Wolfmother Live at the Paradise

Wolfmother
Wednesday May 31, 2006
Paradise, Boston MA

Not since the young lads in Silverchair has there been as much buzz, so it seems, over a new Australian band. Wolfmother made its return to Boston Wednesday in support of their self titles Interscope debut. The sold out crowd was in for a treat. The Psyhic Ills opened the show and I only caught the last 2-3 songs of theirs. It was nothing to write home about for me personally. After some shuffling around it was time for the band to do their thing.

Wolfmother is just three guys. Andrew Stockdale, the rail thin singer guitar player with an afro that rivals Marc Bolan (T-Rex), Omar and Cedric of the Mars Volta AND any 70's ABA Player. He was (as you faced the stage) to the left, drummer Myles Heskett was in back on the drums, and bassist, keyboardist Chris Ross was on the right. For a band with such a big heavy sound they didn't have stacks and stacks of amps. That was the first thing I really noticed. The stage (although not huge) allowed for plenty of room for the band to stretch out. They did.

Wolfmother is a mix of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. They have a retro sound that is for sure but name me a band that doesn't these days. The band didn't leave much space between songs in the early part of the set. Stockdale did introduce a fair number of songs, and dedicated the radio staple "Woman" to the ladies of Boston. The band moved along very quickly as noted until the jam out of Woman. There was some technical issues that caused them to do a "jam" of sorts while the roadies worked to fix the bass rig. Mind's Eye wrapped up the main set and during the keyboard break the band could have easily launched in to Deep Purple's "Hush". The organ was freaking rocking.

After a little longer than necessary "break" the band returned, with Chris being last. I think he was pissed about his gear being on the fritz. The band still was working on some technical issues before starting up Colossal was just that once it got rolling. Chris and Andrew did their best freaks outs and really got the crowd fired up. Ending with the Joker and the Thief we all wanted more, but knew it was not happening. I left, smile on my face, glad I mad the trip.

Barring the technical issues it was one of the finer "new bands" I have seen in ages. I will file them under the "bands I need to see anytime I get the chance".

You may know them (a little) for the latest ipod ad in which Love Train is used check that here.



Also check the video for Woman..it smokes.



Full Set:
Dimension
Pyramid
Apple Tree
White Unicorn
Love Train
Where Eagles Have Been
Woman
Technical Difficulty jam
Mind's Eye
E:
Colossal
Joker & The Thief