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Live Recap: The Wombats with Clubhouse at Park West
This past Thursday night, The Wombats returned to Chicago on their US tour and proved that while everything may be going wrong in the world, we can still be so happy.
Despite the evening being frigid and snowy, as is typical February-in-Chicago weather, and Covid surges still going strong, fans relentlessly flocked to Park West to attend The Wombats’ tour in honor of their fifth studio album Fix Yourself, Not The World. The night began with a set from Columbus’ Clubhouse, who warmed up the crowd with their fun-spirited tunes and friendly demeanor. The band performed songs from their 2021 album Are We Going Too Slow? as well as a rendition of MGMT’s hit “Electric Feel.”
The friendly tone from Clubhouse’s set lingered after they left the stage, as the audience chatted to fellow fans about their favorite track from Fix Yourself, Not the World and recollected on past experiences at Wombats’ shows. I personally ended the night we a few new concert buddies, and couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to be standing next to. By the time Matthew “Murph” Murphy, Tord Øverland Knudsen, Dan Haggis took the stage, it no longer felt like standing in a room full of virtual strangers because the mutual admiration for The Wombats’ music created such a connected atmosphere.
The music kicked off with the single “Flip Me Upside Down” from the new album, and from the second the song began, the problems of the outside world faded away for roughly 90 minutes as The Wombats produced a euphoric escape. The three members of The Wombats met and began making music in Liverpool, and while life has since taken them to different home locations across the globe, they managed to record the new record remotely thanks to the help of Zoom. Despite the distance they’ve faced in recent years, the bond between the trio remained as strong as ever during their live performance as they played with a sense of camaraderie that can only come from their many years of making music together.
The remainder of the set list incorporated a lot of the new material like “Wildfire,” “Method To The Madness,” and “If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You”—the latter of which Murph joked that his wife had told him in a “creepy yet endearing” way back when they were dating—however, fans were not deprived of the chance to revisit some of their older favorites from the band’s earlier days. The Wombats sprinkled in bits of each of their past albums, going all the way back to 2007’s A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation. Throughout all these years, I’ve always admired Murph’s pensive and witty lyrics that are surrounded by intricate melodies and production, but hearing these songs in a live context only elevates that magic. Familiar crowd favorites of the evening included “Techno Fan,” “Kill The Director,” “Let’s Dance To Joy Division” and “Turn” but there truly wasn’t a moment when the audience wasn’t echoing the words back to the band and dancing along. A flip was switched from the second the opening note rang out, and the lighthearted energy remained intact even after The Wombats left the stage.
If The Wombats are coming to a city near you, don’t deprive yourself of a similar experience, and be sure to snag your tickets here. Check out photos of the evening and tune into the new album below.
