The Wombats play Shepherd's Bush Empire
The band crashed onto the stage and had fans chanting the lyric ‘we are marsupials’ with the first strum of their guitar. However, there wasn’t a kookaburra or a bunyip in sight as they belted out Kill the Director to a packed Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
The joy of playing in London is that you are guaranteed a lively crowd, tonight was no exception; there was distinct festival atmosphere as The Wombats worked their way through their repertoire from A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation. Speaking to a youth disillusioned by Hollywood.
The set was tight and sound in the Empire is…well, empire! The band lacked creativity in their set; there was no difference to listening to them live or on CD. The music catered for a Radio 1 audience of diluted indie-pop and left me quite uninspired. The band conversed with the crowd in-between songs, likening it to a Liverpool working men’s club and encouraged interactivity from their excitable devotees. Naturally, the singles Dance to Joy Division and Moving to New York got the biggest reaction and they even road-tested new song, My Circuit Board City – a song that followed a pattern of the past songs with insightful realism.
After the obligatory encore (something which in my humble opinion is something only mega-bands should do) they ended with Backfire at The Disco, promising to come back when they have a new album. On the whole, The Wombats delivered and it was easy to see why they gathered an army of fans and had some high-profile gigs under their belts. Simple, danceable and does exactly what it says on the tin, giving us a bloody good gig!
First published 18.11.2008
The joy of playing in London is that you are guaranteed a lively crowd, tonight was no exception; there was distinct festival atmosphere as The Wombats worked their way through their repertoire from A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation. Speaking to a youth disillusioned by Hollywood.
The set was tight and sound in the Empire is…well, empire! The band lacked creativity in their set; there was no difference to listening to them live or on CD. The music catered for a Radio 1 audience of diluted indie-pop and left me quite uninspired. The band conversed with the crowd in-between songs, likening it to a Liverpool working men’s club and encouraged interactivity from their excitable devotees. Naturally, the singles Dance to Joy Division and Moving to New York got the biggest reaction and they even road-tested new song, My Circuit Board City – a song that followed a pattern of the past songs with insightful realism.
After the obligatory encore (something which in my humble opinion is something only mega-bands should do) they ended with Backfire at The Disco, promising to come back when they have a new album. On the whole, The Wombats delivered and it was easy to see why they gathered an army of fans and had some high-profile gigs under their belts. Simple, danceable and does exactly what it says on the tin, giving us a bloody good gig!
First published 18.11.2008
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