Never underestimate the power of the love you had for a band at 14.
Even if the intervening decade has made you bitter, cold, and devoid of any emotion, know this: the second that your former favourite indie rock anthem about killing a director is on, you will dance, and you will remember and belt out every single word, and you might want to cry (a little).
At least, that was one writer’s unexpected experience at The Wombats’ Sydney show marking ten years since A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation.
Let’s slide right over the “Holy fuck, TEN years?” part and talk about how nice it is to attend a show in which the band plays all its hits and doesn’t get upset at the dead silence when it introduces “a song from our new album”.
The Wombats came onstage wearing suits and backlit by three glowing rings, and immediately forced the comfortably seated crowd to stand up.
The Wombats came onstage wearing suits and backlit by three glowing rings, and immediately forced the comfortably seated crowd to stand up. “Imagine there are no chairs in here at all,” said drummer Dan Haggis.
And the fans were already dancing by the time Matthew Murphy sung, “I’ve met someone that makes me feel seasick”. From there the audience got treated to hits like ‘Moving To New York’, ‘Backfire At The Disco’ and ‘Lost In The Post’.
Just as impressive as the setlist was the amount of energy the band maintained throughout the entire show – still dressed in suits – and off the back of Groovin The Moo. There wasn’t a chance to rest until the end of the gig. But of course, as Murphy pointed out, it was “not really the end yet”.
They’d saved their most dance-worthy song ‘Let’s Dance To Joy Division’ for the encore, and were joined by audience members dressed in giant wombat costumes. Suddenly there was coloured confetti everywhere, and the sound of a thousand 14-year-old hearts beating in simultaneous upbeat angst.
The Wombats played the Sydney Opera House on Monday May 8.
