It was during my summer before my freshman year of college when I would roll down the windows on a warm day and blast The Wombats’ “Tokyo-Vampires & Wolves” in my car, singing along with the wind blowing my hair in all different directions. When a rainy day rolled by, I’d put on the Bastille remix of “Greek Tragedy,” a quiet song to reflect the grey weather outside. I had always enjoyed the band’s more optimistic lyrics of love, adventure and dancing all night. It was only recently that I had started listening to them again and reminiscing on those drives in the past.
When the opportunity appeared to see them at the Ogden on Oct. 3, I had to jump on the chance to see a band whose music carried so many memories.
Watching The Wombats’ opener, Barns Courtney, was like traveling back in time to a concert in the 1960s. With his brown shaggy locks and bell-sleeved shirt, Barns Courtney looked like a performer at Woodstock. Barns Courtney was an energetic force on stage, having the crowd repeat his “oohs” and “aahs” and ending his performance with a crowdsurf.
The Wombats brought a classic rock and roll show to the Ogden, performing hits such as “Techno Fan” to their slow ballad “Patricia the Stripper,” with the lead singer Matthew Murphy reminiscing about a woman he loved that would always choose someone else over him.
An unexpected announcement from the audience members interrupted the show, when one man got up on stage to propose to his girlfriend, using lines from The Wombats’ songs about falling in love. She happily accepted.
The show continued with purples, blues and whites flashing on stage while the band continued to bounce around on stage and coming up to the crowd to encourage them to raise their hands in the air and dance as wildly as they can. When performing “Let’s Dance to Joy Division,” the band brought out four dancing wombat mascots to lead the crowd in dancing to their “joy division.”
After The Wombats and their mascots left the stage, the crowd screamed for an encore, especially for a performance of their hit single “Greek Tragedy.” The band came back on stage to close with “Tokyo-Vampires & Wolves” and please the crowd by closing with “Greek Tragedy.”
Concerts are similar to a good book or good film. They allow the viewer to escape from everyday life and jump into another world for a sense of distraction. The Wombats’ concert was no different, bringing the audience into a world of fast cars, young love and dancing all night. Whatever troubles anyone had before the concert was forgotten, as it was a time to come together and share enthusiasm for the band and leave with an uplifting, positive experience, even if it was just for one night.
