Twilight at Taronga
Saturday 1 February 2020
Reviewer : Caitlin Martin
Photographer : Joshua South
The Twilight series is a summertime feast of music in the open-air venue of Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, on the lawn overlooking the gorgeous Sydney harbour at sunset. It’s a magnificent location to soak up some summer music vibes, and this was the first time I’ve experienced a rock genre at the venue, which was a nice change-up. Part of the enjoyment is getting the ferry across and walking through part of the zoo itself, to get to the beautiful open-air setting, before finding a pozzie to sit and enjoy some music as well as a quality range of food and drinks.
Wolfmother are a band who have toured relentlessly throughout the last 15 years, and tonight was one of the early shows in an Australia-wide tour, to be followed up by shows in Spain and Europe. The Aussie hard rock / psychedelic / blues rock band centres around Andrew Stockdale, so instantly recognisable with his wild mop of afro hair – the other band members have varied since the original lineup back in 2004. An eager crowd, having enjoyed all-female support rock outfit the Buoys, gave them a welcome reception as we settled in for some good quality rock sounds.
Stockdale’s signature voice and impressive vocal range failed him tonight, which – as he explained early in the set – was the result of a heavy cold. I felt for him, as he absolutely pushed every ounce out of his voice, but anyone who knows their music can appreciate the epic task this meant. But – it didn’t matter in the end. The guitar and drum work was on-point, and well hey – the crowd was keen to sing along anyway!
Opening with ‘Rock n roll Survivor’, Stockdale enrolled the crowd help early, and soon the whole place was singing their huge 2005 single ‘Woman’. No one seemed really deterred by the vocal issues, and although this meant the band had to adapt, playing some longer instrumentals, singing in a lower register – the music really shone through and everyone had a good time, including the band themselves, who adapted with style and showmanship.
Highlight of the night was when Stockdale decided to enlist an audience member to sing with him on ‘White Unicorn’ – enter Allesandre from Italy. Quite the showman he was, and hilariously made his way through the song, adding in some sexy dance moves – this guy totally owned it! He had the whole place singing and laughing, and really it just summed up the fact that we were all there to have a good time.
Finishing off with ‘Joker & the Thief’ was brilliant, and the crowd, demanding an encore, finished up with ‘Colossal’. Geez I hope Andrew Stockdale had a big cup of lemon tea & honey ready, he was going to need it.
