It’s Coachella month and with that comes a million satellite shows around southern California for non-festival goers to indulge in. One of those shows was Jungle last Thursday night at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California.
The Fox is a classic, old school theatre located in the heart of Pomona. What it lacks in air conditioning (it must have been 100 degrees in there) and modern amenities, it makes up for in charm and spectacle. Jungle took advantage of these conditions to create a sweaty non-stop dance party that had the crowd buzzing for 90 straight minutes.
The core duo of Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland have been recording and touring as Jungle for over a decade now. Their signature funky neo-soul sound took a turn on their most recent album with the full time introduction of Lydia Kitto. While her vocal contributions were present on Jungle’s 2021 album Loving in Stereo, she takes center stage on 2023’s Volcano. With her heightened role on this most recent album comes the most infectious, sunny, alive music they’ve written in their careers along with the biggest audience they’ve ever had. This show in Pomona was instantly sold out and tickets were going for $250+ aftermarket; scalping nonsense aside, that’s impressive.
Jungle opened up with one of the older classic singles “Busy Earnin’”. While they have lots of hits on the new album, it was a nice introduction before they launched into the new cuts. They then went into personal favorite “Dominoes”, which really showcased Kitto’s vocal chops and the undeniable groove at the center of Volcano. Throughout the rest of the set, they unleashed other bangers like “Problemz”, “I’ve Been in Love”, and of course “Back on 74”. One of the major highlights came when an eager crowd sang every word to the mid-tempo “Casio”.
By the end of the show, most attendees were dripping with sweat and filing out to the streets to cool down. On more than one occasion, I heard someone say “that was the most fun I’ve had at a show” and I couldn’t blame them.
Jungle plays Coachella weekend 1 and 2 before embarking on a summer world tour. For their tour dates and all things Jungle head to their website here.
Photos + Review by Andrew Ameter | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!