THE WOMBATS AT THE FILLMORE IN PHILADELPHIA, PA
I recently attended The Wombats’ show at The Fillmore in Philadelphia and it was one of my favorite shows this year. I have been waiting 10 years to see this band so it was a big deal for me to finally catch them. For this US run, The Wombats brought out Barns Courtney, and what a treat it was to be able to discover this artist for the first time.
Barns Courtney opened the show for The Wombats and he did not disappoint. The crowd was very into the performance and for good reason. The energy he emanates is wild. Barns Courtney looked to have covered every square inch of the stage during his performance as he ran around. Throughout his performance he kept everyone on their toes wondering what he would do next, whether it be pouring water onto himself, or rolling on the stage. At two points during the set he jumped into the crowd, the second time being during the last song “Fire” to get the crowd down low before jumping around with them. His catchy tracks had the audience dancing and jamming along the whole time and it was truly a captivating performance.
Taking the stage after Barns Courtney was The Wombats. This was not a band to sit down for at all. They brought a lot of energy onto the stage, especially bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen, who jumped around like a madman. The members of The Wombats obviously have a lot of fun on stage and gave the audience an amazing performance. Their sound was so full and on point the whole time. The Wombats performed tracks off their new album “Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life” (released February 2018) such as “Cheetah Tongue” and “Lemon to a Knife Fight”. They also appeased fans of their older catalogue with tracks such as “Moving to New York”, “Techno Fan”, and “Let’s Dance to Joy Division”. I stayed up in the balcony for this show to get a good view of the stage and the crowd and it brought so much happiness to my heart to see how good of a time everyone was having. The Wombats are such a feel good band that really get you moving.
I can’t recommend catching this band enough if they happen to roll through your city or close near it. The Wombats have such a way of pulling you out of whatever kind of mood you might be in and placing you smack dab in the middle of a giddy, excited one. They reminded me why I fell in love with live music in the first place.
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!