Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Blue Door Music Productions: Wild Horse: Prince Albert, Brighton 6 December 2021.
Wild Horse cover all bases – incorporating pop, classic rock, punky reggae, blue-eyed soul, dirty funk, rap, Latin and so much more. Find out more…
Ok, a bit slow on the uptake in relation to seeing this fine outfit: Wild Horse. Something I love to do is meet and hear a new, young local band playing. These guys are not “new” however, but they certainly deserve an introducing slot on Scene Sussex. They have been playing together for a good few years now honing those skills. I first came into contact with them and their manager, Steve Baldwin, at The Prince Albert as they had secured a seriously good support slot for the awesome Liverpool based Little Triggers.
Wild Horse: Jack Baldwin – Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Wild Horse are based in Heathfield, East Sussex. What we have making up this band are three talented musicians, firstly two brothers Henry and Jack Baldwin. On drums they have their long-time friend Ed Barnes. Both Henry and Jack are multi-instrumentalists who play guitar, bass guitar and keyboards. On top of that they sing! Ed, at the back, plays drums and percussion, joins in on some of the backing vocal duties.
Wild Horse: Henry Baldwin – Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Seeing these guys perform reminded me of a Brighton outfit The RPMs, like them there can be no doubt they are very serious about what they do, they engage and present with an air of flair, humour and a good slice of energy. Wild Horse are an original multi genre Indie band from East Sussex. Despite an average age of just 20, they have released 5 albums, 3EP’s & several singles. Their latest album “WHEN THE POOL IS OCCUPIED” has received extensive critical acclaim.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Four tracks from the album were released as singles throughout the summer & autumn of 2021, “Record Collection”, “Freaky Together”, ” Symphony of Broken Hearts” & “Pray ‘89”, each gaining on the success of the previous, breaking Wild Horse’s streaming numbers and all receiving extensive airplay including BBC Introducing plus other BBC local show, RadioX, Caroline and many other local FM and internet stations around the world. All of those tracks were featured in the set. I am still asking myself how had I missed these guys and for so long?
Wild Horse clearly understand the meaning of hard work and practice and as I understand they are writing new material for 2022. Whilst doing that, they are constantly rehearsing for and performing live shows. I can assure you that these guys will give 100% and, they seemed to have the audience on their feet dancing, singing along after a brief lyric tuition with us, and the crowd generally seeming to be enjoying themselves. These guys deliver an evening of stunning entertainment.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Ok, their sound I hear you ask. Chatting with Jack when asked about influences “Rolling Stones” came the reply without any hesitation. I had a think and I came up with a variety of sounds. If you could merge a bit of Busted, Doobie Brothers, The Who and a snatch of U2 and the Stones you might get somewhere close. Then some of that is wrapped in a bouncing funky wrapper. But you do need to see these guys and form your own opinion. They are terrifically unique.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Ok, as mentioned before these guys were given the task of supporting Little Triggers by those nice folk at Blue Door Music Productions – great choice! The Albert was fairly quiet but a nice crowd had gathered considering it was a wet and cold Sunday night. Good to see folk coming out and braving the elements. I am pretty sure everyone felt it was 100% worth the effort. The audience could space themselves out comfortably.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
The Set
The guys seemed to be geared up for playing mostly material from the new album, When The Pool Is Occupied. We were presented with an short intro as the guys took their positions on the stage. The first track up was an almost funky number opening up with a kicking drum intro and then with that almost Doobie Brothers guitar sound, it was Freaky Together. It worked really well and had a hell of a tasty bass line running through the song. Great lyrics. Being the first time I had seen Wild Horse this was an exciting sample of what was to come.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
I am not going to run through the entire set, which I think had maybe extended as another band had to pull out at the last minute from the night. Up next was W.A.N.T, a continuation of that wonderful guitar sound and pulse from the first song. Pray ’89 kept the sounds going and had a group of dancers start up at the front – they stayed their all night I think. Jack is great up front. He constantly engaged with the audience and set up a dancing competition with the prize being a band T Shirt.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Now this set changed in sound, something these guys are good at doing, and they caught us off guard. One of the songs of the night for me was Footprints In The Sand. This had an immediate hook and almost that U2 sound I mentioned before. I could see this one being a stadium pleaser. A terrifically put together song and some great instrument breaks. Jacks voice just seemed to smooth over us with this one. A terrific performance. I had a listen to this one when I got home after the gig on Spotify and it sounded great.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Symphony Of Broken Hearts was up and another chance for the band to show off their songwriting and performance skills. A slower number but really enjoyable. These guys are good. Trust me! Another cracking song was the wonderful Record Collection with the line “Ever heard of Muddy Waters?”. Now how have such a young band heard of Muddy Waters? This was another catchy track and really good to hear live. Again another break from what we had heard previously.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Jack stopped for a spot of live filming for their Instagram account. Great fun as everyone down the front had their phones out. Some fine percussion throughout this set and some great almost disco/funk that I am pretty sure Nile Rogers wished he had written. Jack also rapped through a couple of songs and we had a couple of slower songs in there. It was a non stop set of such diversity, it really was something quite special and unique. These guys will keep you on your toes.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Up next was another cracker – all about safe, consensual sex! Pornstar Martini. This was packed with bass slapping fun, whistles and did have an earlier Stones feel to it with the vocals and chorus.
You really don’t know what you are going to get next, they have such a mixed bag of material to draw from. Funk? Blues? Rock? a bit of Punk? I will let you decide when you go see these guys. No fillers from Wild Horse.
Wild Horse: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
And Finally…
Wild Horse are on the WWW.
Wild Horse are on Facebook.
Thanks to the awesome folks of Blue Door Music Productions.
Blue Door Music Productions: They are an online production, mixing and mastering outfit with a personal touch. Helping Artists to stand out and achieve their creative goals. They also have promoted and put on some stunning gigs in Brighton. Check them out here on Facebook!
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All original pictures / video – copyright to IANB/MEDIA WORKS/ SCENE SUSSEX – Ian “The Lens” Bourn 2021.
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