The Wombats, Auckland NZ, 2018

The Wombats

22nd November 2018
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.

Finally, ten long years after that infamous track ‘Let’s Dance To Joy Division’ received the NME Best Dancefloor Filler award, The Wombats had arrived in Auckland to play a one off show for their New Zealand fans. Despite their youthful looks, The Wombats have been putting in the hard yards for the last fifteen years. Often drifting around the outskirts of the indie rock scene they have built up a fan base across Europe – and dare say it the world – whose hearts burn like wild fire for the trio.

The stage forgoes many of the video screens that they have been using at their overseas shows, opting instead for a simple layout with the words ‘The Wombats’ emblazoned across the back wall. Arriving to a cacophony of love and appreciation, the three Liverpool lads took up position and hit the audience with ‘Cheetah Tongue’, the room exploding into a sea of jumping beans whose arms flailed wildly in the air.

The trio comprising of lead vocalist Matthew Murphy, bassist Tord Knudsen and Dan Haggis on drums have been together since their inception and it shows. From the synchronised synth beats that Murphy and Knudson hammer out to Haggis’s competent rhythmic patterns – The Wombats make it all look far too easy. The hits came hard and fast – ‘Give Me A Try’ and ‘1996’ only encouraging the fans to dance harder, the smiles across the room infectious in their overwhelming joy. Thanking the audience Murphy conveys how excited the band are to have finally made it down to our shores, the fans screaming their gratitude back tenfold.

Having released their fourth album earlier this year, tracks performed from it were sung by the fans with as much gusto as their older work. Latest track ‘Black Flamingo’ with its distorted The Dandy Warhols like intro proving that these three still know how to pen a great track. Introducing Steve the squirrel who sits atop Haggis’s drumkit (a soft toy who may or may not have been thrown onto stage by a fan at some point in their career they muse), Murphy makes jokes of how they like to “keep things confusing” a fair statement from a UK band who are named after Australian marsupials.

Not favouring any album in particular The Wombats provided a heady mix of favs from across their back catalogue, which was perfect for their first ever show on New Zealand soil, although the absence of ‘Kill The Director’ was a little disappointing for those fans who have been there since the beginning.

Often when looking across the room it is difficult to discern who is expending more energy – the fans or The Wombats themselves, Knudsen hardly ever spending more than a few moments in one space as he bounces around the stage and out onto the speaker stack. This unbridled energy and sheer exultation for what they do something wonderous to behold. Similarities to the Artic Monkeys can be seen in tracks like ‘Ice Cream’ – the English and their way with words often the appeal of bands such as The Wombats; while ‘Techno Fan’ from their 2011 album The Modern Glitch has their own unique mark stamped all over it, the crowd bouncing even harder to the vivacious crescendo of a chorus. Murphy however was determined to drain every last drop from their fans as he yelled ‘C’mon Powerstation’ while pogoing on the spot to the catchy ‘Lemon to a Knife Fight’, their devotees at this point ready to walk across hot coals barefooted should the trio have requested it.

Dedicating ‘Bee Sting’ to his Prozac addicted dog Daisy, the room was once again filled with a sound reminiscent of those heady psychedelic, synth-pop days of the late nineties, the mix as intoxicating as it was uplifting. While ‘Pink Lemonade’ and ‘Jump into the Fog’ were popular it was the double headed set closer of ‘Tokyo’ – complete with giant coloured balloons – and that one song all New Zealand fans were chomping at the bit to finally hear live that brought the house down; ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’ ridiculously fun as three men dressed in Wombat suits joined the frivolities on stage and for a moment Murphy and Knudsen forgot themselves as they bounded around in a circle with their furry compadres.

A three-song encore gave the fans a chance to momentarily catch their breath, Murphy delivering ‘Lethal Combination’ acoustically under a single spotlight. But you can’t pin these guys down for long, the dancing back in full swing for ‘Turn’, again from their latest album Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life. Emphatically thanking the crowd once again Murphy and Co left the audience with ‘Greek Tragedy’ from Glitterbug, set lists and drum sticks handed out with smiles by Knudsen and Haggis before they left the stage.

Having seen a lull in popularity following their stunning debut album it would seem that The Wombats are back and making their way up that ladder once again. One things for sure, their live shows don’t disappoint, so let’s hope it’s not another fifteen years before they once again get to prove that fact to their New Zealand fans.

Were you there at the Powerstation for this fun indie rock gig? Or have you seen The Wombats perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Setlist:

1. Cheetah Tongue
2. Give Me A Try
3. 1996
4. Black Flamingo
5. Ice Cream
6. Techno Fan
7. Emoticons
8. Lemon To A Knife Fight
9. I Don’t Know Why I Like You But I Do
10. Your Body Is A Weapon
11. Bee-Sting
12. Pink Lemonade
13. Moving To New York
14. Jump Into The Fog
15. Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)
16. Let’s Dance To Joy Division
17. Lethal Combination [encore]
18. Turn [encore]
19. Greek Tragedy [encore]

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