Liverpool has a rich history of spawning great bands such as The Beatles, Echo & The Bunnymen, Flock of Seagulls to name a few. In 2003, the streets of Liverpool brought forth the much touring, much loved, The Wombats. The band is fronted by Matthew Murphy on lead guitar and vocals with Tord Knudsen on bass and backup vocals with Dan Haggis on drums. The Wombats play to packed houses wherever their tour takes them. Recently the trio made a stop at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut in support of their fourth release, 2018’s “Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life” which reached #3 in the UK album chart.
Prior to The Wombats hitting the stage, England’s Barns Courtney played an inspiring set. Barns and his band warmed up the crowd with an amazing set of high energy rock and roll. He has opened up for some heavy hitters in the music industry such as The Who and Ed Sheeran so he knows how to get a crowd ready for the main act. Don’t be fooled though, Barns has the rocking sound and catchy lyrics it takes to be a headliner so go see him when he plays near you. Barns is presently on a European tour and ends 2018 with a brief run of shows in the Western US with Young The Giant.
The predominantly college aged crowd received The Wombats wildly as they hit the stage with their popular “Cheetah Tongue”. Their music is a power pop mix of synthesizers and traditional guitar rock that gets audiences up and dancing and their lighting adds to the experience. Edward and Tord move about the stage energetically and seem to get fueled by the enthusiasm of their fans. Their vocals are powerful and don’t get lost in overpowering instrumental riffs. Their set was a mixture of faster paced songs such as “Moving To New York” and “Let’s Dance To Joy Division” and slower songs with a heavy instrumentation lying under the vocals such as “White Eyes” and “Bee Sting”
The Wombats will be touring Australia / New Zealand the last half of November then after a brief holiday hiatus, hit the road in England and the rest of Europe in late January. You can follow them on line at the following…
Website: http://thewombats.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thewombatsuk/
Instagram: @wombatsofficial
Twitter: thewombats
Review and Photos by Rich Russo