Review – Wunderhorse, The 1865, Southampton

Review – Wunderhorse, The 1865, Southampton

By Vicky Greer.

Wunderhorse are a force to be reckoned with. Rising through the ranks with their debut album Cub back in 2022, they’ve swiftly become one of the most celebrated, thrilling voices in alternative music. On Monday hundreds of fans were crammed into The 1865 to see their sold-out Southampton headliner. Indeed, their whole headline tour is sold out following the success of their second album Midas. 

Joining them in the support slot are HighSchool, a buzzy post-punk band hailing from Melbourne. Their sound is polished and expertly played, but there’s a certain sense of disconnect from the band, a detachment that fails to cut through to the crowd completely. But perhaps the spectacle of the headliner just holds them to an impossible standard. 

High School

The moment Wunderhorse walk onto the stage, it’s like a spark has been ignited. Every single song is met with frenzied cheers from the opening notes as frontman Jacob Slater bares his soul on stage. It’s no surprise that he’s at home on the stage since Slater cut his teeth playing live with The Dead Pretties from a young age. After the band’s disintegration, Slater took a few years to recover from the burnout before creating the solo-project-turned-band Wunderhorse. 

The band have that magic spark that hits the sweet spot between anthemic grandeur and fine-tuned artistry, and this performance is unlike anything I’ve seen before. At times, it feels like Slater is ripping out his heart and showing it to that room. Elsewhere, it appears that the whole band has fallen into a trance, driven by nothing but music and pure, visceral emotion. 

The band speaks only a few words throughout the set, but the audience’s hysteria cannot be contained. In the opening tracks ‘Midas’ and ‘Butterflies,’ there are moments when all you can do is close your eyes and try to absorb every note. 

As we run through the set, it’s just one hit after another. ‘Cathedrals’ is breathtaking, the anguished cries of the record even more chill-inducing in the flesh. ‘Girl’ follows up with a softer, but equally powerful moment before launching into ‘Leader of the Pack,’ the instant classic from their first album which is met with roars of adoration. The flurry of excitement that meets each song is unlike anything I’ve seen. 

After a masterclass in vocal intensity, Slater admits to struggling with his voice before the magnificent ‘Purple,’ enlisting the help of the audience for the soaring choruses. Perhaps this is why we don’t hear ‘July’ in the encore, the show ending with the glorious ‘Teal’ instead. There are murmurs around me about the missing song, but it’s impossible to hold it against a band who just delivered one of the finest shows I’ve seen all year. 

In my five years as a frequent visitor to The 1865, some shows stand out as legendary moments in my memory. The Fontaines D.C show in 2019 that presaged their stratospheric success is one, as is Nova Twins tearing up the room nu-metal style.  Now, Wunderhorse effortlessly join those ranks as one of the greatest young bands to grace the stage. The set only clocks in at a little over an hour, but I can’t find fault with a shorter set when every moment is perfection, not a moment wasted from start to finish. 

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