It is a pity we are not seeing more of Wolfmother live. Yes there was a pub tour in the second half of 2022 and Europe owned the first half of the year. Wolfmother played at Live At The Vines at Rochford Winery on Saturday (11 February) and By The C in Torquay the week before and it is a surprisingly tight show.
Wolfmother is a bit of an apparition in Australian rock. The band achieved international success with the self-titled debut album. The record sold 1.6 million copies and reached no 22 USA no 25 UK and no 3 Australia but then the band fell apart.
Album two ‘Cosmic Egg’ four years later was from a completely different band with co-founders Chris Ross and Myles Heskett gone and singer Andrew Stockdale continuing with replacements. That line-up also didn’t last album three, while keeping Ian Peres from the second album featured the bands third drummer in three albums.
Album four should have been bigger. Ian Peres managed to stay for his third album and while this one featured even more drummers, they were the world class Josh Freese and Joey Waronker with production from Brendan O’Brien. Fans just seemed confused.
Along came a sixth album ‘Rock Out’ in 2021 with yet another new line-up around Stockdale and the album went unnoticed. That’s a shame. The two tracks in the Live At The Vines show sit comfortably with the early hits. 18 years after that debut album this audience still new ‘Woman’ , ‘White Unicorn’ and ‘Joker & The Thief’.
Wolfmother does have legacy but its not translating into currency.
It was great to see John Zaccaria and Roy Adams place Wolfmother on a bill with Thirsty Merc, Baby Animals and Noiseworks on one side of them and The Living End and Hoodoo Gurus on the other side. You could not ask for a better rock line-up.
It would be nice to see a lot more of Wolfmother live in Australia in 2023. We won’t. Europe has Stockdale working flat out from May through to August. Right now, there are no more Aussie shows scheduled for this year.
Wolfmother setlist 11 February 2023, Richford Winery, Victoria
Dimension (from Wolfmother, 2005)
New Moon Rising (from Cosmic Egg, 2009)
Woman (from Wolfmother, 2005)
White Unicorn (from Wolfmother, 2005)
Apple Tree (from Wolfmother, 2005)
Rock Out (from Rock Out, 2021)
Victorious (from Victorious, 2016)
Vagabond (from Wolfmother, 2005)
Midnight Train (unreleased)
Feelin Love (from Rock Out, 2021)
Colossal (from Wolfmother, 2005)
Joker & the Thief (from Wolfmother, 2005)
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