Filtering by Tag: The Wombats
Live Recap: The Wombats and Last Dinosaurs at House of Blues
Lollapalooza week kicked off with some pre-fest after shows, including The Wombats and Last Dinosaurs on Tuesday, July 26th at the House of Blues.
Last Dinosaurs is an Australian rock band, consisting of Sean Caskey, Lachlan Caskey, Michael Sloane, and Dan Koyama. The band warmed up the crowd for The Wombats, joking that it was fitting because “The Wombats are near and dear as an Australian animal.” Throughout their set, I noticed many fans throughout the venue singing along to songs like “Zoom,” “Apollo,” and “Italo Disco,” which the band introduced by saying “If you have any Italian descent, this one goes out to you.” Last Dinosaurs has a new album coming out November 4th called From Mexico With Love, which you can preorder here.
Next up, The Wombats took the stage to a very packed venue of fans ready to dance and sing along to their entire set. The trio consisting of Matthew “Murph” Murphy, Tord Øverland Knudsen, and Dan Haggis had toured earlier this year in support of their fifth studio album Fix Yourself, Not the World, so it was fitting that their show kicked off with two newer songs from that record— “Flip Me Upside Down” and “This Car Drives All by Itself.” From the get-go, Murph and Knudsen unleashed their infectious energy, bouncing around the stage as they played. Before transitioning to a throwback track “Moving To New York,” Murph told the crowd that he “wished this song was about Chicago,” but nevertheless, the Chicagoans still went wild for the song, making the House of Blues floor literally shake from all their jumping.
The set continued to weave through The Wombats’ expansive catalog, including a few songs from 2015’s Glitterbug. As a preface for “Pink Lemonade,” Murph said “I sing a lot about fruits… lemons… this song is the first one about a lemon tonight. The pink lemon.” The other lemony song is of course “Lemon to a Knife Fight,” which comes from 2018’s Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life. The band’s good humor came through several other times during the show— about half way through, they broke out into an impromptu muzak tangent, which got a loud reaction to the crowd. “That’s very kind of you, you did not need to applaud for that,” the band replied.
The evening truly felt like a much-needed escape from everything going on in the outside world, and Murph further facilitated that release by asking the crowd to raise their hands and give him an “end of the world scream” before the performance of “Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves)” from The Modern Glitch.
The Wombats played their hit “Greek Tragedy” as their “pretend last song” before returning for a 3-song encore that pulled from songs old and new. During the official last song “Turn,” even people in the way back of the venue were dancing with massive smiles on their face. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again— it’s literally impossible to be sad at a Wombats show.
See photos of the evening below, and see where you can catch The Wombats on the road next here.
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.
PHOTOS: Love Fame Tragedy at Subterranean 09.21.19
This past Saturday, Love Fame Tragedy made their live debut in Chicago, performing at Wicker Park’s Subterranean venue. The solo project of The Wombats’ frontman Matthew "Murph" Murphy, Love Fame Tragedy was first introduced to listeners with the single “My Cheating Heart,” which was released earlier this summer. The live show included a full band playing alongside Murph, and the setlist featured all of current singles, plus several unreleased tracks. Make sure you keep an eye on future upcoming shows here.
Love Fame Tragedy’s debut EP I Don’t Want To Play The Victim, But I'm Really Good At It is out this Friday, September 27th—Pre-save it here.
Live Recap: The Wombats Bring New Music, The Hits, and Infectious Energy to Their Lollapalooza Aftershow
This past Thursday night, The Wombats closed out the first day of Lollapalooza 2018 with a sold out aftershow at Lincoln Hall
As the clock struck midnight, hoards of music fans had piled into Lincoln Hall to celebrate the end of the first day of Lollapalooza with The Wombats. Although they had just performed out in Tinley Park with The Pixies last month and at Lollapalooza earlier that day, the last time The Wombats had performed as a headliner in Chicago was more that two years ago, when they played The Metro in support of their album Glitterbug. Despite the late start time of the aftershow, old and new fans of the band buzzed with anticipation during the moments leading up The Wombats’ entrance to the small stage, everyone anxious to hear some of their old favorites as well as the freshest material from this year’s Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life.
The set began with the new; The group opened with “Cheetah Tongue,” the first track off their fourth studio album, but from there on, the setlist took twists and turns through The Wombats’ extensive catalog of material. Following “Give Me a Try” from Glitterbug, the band threw it back to 2011 and 2007 with “1996” and “Kill The Director.” While The Wombats did a great job at compiling a setlist of songs that highlighted each of their album eras, one of the best experiences of the show was looking around and seeing fans scream the lyrics along with lead singer Matthew Murphy and dance throughout the night with unwavering gusto, during every single song. Murphy and bandmates Dan Haggis and Tord Øverland have continuously mastered creating music that blends clever and sharp narratives with danceable melodies and grooving bass lines, allowing for fans to connect with the lyrics while dancing it out.
Live, the trio translates their records to life with a keen stage presence and unmatched chemistry, which stems from their years and years of playing music together. Despite their grueling tour and travel schedule as of late and the fact that they had played Lollapalooza earlier that afternoon, The Wombats never skimped on the energy during their show at Lincoln Hall; Øverland still delivered his signature kicks and jumps as he played bass and Murphy often paraded around the stage with his guitar. The entire room was already beaming from ear to ear as the set came to a close, but the band still had one more surprise up their sleeves. During iconic tune “Let’s Dance To Joy Division,” three people dressed up head-to-toe in wombat suits rushed the crowd and stage to close out the night, and everyone (even the wombats) clapped along to the athemic bridge of the song.
Following the humorous guest appearance, The Wombats (the band) returned for an encore, bringing along the costumed wombats again. The three song encore consisted of one of their recent singles, “Turn,” “Tokyo-Vampires & Wolves” from their earlier days, and “Greek Tragedy” from their third album, once again equally representing all of their eras. No matter what year your favorite song from The Wombats comes from though, there’s no denying their music and their live show has a timeless quality to it; it will always be a challenge to find anyone having a bad time at a Wombats show.
Check out photos from the show below, and see where you can catch The Wombats next here.
Listen to Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life in full below.
LIVE: The Wombats with Courtship and Nation of Language at Brooklyn Steel 1.10.18
The Wombats stopped at Brooklyn Steel during their highly anticipated return to the U.S, in celebration of their upcoming album Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life. Nation of Language and Courtship got the crowd warmed up.
At 8PM sharp, the lights in Brooklyn Steel dimmed, and the Brooklyn-based trio Nation of Language hit the stage with a burst of energy. As their synth-driven mix of post punk and new wave filled the venue, it felt like we had all been transported into a John Hughes film. The three piece had actually been added to the tour last minute, to fill in for UK band Blaenavon, who had unfortunately had to cancel their U.S tour due to medical reasons. However, the crowd instantly warmed to Nation of Language’s refreshingly nostalgic vibes and lead singer Ian Devaney’s vocals that pull elements from the likes of Talking Heads’ David Byrne and The Cure’s Robert Smith. Their 30 minute set included their tracks “I’ve Thought About Chicago” and “On Division St,” which the band mentioned had just premiered that day via Stereogum.
Courtship (stylized “courtship.”) took the stage next, donning matching yellow jumpsuits and immediately displaying their excitement and gratitude to be at the New York venue. As the LA based duo of Eli Hirsch and Micah Gordon and their band enthusiastically played their infectious indie pop tunes like “Sail Away,” “Perfect People,” and the unreleased “Bad Fun,” their happiness and energy filled their entire venue. During their short but sweet set, they never stopped showing their appreciation to be on the stage and on tour with The Wombats; at one point Hirsch addressed the crowd saying, “Literally in eighth grade my number one band on earth was The Wombats,” adding that he once hid in the basement of one of their 21+ shows just to hear them perform. Hirsch also mentioned that he and Gordon had only written their first song together just about a year ago in their bedrooms, making the opportunity to play at a packed venue in NYC that much more special to them. Seeing a performer that happy and excited to be where they are makes the performance that much more special to watch, and the crowd was extremely responsive to courtship.’s energy.
The Wombats burst onto the stage following a 30 minute changeover, kicking it all off with new song “Cheetah Tongue,” from their upcoming album. The three piece consisting of Matthew Murphy, Dan Haggis, and Tord Øverland Knudsen have been making music together since 2003, and their album Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life will be their fourth studio album, following up 2015’s Glitterbug. With about 15 years of playing music together under their belt, the trio exuded an incredible chemistry on stage last Wednesday night; whether they were playing one of their oldies or another new song, they were perfectly in sync with one another. The band also crafted a diverse and dynamic setlist that pulled songs from all parts of their discography, like “1996” and “Jump Into The Fog” from This Modern Glitch, “Kill The Director” and “Moving to New York” from A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, “Give Me a Try” and “Greek Tragedy” from Glitterbug and last but not least, new singles like “Turn” and “Lemon to a Knife Fight.” Every song by The Wombat’s features clever and thoughtful songwriting, full of lead singer Matthew Murphy’s impeccably descriptive and witty writing, but they’re also known for their upbeat and catchy melodies. At their Brooklyn Steel show, they maintained an incredible level of energy, with Murphy working the entire stage, often wandering out onto the speakers at the front of the stage while he played guitar, and bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen thrashing around the stage and jumping along to the beat. The audience did a great job of keeping up the pace, but as the set wound down, Murphy encouraged them to get even rowdier, saying, “The paramedics are outside for a reason, so please go as wild as you can possibly can for this next one,” before the band launched into “Techno Fan.” Their classic and crowd-favorite songs in their live set often featured fleshed out introductions and arrangements; for example, the aforementioned “Moving To New York” (which Murphy said has and always will be dedicated to NYC) contained a built up and suspenseful introduction that led up to its recognizable guitar riff that kicks off the studio version. The night closed out with “Greek Tragedy,” which was the band’s lead single from Glitterbug, and everyone filed out of the venue with a grin on their face.
Check out photos from the high energy evening, and see the rest of The Wombats’ tour dates here.
