Live Review: Jungle, Georgia

Heavy electro beats were the perfect counterpoint to Georgia’s lofty vocals, and a fantastic way to begin the evening. Her set-up allowed her to play almost every instrument, seamlessly moving between keys, drums and sample pad to produce a richly textured brand of electro-pop. Very carefully selected sample tracks piqued the interest of the slowly building crowd, with Started Out the highlight of her short set. Polished and tight, her mastery over her musical rig was mesmerising to watch. 

The lights dimmed, and a faint orange glow illuminated the restless crowd. Jungle’s eponymous logo began to glow, and 14 long spires of light lit up the back of the stage. The seven-piece ran on cloaked in east London's finest threads. They took their positions on stage and stood like statues, soaking in the thunderous applause. Almost immediately, like a well-rehearsed machine, the Amazonian rhythms of Smile began to ooze from the tom-toms, and frontman Josh Lloyd-Watson’s silky smooth falsetto was pitch perfect. Heavy, California came next, which morphed into downtempo The Heat. Happy Man was a crowd favourite, as was Beat 54 (All Good Now). 

As the set rolled on, and throughout several tunes, the backing lights changed from orange to red to purple, before landing on blue and moving back to orange – but that was the most subtle aspect of this performance. Everything else was loud, energetic and captivating, but never sacrificed the polished sounds that their records deliver.

Towards the end of the set, the stage cut to black and the shrill sound of a phone ringing was pumped through the PA. A few seconds later Jungle launched into hit single Casio, which was met with rapturous cheers from the audience. This vibe was mellowed out with the final tune of the main bracket, Drops. After a brief exit, Jungle returned to bash out huge singles Busy Earnin’ and Time. 

Jungle have forged themselves a reputation of being a fierce live band. After tonight’s show, it is not hard to understand why. With their sound such a brilliant and delicate mix of electro sounds, tropical percussion, funky bass and unbelievably slick falsetto, somehow they manage to pull this off live and it’s brilliant to watch. Their grooves are infectious and inspire even the sourest concert-goer to move – by the end of the show, everyone in Enmore Theatre’s seated section was grooving in the aisles.

Jungle were phenomenal, delivering an exceptional live show that is more than worth the price of admission.