We're really excited to return to Blackpool with our new tour says Dan from The Wombats

After a string of sold-out dates across the UK and Europe earlier this year, The Wombats, made up of members Matthew Murphy, Tord Øverland Knudsen and Dan Haggis, announced in spring that they were adding six more UK dates due to popular demand.

Scheduled to take place in winter, after a very busy summer of festivals, the tour extension now includes a stop in Lancashire’s iconic seaside resort- Blackpool.

The Liverpool based band will be peforming on the Empress Ballroom stage at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens on December 11 and tickets are still available here.

Before their arrival on the Fylde Coast, drummer Dan sat down for a chat with our celebrity reporter so take a look at what he had to say below…

How are you feeling about bringing your tour to Blackpool in December?

“Really excited. We've played Empress Ballroom at least once, maybe twice, I don't know, but I know we've definitely played there and my memory of it from when we played was amazing energy, like, almost unexpected kind of energy levels, beautiful room, and the floor… I just remember that the whole thing was, like, bouncing. I think it's a sprung dance floor or something from like, you know, back in the day, so the people in the crowd, maybe that's why they get extra height on all the jumps and the crowd surfing and the mosh pits were very, very bouncy. So can't wait to come and play there, like growing up as well in Liverpool, obviously, we spent many a summer's day on the old Pepsi Max and at the Blackpool fun fair and stuff, so, yeah, it's going to be good fun.”

Whilst you're up again, will you be going on the Pepsi Max ride?

“Possibly, yeah, if we've got time, why not? I remember getting to an age where, like, some kids at school would be like ‘Oh, I did the Pepsi Max’ and I was like ‘oh, I haven't done it.’ It was like a little test, like, you just needed to do it.

“And that first bit, like, really rickety around the top, isn't it? And the drop, it's a good one. Yeah, I'll definitely try and do it.”

Is there anything else on the Fylde Coast that you would like to pay a visit to?

“To be honest, every time I’m there, I just want to walk along the beach front, I just love it. I think, growing up in Liverpool -so you know being near the sea and the River Mersey - just having a horizon that stretches for miles and miles away from you is really lovely again. If you're on a tour bus and in backstages, you sometimes realise after a few days ‘I haven't seen a horizon or sunlight for a few days’ so that's what I'll be doing. “

Blackpool is one of only six new dates that you added so why did you include Blackpool in that?

“Again, just like we've had a great experience there in the past, and I think we've always sort of hoped that it would work at some point. And our agents and promoters in the area, I guess, were like,’ Hey, there's an available date, you're on tour, what about this?’ nd obviously we jumped at the chance to do it so yeah, it's going to be good.”

What can audiences expect from the show?

“It's quite a way in the distance so not 100% sure, but I imagine that it's kind of an extension of the tour we just did. This one went really well so we were sort of like, ‘oh, we could do some more gigs’ so we booked it in and [it’s] psychedelic, kind of on stage, the back drop and like, it's all fur. Our lighting designer, Rosie, she's done a great job of making it look very unique. The way the lights, like, hit the fur kind of makes it look like there's waves at times, and then just weird textures. Our front house guy did mention Frank Zappa when he was trying to describe what it looks like. But then, to be honest, just high energy, we played quite a few new songs from the new album ‘Oh, the ocean’… and then it's kind of greatest hits after that.”

Is there a song that gets the crowd going the most?

“From the new album, one that really kicks off is ‘Blood on the Hospital Floor’. I guess it's just really upbeat, you know, one to tap your toes to that gets people going. And then, honestly, most of the old ones, like on this tour, at least, it was pretty standard across the board. I guess ‘Moving to New York’, ‘Kill the Director’, ‘Let's Dance to Joy division’, ‘Tokyo’, ‘Greek Tragedy’, ‘Turn’- there's a couple of songs from each album that seem to just really go off so we always make sure we have them in the set.”

Speaking of your new album, how has that been received?

“Yeah, it's been great! You’re always a little bit apprehensive before an album comes out, just because we've put in a load of work beforehand, like recording, mixing and mastering, artwork, we get it kind of finalized, and then there's this waiting period before it comes out and you're like ‘oh, how's it gonna go?’ But genuinely, the reception has been great. Like, we played a bunch of small shows, and everyone was getting into the songs. The fans response has been really positive and it seems like seamless in the set, you know, like, we play a new one or an old one and it's just all very positive, with people having a good time- ourselves included- so yeah, really happy with it.”

The Wombats have been going for over 20 years now so how has the music or the band changed or stayed the same in that time?

“I guess as musicians, producers, writers - like all the different heads we put on - we've grown and learned loads over the years from all the different people we've worked with. If you're curious about how things sound and how other people record, you kind of just pick things up as you go along. We've also learned a lot as friends. Being in a band, it's almost like a relationship, you have your ups and downs and everyone's lives have changed- like, we've all had kids now- but then it's how you bring that into the band and deal with any conflict or embrace these changes.

“When we started out, we all lived in Liverpool, everything was very simple. It was like ‘should we have a practice today?’ ‘Yeah, cool.’ You know, no other responsibilities, nothing to think about, just like going on tour for months and months and months on end, not even thinking about it. Whereas now we meet up when we need to, like to, write, record and tour, and we try and have a bit more downtime. We don't party anywhere near like we used to do! So we've learned a lot, both musically and in life and yeah, long may it continue.”

Why should people get tickets to see your new show?

“If you like live music and like singing along in a crowd to a load of like fun, high energy songs, you know, dancing your blues away… I've never seen a Wombats gig, because I'm, you know, on stage, but from what I hear, it's a really fun night.

“Just get a ticket and come and see for yourself if you've never seen us before and if you have seen us, then listen to our new album and you know, if you like any of the songs, then we'll be playing them. So come and hear them live! They’re usually like even more energetic than they are on the album because we always get excited, and they get a bit faster and more heavy, probably so yeah.”

Is there anything else in the lineup for you to mention, for the Wombats?

“We've been talking about doing a deluxe version of the album, because there were a couple of tracks that we recorded with John Congleton that we were really happy with but it just felt like the album made sense with just those songs on so we've kept a couple back, and then there’s another one that we're going to record this summer to add to that, because we think it could work well.

“Apart from that, we've got loads of shows all around the UK this summer and Europe, and then we've got Australia and American tours in the autumn and winter so we should be pretty gig ready by the time we get back to the UK for December. It’s going to be such a nice way to round off the year.”