Monday Metal

A very special Monday Metal

We've been listening to Wolfmother for 15 years now. They're one of the last bands we really got in to. We'd describe Wolfmother as Acid Metal, a term we made up. Hard rock with a lot of drums and guitar and a kind of mystical feel. A band to which one might say, 'Let's get high and watch 2001.' Through half a dozen albums Wolfmother has never let us down. 

Wolfmother is Australian and mostly sticks to Australia and Europe. When we saw they were playing America we knew this might be our only chance to see them. 

We attended Wolfmother's show at Brooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia. This is a nice trendy bar and bowl and concert venue that holds perhaps five hundred people. The floor was packed. The crowd was mixed with lots of middle-aged guys like us, old(er) people, plenty of Millennials, and some college kids out for a good time. 

No one in that room was more metal than us. 

There was vaping and plenty of pot, so much so we worried about a contact high. There was also a mosh pit, to which we stood a little too close and got pushed a few times. No problem. We had one beer. 

We were about 20 feet from the stage. No matter how many concerts we attend (AC/DC, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden) nothing prepares us for that first shock of loud, live, thumping music. 

First, the opening act.  Stroock's Book's readers, we give you Fever Dog. The lights dimmed. The lead guitar player walked out on stage and stood quietly. Then the guitar tech came out and draped the guitar strap over his shoulders. The lead guitar player let loose a riff, and so the show began. Fever Dog wore shiny, white jump suits with makeup and stars and waves painted on their faces, kind of a cross between Kiss and Poison. On stage we felt like we were watching an 80s hair band, but upon listening to their latest album, Fever Dog sounds more like a harder, more mystical version of The Sweet or even Kansas with a lot of synth. They rocked. 

After a decent interval Wolfmother came on stage and put on a great show. Here's the set list. That list looks long, but most Wolfmother songs are under four minutes, so their set was actually a tight hour and a half. Our absolute favorite Wolfmother song is Apple Tree. Second might be New Moon Rising. And here's the encore, 'Been a long time, been a long time...'

When the show ended, we hit the head and walked past the merch station where, son of a bitch, there stood Fever Dog. 

We told Fever Dog how much we loved their show and thanked them profusely. They said they liked our jacket! OMG! OMG! [You're acting like your daughters gushing over Taylor Swift-Ed] Why, yes, yes I am. We bought their latest album, Alpha Waves and the single We Want Action:

This is a very meta-80s video and yes, we and our friends played D&D together. Well done, Fever Dog. Well done indeed. We've been humming and singing their songs since Friday. We would definitely see them again.