Lets all dance to Joy Division is a title that’s enough to instantly put me
off. It took almost physical force to get me to listen to the Wombats but when I
did I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of the smug, scenesterish trash that I was
expecting, I was greeted with catchy riffs and charmingly down to earth lyrics.
Their sold out gig on Sunday was no disappointment either. Almost note perfect
with a good sound and a few bizarre interludes (an eerie postman pat cover and
an odd barber shop intro), the Wombats put on a good show.

The Liverpudlian trio even allowed four girls celebrating their birthdays on stage during Kill the Director. I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I found it quite heart-warming. With a strangely charismatic humbleness, their lead singer Matthew Murphy told a story during an interlude about how he lost his Rover Metro through absent mindedness.

My only main complaint was that the gig was scheduled on a Sunday. There’s a limit
on how rockin’ a crowd can get on a Sunday, as was shown by obvious pockets of utterly thrilled fans screaming their heads off and people who were simply having an alright time. I must admit to being surprised at how busy Qudos was, although a good portion of the crowd seemed to be of the under 18 demographic, but saying that even the most mellow and mature of fans present seemed to be enjoying the experience and there was no shortage of cheering or crowd surfing.

The band themselves seemed to be pretty upbeat too. They took beer splashings with good humour and had some excellent banter with the crowd. Their performance had a fair bit of energy and effort, although vocals and drums (Dan Haggis) were swapped at one point to no obvious benefit. The Wombats seem to be thoroughly nice people with good music and an appreciative fanbase, but they do seem to be in need of a good calendar.

Review by Nick Bowick.