The Wombats closed out their North American tour in party style, headlining a nearly sold-out show at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville.
Cigarettes @ Sunset wasted little time getting the celebration going with a 30-minute set that was non-stop, full of energy. The five-piece from North Carolina describes their sound as “Appalachian possum rock,” blending folk and Americana while incorporating a heavy rock influence.
While their set was brief, the band made sure their stage time was memorable. Lead singer Garrett Dellinger complimented the rest of the group’s incredible instrumentals, using his gritty, yet soulful voice. The lyrics also stood out as they are powerful, tackling heavy issues such as politics, mental health, love, and even smoking weed. Even while discussing these issues, the energy never dwindled once during the performance.
A little over halfway through their set, Dellinger left the stage, making his way to the first couple of rows of the crowd. He soon made his way to the back of the venue, raising the energy. With an incredibly unique sound and lyrics and an absolutely infectious stage energy, Cigarettes @ Sunset is destined to be a powerhouse in the music industry.
The energy carried over, and The Wombats‘ set felt like a celebration from start to finish. Throughout their 90 minutes on stage, the English rockers mixed their older tunes with some newer tracks for a career-spanning performance.
While their setlist was loaded with fan favorites, there were also plenty of fun moments throughout the concert. Early in the performance, the group brought out a special guest, hyping him as a seven-foot Australian. The surprise turned out to be somebody dressed as a wombat, who played the trombone, while simultaneously handing out sheets of paper to the crowd.
Lead singer Matthew Murphy joked after that he always gets nervous when the wombat gets on stage and starts passing out notes. According to Murphy, the wombat once handed a piece of paper to a couple in the front row of a UK show. Shortly after, that couple disappeared from the singer’s eye line. Drummer Dan Haggis joked that the note must have read “Help me.” He quickly reassured the crowd that the pieces of paper being handed out spell, “I love The Wombats.”
Throughout the performance, Murphy also shared some stories about the writing process for some of the band’s tracks. He joked that there would be “lots of lemon chats,” which was the perfect setup for the track “Pink Lemonade.” This also set the stage for later in the performance for the group’s smash single “Lemon To A Knight Fight.” Before the start of the track, Murphy told the crowd they would be playing a lounge/jazz version of the song for a bit and said to the audience, “Feel free not to enjoy this one.” Well, the opposite happened, and the track received quite the ovation.
While the band has been touring for quite some time, one thing is clear – they are still having fun. There were little moments when they were joking with themselves or the audience, showcasing how much The Wombats love being in front of a live crowd. That silliness and playfulness were contagious, and certainly had Nashville in good spirits.
CIGARETTES @ SUNSET
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BROOKLYN BOWL NASHVILLE
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