by Ru Alonso
“Disco will never die” was all I could think of leaving Alcatraz in Milan after seeing Jungle for the very first time. Jungle has skyrocketed into the mainstream after dropping the music video for their hit song “Back on 74”, but my love for them took root way before. As a long-time fan, seeing them live was one of the biggest highlights of my year.
Jungle began in 2013 by Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, two best friends living in London, and soon expanded into a 7 piece band of talented revolving musicians. Their newest album, Volcano, dropped in August of 2023 and has become their most well-known record.
My best friend and I got to the venue halfway through the opener and eagerly awaited Jungle to start their set. When we got there, the venue was only halfway full, but when Jungle took the stage, the entire place was packed and buzzing. The set started with “Us Against the World” and flowed seamlessly from track to track, the energy never dipping. The stage was simply decorated, with a large logo and flashing lights revolving from white to the orange of their album cover, with a disco ball every now and then to top it off. The simple lighting setup allowed the audience to focus on the music, and that we did.
The crowd was electric, dancing throughout each set. Songs with features like “Candle Flame feat. Erick the Architect” or “I’ve Been in Love feat. Channel Tres” employed a screen projection of the artist that was just enough to keep it entertaining but not overwhelming. What was really interesting to me was the lack of focus on the musicians themselves. The lighting on the stage did not include spotlights, and most of the time, the band was left in the dark, harkening back to the old times of DJing, where the focus was all about the music.
Not only was the lighting effective, but the sound quality was out of this world. Each song sounded exactly like the track in a way that was a little jarring but nonetheless extremely exciting. My favorites included “You Ain't No Celebrity” and “What D’You Know About Me?”. The orange lights reflecting off the large disco ball placed in the center of the venue, combined with a mix of nu-disco, house music, and soul, made me feel as though I’d entered an alternate disco reality and thus, Jungle has made its way into my top 5 favorite concerts ever.