October 25, 2025

The Wombats kicked off the most concert-packed week of my entire life, being the first of 4 within 7 days! We flew out to Colorado on Saturday morning and arrived at our hotel, The Maven, with enough time to freshen up, grab a free drink and churro from happy hour, and head to dinner. We ate at The Kitchen American Bistro which had family-style dishes to share with a variety of entree choices. We had this amazing burrata made with apple butter that was to die for, and my entree choice of crab fried rice did not disappoint. After the meal, we walked a few blocks to the Summit for the show. The Summit is a Live Nation venue that fits approximately 900 people for their musical performances. When you walk into this venue, there are two large bars, one at the back of the venue and one to the right of the stage. There is also a small balcony for those who purchased actual seats. The stage is elevated off the floor, which was really helpful to see the band perform even from the middle of the crowd. Although stages are typically elevated, this one seemed especially so with the stage appearing to start above my head height.

The first opener, Red Rum Club, really impressed me. As a six-piece alt rock band from the UK, they barely fit on the stage at the Summit, but I loved their vibe. They have several top 50 albums on the UK charts since their formation in 2016. Their songs were very catchy and really had the crowd in a dancing mood, which was super fun. Next up was Only the Poets, which is one of the reasons we flew to Denver! Only the Poets is another English band formed in 2017. They’ve recently been releasing a ton of fun new singles like “Saké”, “I Keep On Messing It Up”, and “Emotionally Hungover” that will be on their album “And I’d Do It Again” that is set to release January 30, 2026. I had so much fun during their performance as I knew almost every word to all of their songs, but I do think they needed to turn up the lead singer’s mic a bit more as his voice was getting lost in the music. I do really hope to see them again in the future, especially after the release of their album in January!

The Wombats came on next and my only real complaint was the crowd around us in Colorado was extremely aggressive and rude—which is not what I had imagined for an otherwise chill state. The setlist was a great mix of their old and new songs. Their newest album, “Oh! The Ocean” which released earlier this year has some phenomenal songs that were so fun to hear live including “Can’t Say No” which has been at the top of my dad’s Brand New 2025 playlist since its release. We were also extremely lucky to hear “Holy Sugar” live which they had only played one or two times prior to our show. Although the last encore song (“Let’s Dance to Joy Division”) was not in my top 10 favorite Wombats songs which is unusual, it really was a blast to hear live and the entire crowd was dancing along furiously! Despite the hiccups with our neighbors in the crowd, this show was top tier.

On our way back to the hotel we took a pit stop at Insomnia Cookies for a late night snack. Once we snagged some ice cream and cookies we made our way back to the hotel. While passing the venue again on the way back, we saw The Wombats drummer, Dan Haggis, outside talking to fans. We of course ran across the street and joined the conversation! I can confidently say that Dan Haggis is one of the nicest band members I have ever met. He patiently spoke with every fan that was there waiting and took photos when asked. He shared stories about seeing some of his favorite musicians on breaks from tour (including Bon Iver) and shared how he really believes that music brings people together. I couldn’t agree more!

OVERALL RATINGS

Setlist: 9/10

Merch: 7/10

Crowd: 2/10

Venue: 8/10

Sound: 10/10