Reviewed on Thursday January 29
Dance collective Jungle began their career as something of an enigma – the two masterminds behind the project, known only as J and T, were frequently hidden in crowded press shots, and their videos didn’t reveal much more. The mystique served them well – the buzz grew deafening as genre labels were hastily flung their way (neo-soul, funk-revivalist, tropical lo-fi). For a long time I pictured a ’70s-style big band, with huge hair and shirts unbuttoned so low as to reveal a glimpse of landing strip.
Of course, between the touring and the press interviews this shroud of mystery has dissipated, but it seems like they haven’t quite let go of the allure of anonymity. Kicking into ‘Platoon’, the expanded seven-piece was silhouetted against heavy backlighting, made more dramatic with big felt hats, at least one gold chain and Tom ‘T’ McFarland’s impressive jacket.
Jungle’s challenge in the live environment was always going to be making their distinctive sound stretch enough to give a sense of variety. With only one full-length release, there wasn’t a wealth of material to go on tonight. Things dipped before ‘The Heat’ brought the mood back up, aided by Josh ‘J’ Lloyd-Watson’s boogaloo intensity on the synths.
The potential for explosive moments underlies all of Jungle’s songs, but it wasn’t until towards the end of the set that they delivered on that promise. With so many parts to layer in order to create their sound, it’s almost inevitable that some elements get lost onstage. As impressive as it is to watch, at points you could feel how hard they were working to keep it together. The catch-22 of their meteoric rise was not having much of a chance to develop their performance.
Luckily, by the encore things fell into sync. They once again gave us a taste of how great a live Jungle set can be. Maybe getting to that level for an entire show is just a matter of – sorry – ‘Time’.
