My mates keep telling me that at 27 years old I should have grown out of my Wombats phase.
But a rip-roaring set at Leeds' First Direct Arena on Thursday night to kick off their 2022 tour affirmed my love once again for my favourite indie band who are still drawing in the crowds after 19 years producing music.
I'm more of a fan of the older stuff and I have to admit that some of their newer songs have passed me by but I was amazed to see how many people in their teens and early 20s there. It is clear The Wombats are just as loved now as they were in the late noughties.
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They started with Flip Me Upside Down, a song off their new album Fix Yourself, Not The World, before diving into The Car Drives All By Itself. Then came some crowd favourites - Cheetah Tongue, Moving To New York and Techno Fan one after the other and by this point I was officially a bit of a sweaty mess.
Everyone was jumping around, losing their inhibtions and just having fun - something we all need to make time for and the energy was high as the hits kept on coming. 1996, Kill The Director, Lemon To A Knife Fight and Jump Into The Fog were just some of the bangers that followed as part of a 24-song setlist that lasted just under two hours.
The penultimate song saw lead singer Matthew Murphy make a sweet nod to his wife - If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming With You and in their "last song" (something Matthew said with the old air quotes) came Greek Tragedy.
One of their most popular songs thanks to an Oliver Nelson remix which was popular on TikTok during lockdown, it brought the house down with adoring fans screaming 'she hits like ecstasy' at Matthew and co.
The band then disappeared - but they were always coming back as there were a couple of songs that the crowd still needed to hear.
Method To The Madness kicked it off - a slow burner of a song which eventually builds up to a crescendo of F-words. 'F*** my sadness, f*** your roleplay, f*** our options and f*** the life plan' sends out a pretty clear message and with the crowd pumped, Let's Dance To Joy Division followed - an ode to the irony of bouncing around to the distinctly sad Love Will Tear Us Apart.
The encore came to a close with Turn as the band thanked the Leeds crowd who were on top form all night. Confetti was fired into the air as the last line of the song summed up most people's feelings at the end of the gig - 'it won't get better than this'.
Suffice to say when the lights came on not long after I was drenched in sweat - but frankly I'd have been disappointed if that weren't the case. A Wombats gig feels like an intense cardio session with lots of jumping around and screaming your heart out to indie classics which everyone loves.
I first saw them nearly 10 years ago at Plug in Sheffield. That venue's gone now but The Wombats still reign supreme and long may it continue.
Setlist
Flip Me Upside Down
This Car Drives All by Itself
Cheetah Tongue
- Moving to New York
Techno Fan
Ready for the High
1996
Pink Lemonade
Everything I Love Is Going to Die
Kill the Director
Pink Lemonade
Emoticons
People Don't Change People, Time Does
Lemon to a Knife Fight
Worry
Jump Into the Fog
Don't Poke the Bear
Lethal Combination
Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)
If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You
- Greek Tragedy
Method to the Madness
Let's Dance to Joy Division
Turn
