THE WOMBATS
The Wombats: Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA. 10/2/23.
It had been some years since the last time I saw the Wombats but I had been looking forward to the chance to see them again. Going into the show I already knew they were going to bring the energy. The opener was Red Rum Club who was the perfect opener because they brought a fun punk/alt rock energy. When they were done their set you could feel the energy building, when the Wombats took the stage the singer started on the drum set so he could jump off to start the set which set the tone for the energy we would get through the whole show. The bass guitarist was one of the most energized bassists I’ve ever seen running up to the front of the stage and then jumping in front of the pit again and again. They opened with the perfect 3 songs for a photographer with “Cheetah Tongue”, “Moving to New York”, and “Techno Fan” all high energy songs. During “Kill the Director” they brought out a person in a Wombat costume that got the crowd excited as he danced around on stage. A highlight of the set is when they played “Jump Into the Fog” which got the whole crowd feeling nostalgic. They closed their set with “Greek Tragedy” but announced they were obviously coming back out to encore. When they played “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” they brought 3 people in Wombats costumes out and the whole crowd was jumping up and down for the entirety of the song. They closed with one of my all time favorite songs “Turn” that had the crowd arm in arm singing to one another.
Shot and Written by Jonah van Bemmelen.
