Wombats Leeds Met 9th March

Crouching on the stairs,solo, peering through the banister, singing along to the words, lost in translation when they speak but loving every single minute of it.....


In the past these three boys have danced to Joy Division, got lost in the fog, mused about killing a director, been slapped at the disco and relocated to New York. But now they are going to have to cross 'held a karaoke-type gig at Leeds Met University off their Bucket List.

Despite not always reaching the number one or even top five spot, the Wombats, have been hanging around the chars for the last couple of years. The trio has been making extremely infectious music; with clever lyrics, wit and inevitable oo-oo-oohs. These ingredients have always been a recipe for success, and they proved that they were worth their rightful place stuck in our heads, after a great performance in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

With an onslaught of five minute careers these days there is so much reliance of Auto-tune, and because of this commercially successful bands playing live could be unrecognisable. Because of this it was even more refreshig to hear the Wombats perform live. The Liverpudlians were pitch-perfect and sounded identical to their record oupit. The gig itself was like listening to the album but instead of being confined to a car or a house or a bus you were in a union surrounded by hundreds of strangers who appreciated your choice in music.

The Karaoke description is self-explanatory really; rarely is there a gig when more than three-quarters of the crowd know every singly word but in this instance they did. The volume level of the crowd frequently equaled the voice of frontman Matthew Murphy, and through most of the songs he was able to hold the mic to the crowd for the verses as well!

All the hits were played to the frantic crowd; 'Kill the Director', 'Jump into the Fog','Backfire at the Disco', 'Moving to New York and 'Tokyo(Vampires & Wolves)'. Most of the band's 2007 album A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation were included in the set, and a even a few songs off the new album. Despite the newer songs being relatively unknown, the audience's enthusiasm didn't ebb.

The bassist, Tord Overland-Knudsen, seemed to enjoy the performance even more than the crowd, with a grin stuck in his face although he had slept with a coat hanger in his mouth. The Wombats cleverly left their biggest hit until last, which promoted the crowd to chant 'Joy Division' at them - were they doing covers? The band teased a little more before stomping straight into 'Let's Dance to Joy Division' much to the crowds delight. The warm reception they recieved may make them change their mind about New York and give moving to Yorkshire a try!