up as they waited for the main act, Vacations.

As the fans waited for Vacations, there was a lot of chatter over what songs they were excited to hear. The majority of fans expressed their excitement to hear Vacations’ hit song, “Young,” which was played towards the end of the night. I was also looking forward to hearing the song, it being a major piece of many of my playlists during my first semester of college.

After about 15 minutes, the Home Depot theme song began to play catching the crowd off guard and out came Vacations. The stage was foggy and lit up by colorful lights. Behind the instruments was a banner that read “VACATIONS” in red, white and blue. With a new buzz cut look, lead singer Campbell Burns wore a white tank top, grey trousers and black Doc Martens. He and his band members were equally stoked to be performing in the U.S. as Burns told the crowd that performing here feels “completely heartwarming.”

The lights of the set matched the energy of the crowd as they flashed different colors of bright blue, pink, and purple. My favorite part was just listening to the band play their instruments as they did so effortlessly. There was a point in the show where each band member seemed to be living in his own world, playing his own instrument and just soaking in the fact that they were on tour in America. There were multiple times they had emphasized their appreciation for their fans, making the crowd laugh when a fan tried saying something to the band and Burns replied saying, “your funny American accents make no sense to my Australian ears.”

Throughout the show, the band members held great chemistry with each other as they jammed with their guitars. During one of their slower songs, “Telephones,” Burns had the set lights turned off and requested for the crowd to turn on the flashlights on their phones. As everyone complied, we all stood and felt their lyrics, “I wish I could live without you, but you’re a part of me / Wherever I go, you’ll always be next to me.” I stood on the balcony taking in every lyric as the girl beside me held her lighter up swaying her arm. And the couples in the crowd definitely used this song as a moment to appreciate each other’s presence that night.

Towards the end of the concert, everyone was excited to hear their hit song, “Young.” The whole room stood and swayed together, goosebumps running up our arms. It’s one of those songs you would have in a playlist when you purposely want to get in your feels. Fans held up their phones to capture this beautiful moment as they sang along word for word, the band even acknowledging that saying the crowd sounded “beautiful.” The disco ball shined and spun around as the set lights flashed magenta and green. This song felt like a moment that you never wanted to end because the experience was everything. Once the song came to an end, I was a bit sad, but content that I was able to experience it live.

I enjoyed coming out to see Vacations and will cherish the memory the band created with the fans as they snapped a picture on their film camera to capture the moment of their second show of their first ever American tour.

Catch Vacations on tour HERE.