Wolfmother Entertainment Art The Riviera Theater Chicago, IL November 13, 2009

Most of this is due to the limitless talents of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale. Listening to him sing is like listening to a young Robert Plant during Led Zeppelin’s heyday. Of course singing is just the icing on the cake. The real pleasure comes in watching him thrash on the guitar. Stockdale has the confidence of a musician twice his age but the chops to play with the greats.

He knows it too, it takes a lot of guts to duck walk on-stage while playing guitar. Such a blatant shout out to Chuck Berry, in Chicago no less, is like screaming to the music world that you have transcended to legendary status as an artist. The truth is that with almost any other musician it would have bothered me but not with Stockdale.

I almost felt bad for bassist and keyboardist Ian Peres whom seemed to be ignored throughout most of the show. After listening to the band for so long, it was a bit of a surprise to see just a bare bones show in comparison to other hard rock bands. There were no gimmicks or flashy costumes (unless you count Stockdale’s crazy afro that makes him look uncanningly like Carrot Top), just three musicians doing what they do best for a wildly appreciative audience.

The only problem of the night came from the audience itself. While I can’t speak for those in the balcony seats, those standing in the general admission were nearly crushed for almost all of Wolmother’s set. I have been to plenty of hard rock show but few of them have left me with as many bruises and mysterious scratch marks as Wolfmother. It got to the point where there was literally no room to move in any direction, crushed between four people wherever you were by the third song was where you were to stay. Of course perhaps that is what one gets when they are able to snake up to the front row of a standing room only area and get one of the best seats of the house.

Although the night was all about Wolfmother I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the standout performance by The Heartless Bastards. The garage rock band from Ohio has been around since 1993 but only recently have they been getting the airplay they deserve.

Lead singer Erika Wennerstrom has one of those voices that truly touches you with every single note. I haven’t seen a female singer with that kind of pitch since Chrissie Hynde in The Pretenders. Somehow everything just clicked with the Bastards on Friday night. Although they played a relatively short set it was more than enough to entice the audience into following them well into the future. I look forward to hearing more from The Heartless Bastards and have no doubt that they are meant for much more notoriety.

By the end of the night my whole body was bruised and torn up but I don’t regret a single minute of it. Chicago’s Riviera Theater is one of the best places to see a band and a perfect place to showcase the talent of Andrew Stockdale and his band Wolfmother.

Write Comment
Name:	Guest
Title:
Comment:
Code:*

Powered by AkoComment 2.0!