Brighton hosts Jungle for a night of funky dance music

The London-based powerhouse group have become known for wholesome shows – and their Sussex offering was no different.

The band are mysterious, perhaps even magical, and the Brighton Centre barely seemed large enough to contact them.

It was a glorious early-summer evening, and although the centre isn’t as charismatic as other venues in the city, the Dome for example, the place was buzzing – though the queue for the bar was shocking.

Jungle

There has to be a way to avoid spending in excess of 20 minutes waiting for a pint, surely.

Drinks aside – spirits among the audience were growing and the air of anticipation was tangible, increasing further still as the 9pm billed stage time came and went, with no sign of the band – which actually came in handy given the bar queue. Not that I’m bitter about it, of course.

But when Jungle took to the stage, my goodness did we know about it.

The band were backlit with warm hues of orange, and had their name in lights above the stage. It was bliss.

They rattled through a catalogue of absolute gems of deep, funky, soulful dance music. There were some serious dance moves being thrown about the centre last night – even in the seated tier.

It was thrilling to see them play a set of tunes that have shot them to stardom; I remember their show in 2018. They had an album’s worth of tunes – not enough to fill the time – so had to play a few songs twice. Not any more. They could barely fit them all in.

Jungle

It sounds cliché to say that “the audience and the band were all in it together”, but it would be remiss of me to avoid the phrase, as it really is a joyous experience - where we’re all in it together.

After an evening of dancing, the band left – but not before an encore that seemed go on for almost as long as the main event. Not that we were complaining.

Jungle are really just a fantastic band; so solid, pure, and there for a good time. And hopefully a long time.