The sight of the crowd screaming as Wolfmother frontman Andrew Stockdale walking to his dressing room was a sure sign the band’s stop in the national capital was shaping up to be a great gig. The crowd’s energy intensified as the band’s progenies and support act Wolf and Cub played a ferocious set demonstrating their progressive and vigorous style which is sure to garner mass appeal when their debut album is released later this year. The lads hail from Adelaide and their point of distinction is having two drummer/percussionists, making for a dynamic and driven style complimented by frontman Joel Byrne’s vocals, which at one point even included a spot of yelping. Strangely, it worked.
But none other than the – œmother can capitalize on the wolf theme- Stockdale sported his usual – œfro plus an impressive beard – making for one hell of a mane. And of course, the band brought along their brilliant catalogue of hits to kick off their Australian tour in none other than ol’ Canberra. After a stint in the US and the arrival of a couple of Wolfmother offspring, they seemed glad to be home. The trio kicked off their set with Dimension then continued punching out crowd favourites from their self-titled album including Mind’s Eye, Apple Tree and the psychedelically-sick White Unicorn. White Unicorn The crowd played receptive hosts, as the live sound exemplified why Wolfmother managed to steal Jet’s crown for being the best thing in Australian rock at the moment. A stellar performance of Woman got both the oestrogen and testosterone fuelled audience members aroused, while Stockdale sampled his falsetto which was about as high as the band’s meteoric rise to fame – with a Grammy as proof. The light show was commendable given the venue, and crowd interaction was excellent. Playing just under an hour and a half, the gig wound up with an encore featuring perennial crowd-pleasers Joker and the Thief and Colossal , which coincidentally provides a pretty accurate description of what is sure to be one of the best gigs Canberra will see in 2007.