Wunderhorse: Champions of the Live Circuit?

It’s the 7^{th of} May. With only two and a half hours to go until my assignment is due in, I’m going insane trying to complete my 1,500-word essay on why I hate Virginia Woolf, until my train of thought is broken by a message from my best friend:

A screenshot of Wunderhorse Mania’s recent TikTok saying, “Wunderhorse’s bassist, Peter Woodin, has supposedly left the band.”

The first thought that came to mind was, ‘is this a practical reason for me to apply for extenuating circumstances?’

I didn’t know how to feel about the news. I always thought that Pete’s style of bass was so pivotal in the band’s music. The undertones in Leader of the Pack never fail to give me goosebumps, and the bouncy line in the background of Arizona is something I never miss pointing out when listening with my headphones.

Speculation was circling as soon as the announcement was made, with some people claiming to have “sources,” and “not wanting the band on their backs,” which I thought was a little bit dramatic…

However, with the power of some absolute superfans, it was discovered that Pete’s replacement is Seb Byford, the lead singer of Sun King, who had in fact supported Wunderhorse in the north of England on their 2023 Cub tour! I can’t find any of their music on Spotify, but once he had started playing with the band at their record store shows, I instantly vibed with him, and he is a brilliant bassist.

The 24^th May rolled around so quickly after this, and there’s only one way I can describe my experience… and I’m going to use the words of Gemma Collins:

“It’s hell in there, it’s horror, you have to be a certain type of person to survive that.”

I type this with bruised legs and the sorest shoulders known to man. This concert was carnage.

After queueing for about an hour in the O2 priority queue, we were lucky enough to make it onto the second row: the closest to the stage I’ve ever been to see Wunderhorse!

For me (and so it should be for everyone), I go to a gig to enjoy a performance of live music, which I did get to do when the support band came on stage. From their opener, The Beach, we had all established that junodream is the adoptive child of Moby and Radiohead. I have absolutely zero criticisms of them: every song was different, and their presence on stage showed just how invested they were in their music. And, most of all, I had enough room to breathe, and even sway along to the music. But little did I know, this wasn’t going to last forever.

The house lights went down, and my best friend and I reached for each other’s hands as we anticipated the boys coming on stage. But, as soon as the very first note of the opening riff to Midas played, my entire life flashed before my eyes, and it wasn’t long before we had lost each other in the crowd. Our group of about fifteen had now been split into two, and of course it was just my luck that I ended up in the half that got dragged right into the middle of a pit.

I just want to add here, that I’m all for a mosh pit, and do enjoy being in them… WHEN IT SUITS THE MUSIC. Do we need to be reminded that moshing originated from the heavy punk and metal scene? Not the modern indie scene! I had a bad enough experience when seeing Fontaines D.C. last November, with the crowd moshing to Sundowner and In the Modern World, but I’ve seen it all now. The only slightly mosh-able songs by Wunderhorse are Midas, July, Rain, and perhaps the bridge of Teal.

Butterflies was the second song of the set, and the crowd were just relentless. So, from then on in, I was not enjoying myself. It wasn’t fun anymore, and to be honest, I didn’t feel safe. Looking on social media after the gig and in the morning, I’d seen that loads of people had been sent to the medical room and being taken over the barrier. It was just a horrible environment.

It was a shame, because it really took away from me the actual enjoyment of listening to the live music. A highlight, however, was hearing The Rope, which is by far my new favourite of the band’s. But a downside was that I was that focused on FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE that I missed the lyric change in Girl, which I was anticipating so much!

Overall, I did have a relatively good experience. I loosened up a bit halfway through and was jumping around with everyone else (the more you resist it, the more hurt you’ll get). And I can still recognise that Wunderhorse’s performance was the best in the three times I’ve seen them so far, and they’re only going to get better.

This was Seb’s first big show as a part of the band, too, and he absolutely killed it! His energy was up there with Jacob, and my friend had lots of videos of him jumping around on stage. His vocals were great, too, and his harmonies with Jacob during One for the Pigeons were beautiful. He perfectly adds to the bands energy and is a brilliant bassist for them.

I think the only factor you can fault for the way the crowd ended up acting is the venue itself. I’ve never particularly had an experience where I’ve came out impressed with the O2 Academy. There’s way too many things to criticise, especially the layout of the main hall. It’s far too impractical, especially for sold out gigs, and it doesn’t give security enough opportunity to react to incidents like what happened at this gig.

However, despite all this, my night was certainly made up for when, after waiting for two and a half hours in the rain, we met Jamie and Jacob!

Jamie came out of the bus first, and there was only nine of us left waiting: me and three friends, a group of three, and then two fans who have really made me think about where we draw the line when talking to our idols.

I had a great conversation with Jamie, complimenting his drumming, and I brought up the fact that Wunderhorse are participating in the revival of guitar music, and guitarist-led bands. He was asking me questions like, “how so?” and he really engaged with us. My friend is a drummer, and she was asking him what his tips would be to improve, and he gave some really good advice. And then, the other two people starting questioning him on if he had taken any drugs…

My jaw DROPPED to the floor. I was so in shock that somebody would even have the audacity to ask that!

I have had quite a few discussions with friends after meeting the band, and I’ve said- from my own experience- sometimes, you can be so in awe that your favourite artists are standing in front of you that your mouth can move quicker than your brain does. But I really don’t think this was the case with these girls. We need to remember that our favourite artists are real people, not characters. And they’re certainly not our best mates, so you need to draw a line and figure out what is appropriate to ask and what isn’t.

Jacob came outside afterwards and spent around a good half an hour chatting with us! I had met him the first time I saw Wunderhorse, at the O2 Institute in Birmingham last October, but it was only brief because it was when the support act were playing, and he was watching from the side of the crowd. At least this time round, we had the chance to speak properly, and he spoke in such a familiar way, as if we were on the same level.

We spoke about all sorts, from surfing and skateboarding to Barbie and Bob Dylan! I was speaking to him about The Rope, saying that although many fans are nicknaming it “Midas’ sister song,” I said it really reminds of me of when Dylan went electric. And he said himself that they did take some inspiration from Bob Dylan, and we were sharing our opinions on him, and it turns out we’re both huge fans! I loved having the chance to almost bond, I suppose, over a common ground, and have quite an insightful conversation about music WITH a musician. Although it would’ve been more enjoyable if I wasn’t being interrupted and cut off every other sentence with questions from two certain people (I wonder who…), like, “why didn’t you shove your fist in your mouth tonight?” and then going on to interrogate Jacob about Peter!

I was just in shock. I had no words, and to be quite frank, I still don’t now. I genuinely wanted to apologise to Jacob for the way they were acting!

My best friend asked Jacob why they never play Atlantis live, and he said, “I don’t know really, I just don’t think it’s that good.” WHAT? I literally turned around and said “don’t be stupid!” That really stood out to me, because I think Atlantis is one of their best, too.

So, I shouldn’t complain too much. After all, I was one of nine people who got to meet Jacob and Jamie, out of the 3,000 people that attended!

It’s clear that Wunderhorse are just going to keep getting bigger, and, unfortunately, I think that means the crowds are just going to get rowdier. I could share my opinions, but it’s clear it’s not going to make a revolutionary change. But, whether you’re a moshing monster, or just there to fully soak in a live performance, you are NOT the only person in that venue. You’re standing alongside, what? roughly 2,999 other people, and you’re all there with the aim of having a good time. Shoving and jumping and elbowing to the likes of Emily and Cathedrals not only looks stupid but also makes the gig so unenjoyable. And most of all, which is my biggest fear, is that this new crowd behaviour for such laid-back music as this is just going to put people off coming to see their favourite bands live.

But I will conclude on a high note and say that Jacob Slater and Jamie Staples are the coolest people I have ever met, and Seb is the perfect addition to the band. I cannot wait until The Rope gets released, and all we can do is hope and pray for a new album by the end of the year!