The Wombats are back!
At the tail-end of their Australian tour (along with their run of Spilt Milk festival shows), Matthew Murphy, Tord Knudsen and Dan Haggis returned to Brisbane for the second time this year to yet another sold-out show (6 December).The show turned out to be a jam-packed, all-ages sing-along featuring pyrotechnics, confetti-galore and one of the most colourful light shows The Fortitude Music Hall's has ever seen.
As the venue's doors opened and the long line of people began to stream in, a buzz of excitement quickly filled the room. The venue already seemed half full upon entering with punters of all ages everywhere. From a glance you could tell some were back for their tenth Wombats show while some were here for their very first.
It's clear that The Wombats simply love Australia (and its music), sporting a great track record of having local artists as supports. This time to kick off the night was Wollongong's Tyne-James Organ.
Tyne-James Organ - image © Harrison Innes
Selling out shows of their own, Tyne-James brought an amazing opening performance. The set was filled top to bottom with energetic dance moves, huge riffs and a good amount of heart, with some older fans even prompting a floored reaction from the singer upon showing an old photo of him.
With punters still flooding in during the set, a quieter moment saw the band vacate the stage, leaving Tyne-James to perform a beautiful acoustic rendition of 'Heal You', ushering in a deafening but keen silence from the crowd. A standout moment for many was his cover of The Kooks' 'Naive', originally performed for triple j's Like A Version.
As the main act's set time drew closer, a huge crowd sing-along to 'Mr Brightside' and 'Hey Ya' welcomed the Liverpool band to a dark stage, soon riffing into the the beginning of 'Moving To New York'. As the song hit its crescendo, jets of sparklers burst from the stage, lighting up adoring fans and setting the epic mood for the next hour and a half.
The Wombats - image © Harrison Innes
Seeing The Wombats always warrants the most nostalgic and euphoric feeling. If bass player Tord's smile wasn't enough to display the exuberant enthusiasm of the band, his dashing and jumping around stage definitely was.
Eating up the band's energy and theatrics, fans were once again treated to a now staple of a Wombats show – the wombat figures. Dancing around and giving back rubs to the musicians on stage, the costume-clad wombat figure appeared right at home busting out a trombone solo for the end of 'Ready For The High'.
The Wombats - image © Harrison Innes
However, it was a few tracks later at the beginning of 'Kill The Director' (preluded by the always amusing 'Tales Of Boys, Girls And Marsupials' intro) that brought on a deafening roar and sing-along from the crowd. "We're gonna have a nice 'Hey Jude' moment!"
A warranted quieter track gave the Music Hall's packed crowd a break during lead singer Murph's solo rendition of 'Lethal Combination'. Stage lights were rendered useless as phone lights lit up the Hall.
A lull at the end of the song soon turned into a long droning intro, climaxing with the band launching into an old classic 'Tokyo (Vampires And Wolves)', which prompted multiple punters to jump up on nearby friends' shoulders.
While the love and enthusiasm for The Wombats newer tracks was readily present, past hits clearly gathered the biggest response from the crowd. The band barely needed to sing 'Greek Tragedy' as the crowd's chorus drowned out the onstage vocals.
The Wombats - image © Harrison Innes
After a short walk off, the show's encore saw the slow burner track 'Method To The Madness' easing the crowd from a slow sway into the fast and frantic energy of 'Let's Dance To Joy Division'.
With the heaving crowd bouncing up and down, the band was again joined by five more Wombat figures, one revealed to be Brisbane's Jaguar Jonze. "Brisvegas it's always a pleasure."
'Turn' saw the show to its end, finishing with a plume of confetti and drummer Dan throwing drumsticks and set lists into the clambering crowd.
The Wombats - image © Harrison Innes
While the show might've felt eerily similar to their Riverstage show six months prior, watching the Liverpool rockers simply never gets old.
The Wombats consistently provide one of the best rehearsed and thought-out performances, and give each show the energy and love it deserves. Whether they'll be back in six months or six years (hopefully not that long), Brisbane will undoubtedly be eager to see them again.
More photos from the show.
