As a warm-up for their headlining slot on Glastonbury’s West Holts Stage this evening (Friday), west London-hailing dance project Jungle stopped off in West Berkshire to infect the district with their contagious grooves and funk-laced electronica.
Jungle were the penultimate act to take the stage at Wasing Estate’s On The Mount series this year when they performed yesterday.
Following the successful launch of the series last year, Wasing definitely upped their game in 2024, booking performances from alt Aussie rockers Crowded House, Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini, folk musician Nick Mulvey, dance music titans Underworld and Jungle.
The Mount, as the venue is called, is a great setting for a gig.
To get to the stage you walk for 10 minutes through some lush woodland, passing by psychedelic sculptures, through wooden arches and past hippy-like sages wafting intriguing smells from burning herbs.
It’s a leftfield welcome that attempts to get everyone in a communal mood. The stage is conducive to that too.
Located at the bottom of a hill in a large clearing, everyone can see the stage because of the slope meaning there’s no uncomfortable bunching and plenty of room to dance.
Jungle kicked off their set just as the sun began to set with one of their best-known tracks, Busy Earnin’ from their 2014 eponymous debut.
Despite the band only consisting of three core members (Josh Lloyd-Watson, Tom McFarland and Lydia Kitto), they perform as an octet.
All dressed in monochromatic colours, the eight musicians often blended into the simplistic yet dazzling light show behind them.
The show consisted of gyrating geometric lines made of a few select colours, a huge proponent of ‘less is more’.
Jungle’s smooth and polished musical style was echoed in their musicianship. All the songs were played perfectly and several seamlessly blended into each other.
Some of the set highlights included their smash 2023 hit Back on 74, west coast-inspired Heavy, California and the optimistic anthem Keep Moving which served as the grand finale.
Throughout the entire concert, punters were having a whale of a time. I often saw embraces between new-found friends and loved ones.
Jungle provided the perfect modern disco soundtrack to a pleasant summer evening that celebrated community, music and love.
