So on November 5th, in a small venue in the heart of one of the hippest neighborhoods in Chicago there is an invasion led by a brilliant trio of marsupials: The Wombats.

Out on the road supporting their most recent album “This Modern Glitch” (April 2011), The Wombats brought two great bands along for support (The Static Jacks and The Postelles) and by the time they took the stage the tiny venue was buzzing and shaking. Quite literally!

“Our Perfect Disease” started them out and in an instant the whole floor of the venue was bouncing along with the crowd who started dancing from nearly the moment when Murphy, Tord and Dan came down the spiral stairs to the stage. And no one stopped through the entire 15 song set (including a wrap up with a mind blowing jam tribute to Smashing Pumpkins!)

Between songs Murphy and crew bantered with the crowd-wishing one exuberant fan a happy 19th birthday while letting super-fan Pedro take the mike for a line or two! The band seemed humble and somewhat surprised and pleased at the sold-out turn out. But why should they be surprised? The Wombats are amazing and the word is out. I’m just lucky I got to see them in this small space!

The band’s energy was contagious. Tord Øverland-Knudsen could probably be marked as the fastest moving multi-instrumentalist in existence! Dancing and singing and playing bass, guitar and keyboards the man didn’t stand still for a second and never lost a single beat. His exuberance was palpable.
And for beats….Dan Haggis was incredible. He’s an absolute machine on the drums, keeping solid beats and lending his voice to the tunes too. One of the best dance beat drummers today, I’d venture to say. Just amazing.

Which brings us to Matthew Murphy. Wow. So much energy, so animated! Watching and listening to him perform you know just how much he’s enjoying the music and the experience. Exactly what you would expect! Leading the audience and his band-mates through the dance-mandatory set with what I can only call exuberance in every word he sang, note he played.

The band’s enthusiasm was infectious and by the time they got to “Tokyo” the crowd took over and was singing over Murphy with everything they had! Their two set encore featuring a rocking “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” that brought the place down and was capped with a mind blowing tribute to Smashing Pumpkins with a hard rocking jam that had sweat and equipment flying!

A fantastic show. Two great bands topped off with a phenomenal third in one of the best forums you can see a band (small, personal space). If you missed The Wombats on this tour, one particular Wombat informed me they’d be back around April. I, for one, wouldn’t miss a chance to see them again for the world!

Set List:
Our Perfect Disease
Kill the Director
Girls/Fast Cars
Jump into the Fog
Patricia the Stripper
Schumacher the Champagne
Techno Fan
Last Night I Dreamt
1996
Little Miss Pipedream
Moving to New York
My First Wedding
Tokyo
****
Anti D
Let’s Dance to Joy Division

The Wombats are:
Matthew Murphy: Keyboard, lead vocals, guitar
Dan Haggis: drums, backing vocals
Tord Øverland-Knudsen: Keyboards, bass, guitar and vocals