An enthralling 90 minute performance from one of the UK indie scene’s most consistent bands.
The Wombats are arguably one of the most consistent bands to arise from the golden era of British ‘00s indie. The Liverpudlian trio’s music has featured everywhere from TV shows to FIFA soundtracks. Of course, and most importantly, a few of their songs can also be regarded as staples of any good indie dancefloor (the opening chords to ‘Lets Dance To Joy Division’ still evokes sweaty and fun evenings as a student at the abc on a Friday night…)
Impressively, their appeal refuses to wane two decades in. 3.3 million monthly Spotify listeners is certainly nothing to be sniffed at, while six of their tracks have over 100 million listens (for a random comparison, The Libertines and Bloc Party only have two). How have they maintained this popularity then? Well, six albums of catchy, energetic, vulnerable yet carefree indie anthems certainly hasn’t done their cause any harm, nor has the warm embrace of younger fans who’ve likely heard their songs on TikTok and Inbetweeners re-runs.
Fresh from the release of latest album Oh! The Ocean, The Wombats have embarked on their biggest tour yet, playing some of the UK’s largest venues. And tonight is the turn of Glasgow…
After some Japanese food is consumed at the nearby Pickled Ginger restaurant in Finnieston (the Udon Katsu Curry is definitely recommended!), my wife and I saunter towards the Hydro with our stomachs full but remaining excited for an evening of live music. As we reach the venue, the first thing we notice is the number of 18-24 year olds who’ve gathered - which makes us wonder what proportion of tonight’s crowd won’t have been alive when The Wombats released their debut in 2007. The crowd dynamic edges ever so slightly in the direction of those of a female persuasion. Which, overall, makes for a far nicer atmosphere than other crowds other of indie bands who emerged around the same time - The Courteeners, for example, in October had a more raucous (and male) crowd and to be honest there were too many drunken bampots to ruin our enjoyment somewhat.
Following a trip to the Sky VIP bar inside the Hydro - and with a couple of £7.90 Madri’s purchased - we head towards our seat in time for the start of Everything Everything’s support set. The Manchester art rock band are in fine form and perform a set heavy with songs from last year’s seventh album Mountainhead. Tracks like ‘The Mad Stone’, ‘The End of the Contender’ and ‘Cold Reactor’ sound exquisite in delivery, while they finish on a lovely one-two of ‘Distant Past’ and ‘No Reptiles’ from 2015’s Get To Heaven.
After a half hour wait, finally it’s time for The Wombats. Five minutes after their scheduled 9pm start, the indie trio arrive on stage to a heroes welcome. And they waste no time getting to business, performing the lead single to their latest album ‘Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come’: an opener wonderfully apt and tongue in cheek at the same time. They then rewind things back to their 2007 debut Proudly Present…A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation with early single ‘Moving to New York’. The crowd suddenly come alive, a sea of filming mobile phones rise to the sky, the chorus line “Christmas came early for me!” passionately screamed back at the band.
What’s clear from the off is how the band, now in their 40s, haven’t lost any of their early-day energy. Bassist Overland Knudsen hops from one side of the stage to the next throughout and encourages audience participation when possible. Meanwhile, one admirable observation through the set is how evenly spread out the songs are from their discography and just how solid a back catalogue they do indeed have. ‘Cheetah Tongue’, ‘Lemon to a Knife Fight’ and ‘Turn’ from 2018’s Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life are celebrated on par with their early material, while forgotten gems like ‘Techno Fan’ and ‘1996’ from 2011’s The Wombats Proudly Present…This Modern Glitch offer well-received ravey set highlights.
The Wombats are clearly delighted to be in Glasgow tonight and such enthusiasm is palpable. “One our first gigs was at King Tuts”, recalls drummer Dan Haggis towards the beginning of the performance, “why can’t we play Glasgow more often?” he continues, forcing further cheers from the audience. Singer/guitarist Matthew Murphy later declares his “big fat juicy love for this city” before remembering nights out and memories playing here in the past. Glasgow crowds do love being buttered up and told how fantastic their city is and there’s genuine conviction here to get us further on side (and who can blame them for loving it here, Glaswegian crowds are great!).
A few tracks from new album Oh! The Ocean are scattered across the mid-section and reveal a subtle brilliance to their latest material. ‘Kate Moss’ is abrasive, electronic and one of the most intriguing on the new record, ’My Head Is Not My Friend’ takes the temperature down for a vulnerable breather, while the likes of ‘I Love America and She Hates Me’ and ‘Blood On The Hospital Floor’ are soaring and frenetic to get the hips swaying around us. In the middle of all this there’s the expositivity of calling card anthem ‘Kill the Director’, which has the Hydro crowd eagerly chanting back the “this is no Bridget Jones, this is no Bridget, Bridget (kill the director)!” refrain.
Finishing the first section of the set on a run of tracks including the “Japanese rave” of ‘Toyko (Vampires & Wolves)’, stalker anthem ‘If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You’ and ‘Lets Dance To Joy Division’ (another singalong high point featuring dancing Wombats with confetti cannons), The Wombats depart the stage, arriving shortly after for the encore. The three track encore finishes on 2015’s ‘Greek Tragedy’ - now the band’s most popular track and a euphoric curtain closer with multicoloured giant balloons dropped on the dance floor to create quite the spectacle.
Introducing their final song, Murphy says his goodbyes and confesses that we’ll be seeing the band again “sooner than you think”. With an hour and 35 minute display this enjoyable, this news is, indeed, music to our ears. Tonight The Wombats have delivered a fantastic live performance. One that I certainly wouldn’t mind experiencing again soon. For what it’s worth, my money is on them appearing at Trnsmt festival in Glasgow Green come July.
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