THE Wombats were back in Bristol last night, playing top tunes to an enthusiastic audience who can’t wait to get their hands on the new album Glitterbug (released in the UK next week).

This was the first date on the UK stretch of the tour – and the first time they have played in the country for three years – and expectations were incredibly high.

Support came from Team Me and Darlia, who did a pretty good job at getting the crowd to boiling point by the time the Wombats hit the stage with their incendiary mixture of indie-rock.

The Wombats have never been ones to shy away from simple, high energy tunes that a group of drunken students can happily sing (and swing!) along to, and that’s pretty much where we were at the O2 Academy, which was packed to the rafters with happy punters.

Kicking off with Your Body is a Weapon, the boys moved back and forward through time, picking out hits from previous albums ‘A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation’, ‘This Modern Glitch’, as well as a couple from the soon-to be-released ‘Glitterbug’, opening track Your Body is a Weapon, Give me a Try and Emoticons all giving glimpses of what the new album has to offer.

With a set and lighting to match the mood, the O2 is bouncing with joy as older hits such as Jump Into The Fog, Kill the Director and Tokyo keeping the fans on their feet – although if you were hoping for Boys, Girls and Marsupials you would have been most disappointed.

This gig was real value for money, as a full hour and a half later there was still time for an encore and a rendition of their biggest hit to date “Let’s Dance to Joy Division.”

Let’s hope it’s not quite as long before The Wombats are back in town.