The Wombats On Tour @ Keele University

When it comes to The Wombats, you know exactly what you’re about to witness. Their unique sound evident in ‘A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation’ and ‘The Modern Glitch’ has been tweaked and transferred onto ‘Glitterbug’ released mid-April 2015. Keele University was the first stop on their UK tour which includes a further 9 dates; Birmingham being their next!

First on was The Night Cafe, an indie pop/rock band from Liverpool, made up of a few talented 17 or 18 year-olds. Their singles ‘Growing Up’ and ‘Addicted’ sound very light and airy, even the guitarists seemed to be plucking thin air than actually playing. ‘Addicted’ is their most recent single; only released two days ago is a masterful mix of indie-pop and indie-rock, in the simplest form possible.

Sundara Karma are an ICM favorite and having missed them at Reading Festival, finally seeing them up close was one hell of a sight. Their long hair and wacky dress codes are just a trademark of the indie scene. Being as young as 18 potentially means that influences could derive from several artists who are already in the spotlight. And their music a fizzy, rock indie-pop. Like ‘Waves’ and ‘ The Night’.

Favorite ‘Loveblood’ a drum and guitar enthused rock song that really got the crowd pumped and galvanised ready for The Wombats, people were already throwing cups of water and beer all over the place – reminded me of Reading – completely drenching people.

Matthew Murphy led out the ⅔ liverpudlian trio to an adolescent audience with a wide smile and a cool T-shirt. They certainly came out with a bang, getting straight into ‘Jump Into The Fog’ to the delight of the unified room, including us!
The set consisted of a fairly even balance of old and new. ‘Curveballs’ and ‘Pink Lemonade’ were both given live debuts, being performed equally as well as their older material.

The excitement and anticipation was maintained through a solid set list which had both quantity and quality in abundance. ‘Kill The Director’ seemed to get the heartiest reception amongst the audience, understandably really, as it sounded absolutely magnificent! It made for a awestruck, appreciative atmosphere.

When ‘Kill The Director’ came on, there was an almighty roar of realisation, ‘BRIDGET JONES!!’ Everyone had turned into wild animals; people getting on shoulders looking bright red and you could see the sweat and adrenalin pouring off their faces.

A quirky anecdote to a gig in the same student union venue with ‘Lethal Bizzle’, for me, signified exactly what The Wombats are about. Relatable lyrics across their 3 albums dating back as far as 2007 are ideal to sing passionately along to.

An encore consisting of a slick and emotional solo of ‘Isabel’, ‘Greek Tragedy’ and, of course, ‘Let’s Dance To Joy Division’ saw them leave the stage in a similar fashion to which they entered, very vocal screams and cheers from a sweaty, satisfied crowd.

 Written by Alex Pearson and Tom Hammersley