Wolfmother took the stage in classic rock and roll style to a sold out crowd at Hollywood’s Palladium to close out their North American on a cool December night. When I say classic I mean lights up, calm, big smiles and waving to the audience like it was only yesterday that they took the stage here in Los Angeles. Without much ado they jumped right into the set opener “Dimension”. The sound was amazing. Something I would expect right up at the stage in the photo pit, but how it would sound at the back of the house might be an altogether different story. I would not be disappointed. After settling into my spot near the back, stage right, they jumped on the “Love Train” for the fifth song of the set. I couldn’t believe that the sound was holding up in this room (which has a reputation of sounding horrible) as well as it was. Andrew Stockdale’s vocals with their cutting edge guided the powerful roar of Myles Heskett (drums) and Chris Ross (bass/keyboards) as they wove a tapestry of rock and roll that would not soon be forgotten. Of course when they reached the point in the set that was “Woman”, the crowd went ecstatic. Still a pleaser after such a long run, tonight they would surprise one and all with an extended jam session that would wind it’s way around for nearly five minutes before bringing it back to close her down proper. Wow! There wasn’t much more I could say, much less think. These guys were sounding amazing. To think my attendance this night was very much a last minute affair made it all the more incredible.
After a short break, the band returned to the stage for their encore that would hold yet another, and quite possibly, the biggest surprise of the evening. They opened with “Colossal”, tearing through it with authority on their way to what I and most others thought would be the set closer “Joker & The Thief” before making a small detour to the afore mentioned surprise. When I heard the opening riff of the next tune I stood for brief moment in disbelief that I was actually hearing what I was hearing. Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown”!?! In the next moment my mouth dropped open in awe that in fact this is what I was hearing and that they weren’t joking. Talk about raising the roof, I heard that pieces of the Palladium’s roof were found in rooftop pools as far away as downtown. Simply amazing! With house curfew nearing, they jumped into “Joker & The Thief” and closed it with barely a minute to spare (literally).
With dates in Australia and Europe forthcoming, look for more selected dates to follow in Canada and the Midwest in late Feb to March before even more dates in Australia.
To an amazing night of rock and roll!
Cheers!
