![]() Tracks like Keep Moving and Beat 54 (All Good Now) delighted the crowd and sprung up a number of teens sat on the shoulders of friends below, flailing their arms about amidst the purrs of Geo Jordan’s bass and the gentle thud of Day’s kick drum. Nonetheless, once the band got moving, the hits came thick and fast. The opening bass line on that track may be one of the strongest assets of Jungle’s 2021 album, but it failed to atone for the indulgent delay that preceded it. The main feeling once Talk About It booted up to start the night was one of relief rather than exhilarating excitement. By the time the band did come on, the crowd seemed to have got tired of cheering an empty stage. The view of the smoky crowd with phones aloft to document the performance of Keep MovingĪny excitement in the room about the warm glow of gold that filled the stage immediately before the band’s initial entrance dissipated within minutes thanks to an endless preamble of wobbling basses and promising strings lines that were pumped through the speakers. McFarland and Lloyd-Watson’s role seemed to be mostly as poster boys with their own (seemingly rather inconsequential) keyboards at the front of the band, with the exception of their creamy falsetto voices that can be found on almost every track they’ve ever produced. Vocalist Andreya Triana in particular had moments of brilliance (and took the lead entirely on songs like All of the Time) whilst George Day made the most of a busy drum groove on Smile. ![]() In fact, the duo known for keeping themselves out of the media spotlight were remarkably humble in their performance, with many of the big moments of the night handed over to a stellar backing band. If Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson were the night’s neo-soul cult leaders, it must be said that they weren’t very imposing ones. This evening it was simply a command to be followed in spite of the rising mercury. Much has been made in recent weeks and months of the band’s huge summer hit Keep Moving: a powerful statement of post-Covid determination, a reminder that literal and metaphorical dance are the keys to happiness. We danced compulsively to the hypnotically funky grooves of Jungle, stepping from side to side and shrugging our shoulders inside the giant greenhouse like a crowd possessed. Even the performers – who seemingly lacked their own onstage fans – remarked that the place was quickly becoming a sauna before wrapping up their set.Ī big part of the problem was that the music was just too good. It’s a disgusting image, but it certainly felt hot enough even outside the dense pack of bodies below, my friend Emma and I quickly found ourselves coated in fluid, with our jackets cast aside on the nearest metal barrier and the cups of chilled water offered by the bar behind us guzzled by the gallon. ![]() Stood on the mezzanine floor inside the enormous brick and iron core of Victoria Warehouse, it was easy to imagine the stage smoke that hung above the thousands of heads below as steam from some sort of giant spa session or, worse, many hundreds of cubic metres of evaporated sweat. All that was missing was some half decent ventilation. Jungle topped off their two-night residency at Victoria Warehouse with pizzazz and confidence, aided by a dazzling set and the many dance-ready revellers in front of them.
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