Wolfmother Secret Concert
“Tonight’s a full moon. And you know what that means? Someone’s going to get naked!” said Andrew Stockdale lead singer of Australian band Wolfmother. Now no one got naked during their concert but the event was still noteworthy. I was in Fordham finishing up my first day of classes when my friend Charles called me about a half dozen times trying to reach me. Apparently, Wolfmother was playing a secret concert at a bar in the Bowery. Charles informed me that it may have a cover charge and may not and that there may be a secret password and that password would be white feather. As an avid Wolfmother fan I followed him as Dante followed Virgil, unsure of what I was to expect.
After reaching Bowery Electric, an unremarkable looking dive, we ventured inside to scope out their bar. There was nothing that seemed to indicate that we were in the right place except for a small stack of Wolfmother posters promoting their new album “New Egg.” Charles and I quickly started to listen to and read the lips of the other patrons to see what they knew. I started to fear that this might have been a hoax until a line started to form going into their basement. We got on line and were eventually greeted by a woman asking who we were going to see. Charles proclaimed “Wolmother” and soon after paying out eight dollars we were in.
The basement featured a small stage and a separate bar. The trademark Wolfmother logo on the drums reassured us that we were indeed going to see one of my favorite bands. After waiting an hour or so we were forced to sit through the opening act The Deprecation Guild which used a Japanese Nintendo on stage to add digital 8-bit sounds to their drums, guitar and strange vocals. Their first song sounded pretty good in my opinion but less so by the third song and even less so by the 8th.
Around midnight Wolmother finally came and started rocking. Charles and I were about three feet away from the keyboardist and maybe ten or so from the lead singer. Were also near the speaker so as I write this, my ears are still ringing. Wolmother’s sound is similar to what Led Zepplin was putting our around Led Zepplin IV. They play loud and fast but produce mythical lyrics to accompany their otherworldly sound. Mixing old favorites like “Woman” and “Colossal” with newer songs like “New Moon” and “Pilgrim” which will be featured on their upcoming second album. In between songs we were informed that Wolfmother met with the bar owner the night before and had decided to have this secret concert.
Afterward, Charles and I were still in disbelief of the amazing concert that only us and about a maybe seventy other people saw. As I gazed upon the full moon during my walk home, I found it’s presence fitting for Wolmother.
