WORDS AND IMAGES MICHAEL BOND
After a whirlwind Twelve Months, Jungle tick off another headline show at Manchester’s Sounds of The City, June 11th 2024
What a year Jungle have had, with the release of their 4th album ‘Volcano’, a win at the Brits for best British group and a recent headline slot at Glastonbury a couple of weeks ago. The duo of Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, with permanent new addition Lydia Kitto now making the band a trio, are flying high. From the first time I heard Platoon back in 2013 I was hooked & have been a huge fan of this band ever since, watching their journey and rise to where we see them today.
This evening’s support is provided by DJ/producer Mood Talk aka Jamie Lloyd Taylor. A recent collaborator with Jungle on ‘Don’t Play’, JLT brings his funky eclectic mix to the show, finishing off his set with Manchester classics ‘Fools Gold’ and ‘Blue Monday’ which go down a treat.
Whether it’s in their music or their amazingly choreographed videos, Jungle are very good at grabbing attention and as the band make their way to the stage, they lay down their statement of intent from the outset. Opening with ‘Busy Earnin’, the set, in parts flows like a DJ mix, moving from ‘Candle Flame’ to ‘Dominoes’ into ‘The Heat’. With one song effortlessly drifting into the next as key triggers are mixed in, to queue up the next song. Performing live with an 8-piece band including the 3 core members, really helps bring a depth to the production of their live show. Reflecting the sound and feel of their albums, while adding additional elements to the live performance.
Although difficult from a photographer’s perspective, Jungle (Josh Lloyd-Watson, Tom McFarland & Lydia Kitto), classing themselves as collective. cleverly avoid too much individual attention while on stage, with the whole live band remaining mostly in silhouette. This approach is also referenced in an interview with Tom McFarland who said, “What we have always striven for is for the messages in our songs to feel like they are delivered by a group of people, instead of just one person”. This approach harks back to their origins, where they made a conscious decision to put direct the focus on their music, artwork, and videos, and not on the pair’s own identity. Initially hiding their names and faces, which helped create a buzz around their early releases.
The band also link individual songs in the set to their respective albums based on the artwork. As you would expect a reasonable proportion of the songs being played are from their current album Volcano and to represent this, the stage is flooded with orange light. this then moves to black and white to reflect songs from their 2021 album ‘Living In Stereo’. To support the lighting, visuals are also projected behind the band. with video of vocalists on the screen for ‘I’ve Been In Love’.
Weaving through the set including 9 songs from their current album, the band moves around the stage to different musical stations dependant on the specific instruments needed. With Lydia Kitto dropping the keys and guitar and taking up lead vocals as more of a frontwoman role, for some of the songs. As the band progress through the set, you can really see and feel the love across the whole crowd, as they sing and dance along. With the addition of beach balls which are thrown the crowd really brings those summer open air vibes to the evening.
After a shot break of what has been a quality performance, the band is back out for the encore. This only consists of one song rounding off the night with ‘Keep Moving’. In a world that more commonly than not divides and marginalises people, tonight clearly showed the far-reaching power of music and its never-ending ability to provide a collective sense of unity and joy.
SETLIST:
1/ Busy Earnin’
2/ Candle Flame
3/ Dominoes
4/ The Heat
5/ Heavy, California
6/ Beat 54 (All Good Now)
7/ Problemz
8/ I’ve Been in Love
9/ Back on 74
10/ Casio
11/ Us Against the World
12/ Fire
13/ What D’You Know About Me
14/ Time
15/ Coming Back
16/ Don’t Play
17/ All of the Time
18/ Holding On
19/ GOOD TIMES
ENCORE
20/ Keep Moving
FOLLOW JUNGLE
FOLLOW MOOD TALK
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
