Wunderhorse & Been Stellar – Union Transfer – Philadelphia (A PopEntertainment.com Concert Review)
Philadelphia’s Union Transfer played host to a night of raw, poetic indie rock as UK band Wunderhorse brought their North American tour to the city, with NYC’s Been Stellar along for the ride as support.
NYC indie band Been Stellar opened the night on Friday. The band has been touring some of the North American run with UK band Wunderhorse. Been Stellar kept the energy going through the start of the night as the crowd flowed in. With sounds similar to influences like Radiohead, The Strokes, and Sonic Youth, they brought that 90’s shoegaze atmosphere with loud, fuzzy guitar tones and melodic vocals.
Lead singer Sam Slocum hugged the mic while expressing the raw, poetic lyricism, sometimes leaning back and forth playing the tambourine while the band portrayed that gritty post-punk energy. They set the tone for the rest of the night as the audience stayed engaged, slowly head bopping in unison.
UK band Wunderhorse headlined the night. Keeping banter between songs to a minimum, the music kept flowing one by one, with the crowd singing along to each tune. Kicking off their set with standout track “Midas” from their latest album, lead singer and guitarist Jacob Slater jumped into the heavier side of their music with a gritty guitar hook, combined with that same poetic feel in his vocals similar to their first album.
When it comes to the influence and sound of Wunderhorse, they have this delicate, poetic and melodic side similar to Elliott Smith and Bob Dylan, with guitar sounds that can be comparable to Jeff Buckley, diving right into that raw, 90’s garage rock and Nirvana energy.
The crowd was engaged throughout the complete set, but one of the highlights was when the band played one of their more popular tunes, “Teal,” Slater gave such a raw and beautiful performance, slowly transitioning into loud, emotional vocals. It truly was a beautiful sight to witness a sea of people singing along in harmony with the band.
One of the new songs they played was called “Promises,” which started out with that poetic lyricism, and dove into the heavier grittiness of the guitar tones and vocals.
Overall, this was a fun show where the crowd was fully attentive, so much that even after the set, most of them stayed and cheered for an encore after the lights came on. That’s when you know it’s a good gig.
PopEntertainmentblog.com 