One of the most prominent rock acts to come out of Australia in the past 10 years, Wolfmother, led an illustrious, fruitful career, though the Wolfmother I witnessed tonight was a lot different from the one we saw hanging out with the Jackass crew back in the day.
Playing the Supertop Stage, which is essentially the main stage, the tent was nowhere near capacity. Only a matter of hours before, I saw Aussie up-and-comers Ball Pack Music fill the same area almost to the brim, so the crowd wasn’t to blame. But, to Wolfmothers credit, they exhumed energy like they were playing the Entertainment Centre. The band opened with White Feather, easing punters into their Black Sabbeth-esque vibe, and straight after smashed out Love Train, one of those many tunes drilled into our skulls from countless radio spins and TV syncs.
Over the years, the band have had enough successful hits to be able to put together a setlist purely of crowd favourites, and they managed to tick most of them off. Woman was up next and as a demonstration that they weren’t stuck in a time capsule from the Wolfmother hey-day, they also introduced fans to a new track, Keep Moving, to be featured on the band’s forthcoming release.
The highlight would have to have been the medley of White Unicorn and Pink Floyd’s The Wall, switching between the songs seamlessly. If only they had kept it going a little longer. Ah well. The set was ended with mega hit Joker and the Thief; the crowd came alive with this one as it is yet another Wolfmother song ingrained in our memories.
With the delayed song endings, session players stumbling across the stage dancing, throwing his mic stand at the end, the set had a bit of an egotistical tinge to it. But the crowd didn’t seem too fussed, and why should they be? All the words were known, and the set was tight, albeit it underwhelming.
