LIVE REVIEW: Wunderhorse @ Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse

The rapid rise of Wunderhorse has felt unstoppable in the past 12 months. The band, and in particular frontman Jacob Slater already had a widespread cult following, yet the release of their sophomore album ‘Midas’ has taken things to a whole new level. They’ve gone from playing sweaty local gig spots to some of the countries biggest and most iconic venues, namely Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse where they arrived at the end of May as part of their mammoth UK tour. 

They opened the show in the only way they could, with the title track from the new album that instantly rips with jagged guitar strums and an infectiously angsty attitude. It had people jumping from the first notes and set the tone for the night perfectly. Quickly followed by a double-barrelled emotive outpour of ‘Butterflies’ and ‘Emily’, it was clear that the whole band was on form. The wonderfully gritty yet carefully interwoven instrumentals provided a driving force for Jacob Slater’s cutting vocals to land on top of with a great force! 

There’s been a lot of talk online about the crowds on this Wunderhorse tour with some saying that people have been moshing in inappropriate moments while others have been accusing fans standing still when the chorus kicks in and missing the mosh all together. However, what we witnessed was just a crowd instilled with a vigorous energy, with a youthful spirit and a willing to express themselves through live music. As long as everyone is looking out for reach other and being respectful, you should be able to express yourself however you like at a Rock show! 

Our favourite section of the night has to be the four track run of ‘Arizona’,  ‘Purple’, ‘The Rope’ and ‘Rain’ providing a blitz of Grunge-tinged nostalgic indie and the new single ‘The Rope’ standing strong beside the album tracks. This was then followed up by the crowd requested performance of   Jacob Slater’s ‘One For The Pigeon’ which was a beautiful moment showcasing Jacob’s raw songwriting talent as well as the crowd’s adoration for him.

A super-charged rendition of ‘Teal’ brought the night to a close in anthemic style igniting a chorus of chants from everyone in the room leaving our ears ringing with the line “what if it did Katie? What if it killed her?”…