Friday 20 December 2013

The Wolfpack are back! Wolfmother at The Corner Hotel, Richmond (17/12/13)

Wolfmother are a band that have been through a lot since the departure of their founding members. Chris Ross and Myles Heskett left the band in 2008 and multiple line-up changes have happened since then. After a brief break-up they are back with a vengeance! The new line-up is comprised of lead singer/guitarist and founding member Andrew Stockdale, bass guitarist/keyboardist Ian Peres (who joined the band in 2008) and former rhythm guitarist, now drummer Vin Steele. 



It was a very short notice show, with no support bands, but that didn't matter.
After a 30min wait, Tommy Franklin from Australia's Got Talent took to the stage to get the crowd nice and warmed up, asking everyone to high-five eachother, before screaming out here's Wolfmother as the band took to the stage.



The Corner Hotel is one of Melbourne's most respected medium-sized rock venues, and the perfect setting to breathe new life into Wolfmother as a live band. Back down to a trio, the interaction between the members  on-stage was superb. As they say, sometimes, less is more. The band sounded as tight as ever and only needed minimal lighting effects to accent the performance. Of course you can't go without a smoke machine! By the end of the performance the crowd was eating them up, singing along to almost every word. It was like I was transported straight back in my bedroom, listening their self-titled album when I was 11 years old. 



The set included hits such as Dimension which almost sent the crowd into another one as the mosh pit went into a frenzy. Other tracks such as: White Unicorn, New Moon Rising, Mind's Eye, Woman and Joker & the Thief made an appearance. Tommy even came back on stage to dance during one of the songs. The rest of the set included some songs from Andrew Stockdale's solo album, and some new tracks that were greeted quite warmly from the crowd. One of the tracks even had a couple of people singing along after the first chorus. 



I went to this show as a bit of fun and can honestly say it was a great time, everyone really got into it and the band played like it was the last show they would ever play. They meant every note, every drum beat, every vocal line. It's a testament to how they've lasted so long and how long they'll be around. You know what they say; just keep on moving. There's a new energy to this lineup, something un-explainable. It's as if its they have a new lease on life. Big things may be just around the corner.