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It’s beyond me why a band with only one album behind them would want to play a venue such as the Royal Albert Hall. I can’t explain why but for some reason it does not seem right. For decades the RAH has been the safe and comfy home to rock dinosaurs and MOR stalwarts however, in the last year the venue which brings us opera and ballet spectaculars is trying to move with the times by attracting new and younger acts. I saw The Wombats for the first time less than a year ago at The Fez club in Reading. With less than a hundred paying punters at the time it seems remarkable that nine months later they are able to sell out the RAH.
Supporting the Wombats were the much superior Lightspeed Championwho along with Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (my new favourite act) are one of the more interesting London bands. This is the third time that I have seen Lightspeed Champion in three months and they never fail impress me. Dev Hynes is a star and genius songwriter of epic proportions and the band is incredibly tight. They also have the most brilliant female drummer that I have seen for years. Whilst looking delecate and elegant she manages to underpin the band without being overpowering.
The Wombats were pretty surprisingly good. For the occasion they had hired a miniature orchestra who jazzed up the arrangements and brought a well needed grandeur to their jaunty Scouse pop songs. I was pleased that the band did rise to the occasion and put on a good show befitting to their surroundings. Unfortunately the lighting was terrible making photographing them very difficult. Bizarrely enough the lighting was worse tonight than at The Fez club, I know that lighting guys don’t care much for making photographer’s life’s easier however if I was standing in the gods I think I’d be pretty pissed off with the boomy bass heavy sound and the back-lit stage lights.
Watching the band tonight it amazed me how quickly and hard new bands are worked these days. Less than nine months after the release of their debut album the label have released three singles, all of which have been extensively promoted, they have been on two tours including the NME new music tour with The Enemy, and they are now embarking on a SIX MONTHS European tour which ends in October. In order for them to keep the momentum up they will need to release a new single in January at the latest which would mean that they’d need to be back in the studio in November. I hope that they don’t burn out before then, or indeed put on any more weight as front man Matthew Murphy seems to have filled out somewhat since I saw him in January during the NME tour. I guess all the touring and recording has caught up with him.
Written by John Rahim