Wolfmother w/ Heartless Bastards, Thenewno2
The Fillmore Charlotte
Nov. 3, 2009
The Deal: Reformed Aussie band hits The Fillmore for hard-rockin' set, bringing along Heartless Bastards and Thenewno2.
The Good: Thenewno2 hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. with its five members currently on their first tour ever. You'd never guess it from the energy and performance the group offered. Singer Dhani Harrison, son of Beatle George Harrison, seems perfectly at ease on stage. After opening with the more melodic "So Vain," the band often went off in noise directions while keeping within the fabric of songs for its 30-minute set.
Next up was Heartless Bastards out of Ohio. While I often have referred to them as being some kind of sleepy rock, their set last night tried to destroy those labels as they rocked their set for roughly 40 minutes. They may have been sleepy at Bonnaroo, but the band was wide awake on this night, performing their own brand of garage rock fronted by Erika Wennerstrom.
Wolfmother hit the stage without pulling any punches, kicking off their set with "Dimension" followed by "Cosmic Egg" and "California Queen." Singer Andrew Stockdale has gathered up a solid band for the sophomore album and was sure to play plenty of material from both of the band's albums, in addition to a few obscure songs. Their encore also included a Kate Bush cover of "Wuthering Heights" done on acoustic guitar. Stockdale duck walked, jumped, kicked and danced his way around the stage, appearing to have more fun in the smaller venue than he did just a handful of nights earlier on the main stage at the Voodoo Festival.
The Bad: Aside from the half-full venue, no complaints.
The Verdict: A solid rock show. Keep your ears and eyes on Thenewno2.
Wolfmother setlist
Dimension
Cosmic Egg
California Queen
New Moon Rising
White Feather
Woman
White Unicorn
Colossal
Sundial
Pilgrim
Mind's Eye
10.000 Feet
In the Castle
Encore
Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush cover)
Vagabond
Back Round
Joker & The Thief