Thursday 02/03/06 Wolfmother, The Presets @ Carling Academy, Liverpool

Tonight’s Australian extravaganza showcases up and coming bands who having made it quite big in Oz would soon start to take over the UK in a loud and offensive fashion, as Australian music finally seems to be getting the recognition it needs. The Presets were first on the bill tonight and would proceed to rock the ****ing place out with their electro beats, robot samples and brilliantly talented drummer. Set to take the crown from fellow Australian electronic acts such as Gerling and Sekiden, as the new kings of funky electro rock, this duo had as much power and better tunes than any Casio keyboard wielding punks that are out today. Definitely a band to watch as their set just got better and better with each hit song being pumped out one after another. Sure they probably weren’t best put next to a more Rock n Roll crowd, but the Presets definitely turned some heads this evening, especially with tracks like the brilliant ‘Robot Pleasure Machine’.

It was then time for Wolfmother to grace the stage. Still dousing the flames from their trailblazing successes in their hometown Australia, tonight was to be quite an intimate setting for these boys, as they were now accustomed to screaming crowds of over 30,000 fans, in festivals such as the Big Day Out, so tonight’s less than sold out gig would definitely pull them back down to earth. Firing straight into the thundering epic that is ‘Colossal Girl’ anyone that hadn’t heard this band before were surely reminded of the power of the 60’s and 70’s rock n roll and the aura of bands such as Black Sabbath as these lads could definitely rock the **** out.. Pulsing through tunes such as ‘White Unicorn’, ‘Pyramid’ and ‘Woman’ Wolfmother were making new friends and fans with each note and deadly guitar riff, but as the band powered through songs from their debut album (almost in its entirety) one could not help but notice that the somewhat otherworldly feel of their self titled album was lost. Although the power and determination was there, their sound tonight just didn’t take the crowd to another plane. Wolfmother’s sound was not complemented by the abysmal lighting and lacklustre noise coming through the speakers, one might say that their wall of sound sonic assault could only be fit for stadium stages with competent light/sound technicians, but hopefully these stage shows that Wolfmother are made for will come into effect soon. Sure they rocked the stage, but they were definitely liked caged animals up there. All said and done though, Wolfmother just kept the hits rolling and had the charisma and talent of a band that had been together for twenty years or more.

For tonight though, it was ‘Dimension’ that would impress the most and would showcase the immense talent of each member as an impromptu vocal solo by frontman Andrew Stockdale would go on to suggest at the capabilities of this band as Stockdale would entertain the crowd with yelps and falsetto screams, possibly in homage to older heroes such as Robert Plant, while the band would go on tangents known only before in Pink Floyd gigs. Oh yes this band have got the chops to be great, as their improvisation was pure psychedelic rock, and all due to a broken guitar string.

Finishing with their most popular single riding the Oz airwaves at the moment ‘Minds Eye’ and finally an encore with ‘Joker & The Thief’, Wolfmother had achieved what they had set out to do and aside from the disappointing technical side, they came they saw they rocked.

Photos by: Sakura Henderson