Wunderhorse at Alexandra Palace

30^th May 2025

Paulina Subia

Shot by Nick Bennett

Paulina Subia Shot by Nick Bennett

30 May 2025

There is just something about Wunderhorse. Maybe their reluctance to speak on stage – if at all – makes one want to hang on every lyric and chord they offer. Or, it’s Jacob Slater’s vocals, delivered in stunning wails that mix ecstasy and pain. Whatever that “something” is, it demands attention, shown by the thousands of people who descend in excited, delirious waves towards Alexandra Palace for the band’s sold-out show. The stage, lit by a single neon sign of the band’s childlike devil mascot, glows in a red hue that teases the crowd of what’s to come.

Slater, guitarist Harry Fowler, bassist Seb Byford and drummer Jamie Staples walk on stage. Without a word, they begin with the sharp riffs of Midas, the titular track from their 2024 sophomore album. The immediate rapture of the audience is punctuated with the infectious screams of the chorus’ “la-la-la-la-la”. The energy never wavers, even as the band launches into their follow-up, the hauntingly beautiful Butterflies, which hears Slater trade his wails for softer croons. The band amplifies their uncanny ability to capture doomed romanticism and subsequent dread: Emily haunts their every waking moment, they yearn for Angeline on Girl, mourn the Girl Behind the Glass they once knew and try to rescue Scarlet from her home on Purple. Banter on stage isn’t needed when the lyrics say everything for them.

Leader of the Pack hears the band back in full swing with a slight country twang of guitars, and as Slater spits out the tongue-in-cheek chorus – “Yeah, you’re kind of pretty when you’re crying in the rain / But that don’t change a thing” – the crowd spits it right back. Arizona hears the anticipation build, with every cry of “Where do you go to, my love?” reverberating off the palace, as more and more bodies are hoisted onto shoulders and arms wave in mid-air.

Rain’s repeated beg of “Do you feel the rain?” builds tension that hits like an electric shock through the sea of bodies, and its after-effects are felt during Silver, as the venue echoes Slater’s ache in every scream. Superman is a subdued outro, as the crowd collectively claps along to the drone of the rhythm. The band silently walks off stage, leaving attendees frantically screaming for an encore.

They return after a moment with the opening chords of Teal, a song that pulsates with every pang of nostalgia, heartbreak and loss that Slater channels. Ecstatic shouts of the lyrics  – most poignant with “And that’s when I felt it, it conquered my heart / It was the light of a candle, in the depths of the dark / And there was a fire, it danced in your eyes / A beautiful world and a beautiful mind” – turn into tears and embraces all around.

The drawn-out riff of July signals the end, and with Slater’s strained screams of “The silence…”, they deliver their final offering in an anthemic haze. They leave without a word, leaving their devil mascot glowing in the dark, but that’s fine. The songs will linger for days.

Paulina Subia
Photos: Nick Bennett

For further information and future events, visit Wunderhorse’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Rain here: