Brighton hosts Jungle for a night of funky dance music Brighton News

The group is mysterious, perhaps even magical, and the Brighton Center barely seemed big enough to contact them.

It was a glorious early summer evening, and while the center wasn’t quite as charismatic as other venues in the city, the Dome for example, the place was buzzing – even though the queue for the bar was shocking.

Jungle

There must be a way to avoid spending over 20 minutes waiting for a pint, surely.

Drinks aside – the mood amongst the audience was growing and the air of anticipation was palpable, increasing further as the hour of the billed 9pm stage came and went, with no sign of the band – which came in handy given the queue at the bar. Not that I’m bitter, of course.

But when Jungle came on stage, my God, we knew it.

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

They’ve scoured a catalog of absolute gems of deep, funky and soulful dance music. Last night, serious dance steps were launched in the center, even at the level of the seats.

It was exciting to watch them perform a series of songs that propelled them to stardom; I remember their show in 2018. They had an album’s worth of tracks – not enough to fill the time – so they had to play a few songs twice. Not anymore. They could barely fit them all in.

Jungle

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

After a night of dancing, the band left – but not before an encore that seemed to last nearly as long as the main event. Not that we’re complaining.

Jungle is really just a fantastic band; so solid, pure, and there for a good while. And I hope for a long time.