Resurrecting the dead is hard to do in music. The Libertines did it with punk, Klaxons did it with rave and now Wolfmother have done it with heavy metal. The axe-wielding Aussie trio performed at Hammersmith Apollo last night proving that giant afros, cryptic lyrics and hammering guitar solos are certainly not just a thing of the past.
In front of a sell out audience it was hard not to feel sorry for the people sitting on the balcony above. Supporting their self-titled debut and armed with a wall of amps on each side, it was obvious why people were queuing at the ends rather than in the middle. Entering the stage, lead singer Andrew Stockdale's trademark 'fro and white waistcoat were worth the entrance fee alone, and the band were certainly ready to rock.
Kicking off with "Dimension" the audience were full of energy, full of vigor and Stockdale even more so. Darting across the stage, shaking his hips the lead man dictated the moves of the audience with every riff of his Gibson SG. Swaying forwards, backwards, side to side, keyboardist and bassist Chris Ross brought his own style to the stage interacting with the audience at every opportunity.
As the night progressed, the moshing turned up a notch when Stockdale tore into Led Zep classic "Communication Breakdown". Playing it, it would be no surprise if Page and Plant were ancestors of the Wolfmother front man. Indeed Plant could have been a long lost brother of Stockdale's; with "Mind's Eye" illustrating he can hit the highest of notes.
As the night came to a close the band went off almost expecting for the audience wanting them to come back on. They obliged and launched into an encore climaxing with hit single "Joker And The Thief". Although the audience left temporarily deaf, Wolfmother proved that resurrecting the dead is definitely a loud and yet stylish process to master.
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