Wunderhorse played a convincing sold out show in Camden Town on Thursday, showcasing their maturity as a band as they prepare for festival season.

Wunderhorse take their time getting into set opener ‘Butterflies’, Jacob Slater instead hypes the crowd up waiting in anticipation. The haunting riff from the album opener finally comes and the crowd cheer again. They lead into second track ‘Girl Behind The Glass’ with extended drums. Slater has previously mentioned how the song speaks of an old friend’s struggles with addiction, yet the crowd sing the song back in euphoria.

Only ramping up the excitement, Wunderhorse then play biggest song ‘Leader Of The Pack’ third, an admirable decision as you’d expect most bands to play their biggest hit last. The gamble pays off though, as all the tension in the room bursts as the crowd bounces. Kids and adults alike precede to make moshpits at the front of the crowd, which can only be expected in response to a band of this nature.

Fourth comes early single ’17’, sustaining the crowds excitement, despite the song being a little slower. After leading with 4 of their biggest songs, you could argue the set seems somewhat top heavy, but the crowd are warmed up now and respond to unreleased track ‘Arizona’ as if it were on the album.

Fan favourite ‘Purple’ proved to be one of the highlights of the night. Tourists visiting Camden could’ve mistaken the ballroom for an arena outside, as the crowd roars the chorus back at Slater and co. The experience clearly reflects the song’s sentiment – Slater wrote it for a close friend to celebrate the good things about her as it was ‘something she deserves’ given her tough time growing up. It’s not hard to see why Wunderhorse have made such a strong connection with fans, as meaningful songs like these speak to fans on a more personal level, and then the band perform with such conviction to give fans an opportunity to vent their emotions.

Following this is another unreleased track ‘Oprah Winfrey (Is This Love?)’, which fans have already had several opportunities to get to know on previous tours, including supporting Fontaines D.C. (where they seemed to pick up a huge portion of their fanbase). The song goes down as well as all the others, as you can hear fans demands that they release the track on their way out of the venue.

The moment of the night goes to ‘Teal’, where the crowd erupts front to back. Whilst the song builds into a huge crescendo at the end, you wouldn’t be able to tell as all the room descends into chaos from the get-go. To finish the set, the band flex their pedal boards and complex sounds at the end of the set, extending songs to produce some satisfying – albeit slightly self-indulgent – noise rock.

If there was a complaint to be made, it would be the lack of songs – hardly the bands problem, with only 12 songs out to date. B-side ‘One For The Pigeons’ is the only one to not make the cut. After tours supporting Pixies and Fontaines D.C., Wunderhorse have obviously polished their craft so early on in their careers and are clearly ready for another step up. The band continues their tour later this year with festival dates and bigger headline shows. See below.

  • Oct 25th – Bristol, SWX
  • Oct 27th – Manchester, O2 Ritz
  • Oct 28th – Dublin, Button Factory
  • Oct 29th – Glasgow, SWG3
  • Oct 31st – Birmingham, O2 Academy 2
  • Nov 1st – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town

Written by Hugo Harris

Photography by @onstage_photos_