The Wombats
Q Live At Concrete
Wombats,Q Live At Concrete, Q The Music Club, Monday, 4 April
As you step down into the blocky greyness that gives Shoreditch's Concrete venue its namesake, you're met with a surprising sight. The crowd that have come out to see The Wombats this evening are incredibly diverse - Hoxton hipsters and...
Gig Review
As you step down into the blocky greyness that gives Shoreditch's Concrete venue its namesake, you're met with a surprising sight. The crowd that have come out to see The Wombats this evening are incredibly diverse - Hoxton hipsters and dad rockers alike, uniting to see what must be one of their favourite bands.
Vocalist Matthew Murphy begins the night with a brief hello, before kicking into Our Perfect Disease. This segues into Kill the Director, during which bassist Tord Øverland-Knudsen catastrophically drops to the floor halfway through after tripping on a cable, much to the band's - and the entire venue's - amusement. Taking it on the chin and always professional, The Wombats carry on in valiant fashion, and the room soon erupts in dance to songs like Moving To New York and Techno Fan.
That's not to say, however, that the Liverpudlian trio are one trick ponies, as the slow and contemplative Anti-D proves, a hushed crowd paying attention to every word. Rounding off the night with Tokyo (new material being rapturously received is always a good sign) and biggest hit Let's Dance To Joy Division, The Wombats leave the stage - and the audience undeniably sated.
Click for photo gallery: Q Live at Concrete - The Wombats
SETLIST:
- Our Perfect Disease
- Kill The Director
- Party In A Forest
- Jump Into The Fog
- Here Comes The Anxiety
- Techno Fan
- Schumacher
- Backfire AT The Disco
- 1996
- Moving To New York
- Anti-D
- Tokyo (Vampires And Wolves)
- Let's Dance To Joy Division
A full review of the show will appear in Q Magazine issue Q300, out late May 2011.
Fan Review
Our lucky competition winner won the opportunity to review the gig and interview the band. See below to see what they thought:
It’s not one’s average Monday evening, not even the average Q Live monthly show: it is The Wombats lighting up the stage at Concrete tonight.
I had a chance to interview Matthew beforehand: asking him whether they are doing anything for tsunami-stricken Japan that has been so kind to them in the past (they are); ‘Techno Fan’, East London, and the possibility of novel stage theatrics for The Wombats; whether channeling heartbreak or frustration (over queuing to disappointing club nights) into songs is therapeutic. And the obvious ‘hummus question’ the Wombatizer, launched a mere few days ago, has put on all our minds.
Murph is calm, collected and very kind – nothing to give away just how thunderously energetic the show he, Dan and Tord will put on, less than an hour later. Only into the second song there is a halt, with some cords unplugged amidst the ferocity taking place on stage, but in perfect unison they all stop, fix it, and roll on, as if the stage conveniently doubled in size. The Wombats, though, would deliver gems like ‘Jump Into the Fog’, ‘Kill the Director’, ’Here Come the Love Anxiety’, ‘Techno Fan’ or ‘Moving to New York; in the same manner if they had space smaller than a stamp. And we in the audience act the same – even as everybody goes mental by when ‘Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)’ and ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’ are played, to finish off set.
A perfect mix of old songs and the brand new material it was, too. Yes, we at the Q Live gig at Concrete had the privilege to hear some that are not yet even hinted at as next singles from ‘Modern Glitch’, or available yet as acoustic downloads - but they proved as immediately danceable, with the usual urge for singing along evoked, as only the Wombats can make them.
Never could wish for a better excusing for treading knee-deep into sleep debt by Tuesday already, than being kept up by Wombats-fever. Thank you, guys, and to Q, for making a makeshift interviewer out of me
User Comments
Post A Comment
As Chrlaie Sheen says, this article is WINNING!
Posted by Zariel at | October 28, 2011 14:42
Post A Comment