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The Wombats, a popular English indie rock band that hails from Liverpool, recently dropped their sixth studio album, titled Oh! The Ocean. While the band will start its UK arena tour in March, it recently spoke to The Daily Star tabloid.
As per The Daily Star’s Wired column (reported by music-news.com), The Wombats’ frontman Matthew Murphy recalled an incident that happened with the band a few years back in Rio De Janeiro. Murphy told the newspaper how they were chased by local gangsters in Rio after “someone said the wrong thing.” He reportedly said,
“We got chased in Rio by a gang. We were out, someone said the wrong thing, we were doing the wrong thing. Somebody - I won't say who got into an argument with this other guy, and didn't realise who he was, or what he was in.”
The musician further revealed how their cab was followed by two SUVs to their hotel in Rio. Ultimately, Matthew Murphy had to run up to his hotel room and get The Wombats’ tour manager, who diffused the situation afterward.
Interestingly, it is not the first time The Wombats' lead singer looked back on the incident that happened in Rio. In 2024, during an interview with NME, Murph recounted,
“It was a wild night and I guess someone said something to the wrong person whilst intoxicated, and the next thing we knew we were in a van being chased – not chased, but two Range Rovers followed us back to the hotel. Our tour manager got me off and then had to deal with it. But apparently it was pretty freaky.”
The Fix Yourself, Not the World performer also narrated the experience in São Paulo when The Wombats had to abandon their show midway after a cyclone hit the stage.
Before the Rio de Janeiro incident, The Wombats were chased away mid-show by a cyclone in São Paulo
In March 2022, The Wombats trio – Matthew Murphy, Tord Øverland Knudsen, and Dan Haggis, were on the stage at Lollapalooza. As the band members performed their set, they had to go offstage owing to “horrendous weather.” The band’s official X account (formerly Twitter) later posted about the same, promising to return to Lollapalooza next time.
In October 2024, while chatting with NME, the This Car Drives All by Itself singer spoke about the incident, revealing how a cyclone hit the stage during their set. Murph told,
“When we played in Sao Paolo a freak cyclone hit the stage in the middle of our third track and completely soaked us. Wrote off all the gear. Some steel split, and the stage we were on had folded down.”
The Greek Tragedy singer further added,
“We were on the other stage, but it was facing the main stage where The Strokes were headlining. They went on that night, but all the drapes had come off, there was no screen, they were just playing against scaffolding. It was pretty ridiculous.”
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After having dropped their studio album, Oh! The Ocean, with 12 tracks, the band is seemingly focused on their forthcoming arena tour in the UK. The band will perform at different arenas across London, Nottingham, Cardiff, Manchester, and more in March 2025. Later this year, The Wombats will be seen at festivals such as Boardmasters, Neighbourhood Weekender, Y Not, and more, as per NME.
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