The Wombats- Depression but Fun

Written by Amy Stewart

Sitting at the back of the concert hall nursing a pint that I was too young to hold, I eagerly awaited the arrival of The Wombats. A band I've obsessed over since I was 13, and I was finally seeing them live (from approximately 60 miles away).

An Indie Rock band, born and raised in Liverpool, The Wombats formed in 2003. From the beginning the band's line-up has consisted of Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, backing vocals), and Dan Haggis (drums, backing vocals). Forming as students in the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts The Wombats released several EP’s before their first album, which debuted in 2006.

The band described their music as being rooted in student culture, and I couldn’t have put it better myself. With songs like’ Kill the Director’, a song about love and rejection. ‘School Uniforms’ (pretty self explanatory), and the absolute classic, ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’. A song about the irony in being happy when everything is going wrong. Which is the student mantra, and couldn't be any more prevalent than it is now.

Once the supporting act left the stage everyone finally stood up. One simple ‘Hello’ from Mathew was enough for the crowd to erupt. After a smile and a standard concert dialogue Mathew and Tord began playing their riffs to Cheetah Tongue, a song with the optimistic message of beautiful people will ruin your life. Everyone began to jump and scream their lungs out, basking in the bliss of a song under the disguise of being happy.

After some new releases with the audience singing to songs they’ve never heard, we finally got to the classics. The songs everyone came to hear. It only took the first second of the guitar for everyone to scream and shout, chanting along to the light-hearted chorus of ‘if this is a role call, kill the director’. The floor was covered in every drink you could think of, grown men were pushing and banging into 14 year olds, and I was sitting at the back enjoying the chaos. After a couple more tunes and bruises we finally got to the song. ‘I’m back in Liverpool…’ was all it took. ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’ is basically the Millennial’s anthem. Yes we’re sad but no we’re not. But the beginning of this song marked the end of the concert, mum’s and dad’s began dragging their kids out the hall to ‘miss the rush’, people we’re racing to the bar to fit in one more pint and the song ended.

The band said their goodbye’s and left the room… only to return 3 seconds later to sing 3 more songs. I’ve personally never understood this ritual but whatever. Anyway, it's finally the end of the concert. The lights were turned on and everyone was ushered out of the room, after walking past the gaggle of drunk people, and swimming across the main floor to the exit, I took a breath of fresh air and began walking to the station.

During my walk I had a revelation. I realised why this band hit so close to home for so many people, including myself. Deep down we’re all a bit flawed, even the happiest people are sad. But to that The Wombats say, who cares if we’re screwed, because so long as we’ve got each other, a pint and a tune, nothing can stop us.