The Vaselines

The Vaselines are playing The Hare & Hounds in King's Heath on Wednesday 3 March 2027, starting at 7:30 pm. For anyone who knows the name but can't quite place the sound, they're a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow back in 1986, built around the songwriting of Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee.

They're probably best known for the claim that Kurt Cobain called them his "favourite songwriters in the whole world". It wasn't just talk, either: Nirvana recorded and played three of their songs — 'Molly's Lips', 'Son of a Gun' and 'Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam' — and Cobain invited them to open for Nirvana in Edinburgh in October 1990. Eugene Kelly later joined Nirvana on stage at the 1991 Reading Festival, so if you've spent any time with early Nirvana, you've likely heard their work without knowing it.

Their debut single 'Son of a Gun' came out in 1987, and their first album, Dum Dum, followed in 1989. After years apart, the band reformed in 2008 and put out Sex With An X in 2010, then V for Vaselines in 2014. The original duo was later joined on bass and drums by James Seenan and Eugene's brother Charlie Kelly, both from the band Secession.

Standing tickets are £23.30, and the show starts at 7:30 pm at The Hare & Hounds, 106 High Street, King's Heath, B14 7JZ.