Live Review: The Wombats @ Fortitude Music Hall

It takes a special act to open for Brisbane’s favourite marsupials, and after several past shows, the Tuesday night crowd in Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall already knows that Tyne-James Organ has the chops.

The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter takes ownership of the stage early on with Hold Me Back, and while his vocals are not to be sniffed at, it’s his energetic dance moves and animated facial expressions that make his performance truly unforgettable. “F*ck, it’s nice to be back,” he declares, and the crowd cannot agree more.

A seasoned performer, Tyne-James Organ knows how to switch things up, ranging from subdued solo tracks like Heal You, showing off a beautiful bass range, to the natural frontman energy of Ready For Love. 

The Like A Version performance of The Kooks’ cult classic Naive takes the hype to dizzying heights, both literally and figuratively, as the magnetic frontman spins with wild abandon into his set closer and highlight, Sunday Suit.

The Wombats take the stage soon after, lighting up the room in an instant with the well-loved opening riff of Moving To New York. The stage still warm from their opener, Murph, Tord and Dan are determined to take things up another notch, and the crowd is right there with them through their string of new tracks, starting with Flip Me Upside Down.

Right from the start, it’s clear that there will be no rest for The Wombats throughout the show as they move straight into the epic vocal gymnastics routine that is Techno Fan. As the band launches into Ready for the High, four very well-loved wombat costumes take to the stage, and the energy shifts to a playful romp around the stage, punctuated by Tord’s look of glee – a spectacle that fans have come to anticipate.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a lot of hard work involved in pulling off such a memorable performance, cementing new tracks like Is This What It Feels Like To Feel Like This and Everyone I Love Is Going to Die alongside the classics that followed, including Kill The Director, Lemon To A Knife Fight and, of course, Greek Tragedy.

Set highlights include the cult classic Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves), and Murph’s stripped-back acoustic version of Lethal Combination executed with a guitar and a smile. Pre-emptively described as “a nice little hey Jude moment”, it’s the perfect palate cleanser for the encore.

Finally, the penultimate closer, Let’s Dance to Joy Division, brings a twinge of loveable nihilism back to the room, bolstered by a crowd who know every word and aren’t afraid to drown out the microphone. By the time they arrive at the final tune of the night, Turn, the lads can’t wipe the grins (or the sweat) from their faces, and Brisbane has well and truly fallen in love with the music and the magic of Fix Yourself, Not the World.

After six albums and a handful of EPs, it’s clear that The Wombats are onto a winning formula, and the fans agree – if it ain’t broke…