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Wolfmother at the Mercury Lounge? Really? For those who don't live in New York, most foreign bands have to start at the bottom of the venue food chain unless you blow in on a gust of hype. I guess going platinum downunder was not enough to skip a small club stop. Still, their popularity brought some interesting characters out last Monday. I was privy to stand next to a pack of rabid sorority girls, some of whom came to the show wearing Wolfmother shirts; a fat dude with a pony tail who probably owns a headshop; and two mowhawked punks in all black.

But I am getting ahead of myself; our story begins with Wolfancestor at the dawn of heavy metal, somewhere around 1974, where doobies, sci-fi dragons, and white guys with afros were far too common. This was the day of Sabbath and Zeppelin. One could make the case that these riff masters descended from the sky through a time warp to play the show, but their wolf-prefix dates them to the recent wolf-band naming frenzy. They could not even predate the mock-metal band The Darkness, because Wolfmother is actually serious about lyrics involving white unicorns, other dimensions, and the mind's eye. Wolfmother is now: appealing to both the middle age guy waiting for the classic rock revival and the hipster, who has had enough irony but not enough fantasy, now on a quest for post-ironic lyrics.

This power trio destroyed the Mercury Lounge. Andrew Stockdale, the singer, can really project with his voice and Chris Ross, the bassist / keyboardist, completes the sound so well you would think there is another person in the band. Myles Heskett, the drummer, was the target of the coos from those crazed girls. The show was extremely high energy and ended with a mic stand knocked over, a guitar dropped, a keyboard toppled, and cymbals strewn across the stage. Wolfmother rules.

Check out White Unicorn (MP3) to see what I mean.

More pics after the jump.
Wolfmother will be back in New York at bigger venue in April.