Eloise and I have been home for about two weeks now. Obviously, these updates lagged behind towards the second half of the trip, but I’m fixing that now. Expect a few quick-fire posts over the next week, because I’ve got more exciting new things to write about.

Los Angeles has been pretty high up my list of places to visit for as long as I can remember. Venice Beach, Santa Monica and Hollywood have been places I have always been set upon seeing sooner rather than later. I remember as a kid watching skateboarding videos from Venice Beach, before terrorising civilians on Grand Theft Auto as a teenager, and then falling in love with the style and art of Los Angeles through photographers, surfers and videographers. When Eloise, Skye and I arrived I felt an odd familiarity with the place which was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.

On our first day there we spent the early evening walking up through the hills to the Griffith Observatory. After about half an hour of climbing with a jet lagged Skye traipsing behind we found ourselves at locked gate – the trail closed at sunset. We climbed round the bars and kept going.

The view over LA was fascinating. The only real high rise in LA is located in the downtown financial district. When the city expands, it expands outwards and not upwards; the result is a sprawling vista of urban jungle broken up by the green of palms and the ubiquitous American straight avenues. As a result, the city operates more as a collection of independent towns than a city as a whole. Similarly to the hotels and casinos that I spoke about in my last post, you have no reason to leave any particular area of LA. Downtown is a classic American metropolitan centre, whereas down by the beach (Venice or Santa Monica) is an idyllic, gentle pace of life.

Hollywood stands as a testament to an era that has perhaps seen its heyday and is now in recession. The stars line the walkways, with hundreds of old American stars of early film littering the path, although their presence there has been tarnished by more modern “stars” (including but not limited to the President of the United States). Hollywood carries a sense of forlorn stardom, an area clinging onto its former glories of the 20th Century whilst cheap souvenir shops and bus tours sprawl out onto the sidewalk. Areas of all cities come and go, becoming gentrified and falling into decline, but none so far as the former home of all things glitz and glamour.

I ticked off a couple of bucket list entries whilst here, by visiting Santa Monica Pier and skateboarding down Venice Beach. Whilst we were on the pier, the sun began to set over the Big Sur cliff faces to the north, and combined with the spray and mist from the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean created an idyllic sunset that screamed California. It felt like a home away from home.

Next up is San Diego, Phoenix, and El Paso. Things get hot. Stay tuned x

This is the part where this blog gets a bit out of chronological order. This is mainly because I fell in love with Los Angeles, and so want to write a whole post solely about the place and our time there. So what follows is an update on Vegas, Barstow and Fresno, but that’s not quite the route we took.

Las Vegas on a budget is an interesting experience. Travelling for two months with a couple of nights in Vegas right in the middle isn’t exactly conductive to the Vegas lifestyle. We made do, though. Eloise actually ended up $40 up. I don’t want to talk about how much I lost. We almost made up for it in free drinks though (we didn’t, it’s just what I’m telling myself to feel better).

I think the most startling thing about Vegas wasn’t the open flaunting or vices normally considered somewhat taboo in society, as it’s traditionally known for, but the hotel itself. The Rio, a subsidiary hotel of the Caesars brand, is about ten minutes walk from The Strip. However, you could spend a month there and never need to leave the hotel to see the strip once. The entire business model is obviously predicated upon you never feeling as though you have to leave the hotel, and therefore never spend your money elsewhere once you get through the door, but even so it is interesting to see, as it is unlike any other place I have ever stayed.

Las Vegas is definitely on our “to do again” list, but with a bit more money. Pro Tip; if you’re ever in Las Vegas and see these giant boozy frozen slushy drinks for sale, don’t be suckered into buying one. The sugar rush and then crash will mess you up (just ask Eloise).

Barstow is a small town in the middle of the Sierra Nevada mountains, about halfway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. We stopped off for the night to tick staying in a motel off of our list of American things to do, and went to a classic old diner for dinner. On the drive over, I took us through some back roads to see the desert and it was a uniquely lonely experience. Parking the car up and walking a hundred yards into the desert, all sight and sound of civilisation vanished. All that remained was the desert.

Barstow used to be the final major port of call on Route 66 for those travelling from Chicago to Los Angeles. Since the redistribution of America’s highways, it seems to have fallen by the wayside somewhat, but still remains a great stopping off point for travellers on their way to or from Los Angeles via middle America.

This is where the blog skips forward a bit; from Barstow we moved onto Los Angeles, and spend five days there. More about that in the next post. After that, we moved onto Fresno.

Fresno is known for a couple of things; first, it’s the easiest place to fly into to access Yosemite National Park (which is why we were there), and second, it’s the meth capital of California (which is definitely not why we were there). It isn’t a touristy place at all, but has a unique charm. One of the things I wanted to do on this trip was see some parts of America that you don’t see on adverts or in the media. Fresno was exactly that, and we had an amazing few days there. When ending up in conversations with locals, whether they were bartenders or patrons, the overriding theme of their questions was “…why are you here?”. In fact, one bartender had never seen a British ID before, and another joked that they could be the worst fakes for all he knew about them. Fresno shouldn’t be discounted when in California, even as just a stop off point on a trip up or down the state.

Stay in the Tower District if you can; it’s full of plenty of nice places and people. We ended up there for a few quiet drinks during the day before our 5AM bus ride to Yosemite the next day. Two or three drinks in a couple of bars in the afternoon sunshine. We got home at midnight, and obviously missed the bus. Special thank you to Dad (or Sean depending on whether you’re me or not) for helping us rent a car and get up there. It made the trip up infinitely better, and was the most beautiful drive I’ve ever done in my life. Even better than that bit of the M5 after Bristol where the road splits in two.

Yosemite deserves its own post, but I’m way behind so I’m throwing it into this one and hoping you’re still reading. For those unfamiliar with Yosemite, a large percentage of the most recognisable “sights” are located in Yosemite Valley, a valley several miles long in the heart of the park. This is where Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and El Capitan are. To access the valley you drive through the park and then through a tunnel to a point called Tunnel View. There is a bittersweet taste in my mouth writing about Tunnel View, knowing that I will never see it again for the first time. To leave the tunnel and be thrown back into bright sunshine and see the valley laid out before you is an unforgettable sight; El Capitan bathing in the afternoon sun on your left, Bridalveil Falls cascading on your right, and the rest of the valley fading off into the distance to snow-capped mountains.

Yosemite Valley itself is a loop of road that allows you to park up and see every major site in Yosemite itself. There are plenty of stopoff points along the road though, and these are worth stopping in to see some of the natural beauty of the place away from the more heavily documented major sites. We ended up paddling through a tiny glacial melt stream, leading into a perfectly still river giving beautiful reflections of Yosemite Falls, a view in sharp contrast to being at the viewpoint beneath them. It is hard to reconcile the peace and calm of seeing the Falls reflected in that water with the awesome power that it exudes up close.

I would urge everybody who does not have Yosemite on their bucket list to add it to it, and those who do to move it further up than it already is. Photographs and words cannot do it justice, but there are a few photographs on my Instagram for anybody interested: @cheapvacation35mm

We’re currently on a bus just arriving in the outskirts of Houston. Los Angeles and San Diego will be the next post, hopefully in a couple of days so by the time we’re sunning ourselves on a beach in Miami, you’ll be all caught up. Thanks for reading it all if you made it this far.

Peace.

This blog starts in the city centre of Cleveland, at a Greyhound Bus Station.

Eloise and I are both big family people. When we arrived at the Greyhound Station in Cleveland at midday, our 12:30 bus was displayed as delayed until 1:01, so we figured we had an hour or so to grab a coffee and phone the parents to catch up. At some point between 12:15 and 12:30, the bus miraculously made up half an hour of lost time, arrived on time, and left before we even noticed. The next bus wasn’t until 11:45pm. I looked online, found a Megabus going from about three blocks away at 1:30pm, so we got tickets and went over.

It shows up at 2pm, and we all load on. Then the bus driver breaks the disabled lift at the back of the bus, and can’t get a wheelchair-bound customer on. So we all roll off the bus and get on a replacement one at 3pm. They then can’t figure out that lift either, and so we finally get moving at 3:30 with a six and a half hour drive along the Ohio-Michigan border to Chicago ahead of us.

Driving through the States during the daytime really gives you a sense of the scale of the place. It obviously has a much larger population than the United Kingdom (66 million vs 327 million), but is exponentially bigger. It’s population is approximately 5 times bigger, with 40 times the land. Driving for verging on hundreds of miles at a time without seeing anything approaching a populated area greater than a farmstead really puts this into perspective.

Chicago had come highly recommended, and it didn’t disappoint. Our first day there, we wandered from downtown and the Sears Tower up to Navy Pier, through Millenium Park after having deep dish pizzas (think a quiche filled with pepperoni, tomatoes and cheese). Next was an architectural river cruise with an open bar that only cost $22 for an hour and a half. We definitely got our moneys worth, so much so that one of us was sick on the boat. I’ll let you decide which of us it was based on your knowledge of Eloise and I’s drinking abilities.

After the boat trip, we walked down Navy Pier to get a view of the Chicago skyline, after accidentally walking into a private party being hosted on the pier. Then we went to the Chicago House of Blues, a music venue steeped with history and with a price tag to match; any financial gains we made on booze from the open bar at the cruise were cut back by $20 rounds. Absolutely worth it though. We watched an old Uptown Blues band enjoy themselves for a few hours on stage. Then we left the House of Blues. Eloise’s bag didn’t. I’m not going to name and shame whose fault it was that it got left behind but you can be assured that he is very sorry that it happened and won’t do it again (sorry Clare).

Thankfully our host in Chicago is a fan of Game of Thrones so we managed to keep up on that too. I’ve spent a lot of time ranting to Eloise about this season but I won’t bore you with it. Don’t think for a second that that doesn’t mean I’m not angry about it though.

St Louis followed, after another long bus journey. The city itself had a lot to offer, with the Gateway Arch and the St Louis Zoo being major attractions. We cooked a chicken stir fry which Eloise said was one of the spiciest things she’s ever eaten. Whoops. The hosts we were staying with had left an exhaustive list of places to go for food or drink, so we ticked a few off, grabbing a calzone in the centre before trying out two wine bars and a little bohemian bar less than a hundred yards from our apartment called The Venice Café, which Eloise fell in love with immediately. So that’s decided how our garden is going to be decorated when we move in together. It was a great little place nestled in a quiet neighbourhood, and it was nice to see it so busy on a weeknight, with an old band playing some bluegrass indoors whilst others sat outside in a light garden.

The next day, after a walk round St Louis Zoo, a park, and a three hour flight, we touched down in Las Vegas. Vegas is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. An entire city built to serve vices. What we both found amazing was the complete lack of incentive to ever leave the hotel. Obviously the Vegas hotel business model is predicated upon squeezing as much money out of everybody who walks through the door as possible, but to see a place and know that you could spend the moment you arrive to the moment you leave inside the hotel grounds and never run out of things to do is as bizarre as it is fascinating. Eloise made $40 on the slots, and I lost $100 on various things. Whoops.

A fun thing about Vegas though is that if you sit at a machine and put money into it, waiters and waitresses will come round offering free drinks, on the provision that you keep gambling. We ended up on a Wheel of Fortune style machine for about an hour, losing $20 in the process but getting three free drinks each, which in Vegas money is getting on for 80 bucks. Thanks to Jethro for the tip on that one.

This trip continues to go from strength to strength, and we’ve just finished the part I’ve been most excited about since we started planning. Expect an update of our time on the west coast in a week or so.

Philadelphia started interestingly. We got off our Greyhound and I google mapped some public transport to get us to our apartment. The bus driver asked where we were going, so I told her. She asked me; “are you sure?”. I said yes and sat down. A minute later she called Eloise up to the front of the bus for a chat. They ended up talking for the whole journey about all sorts of things, but the most important thing was that she said

“please don’t stay there. If there’s any way you can stay somewhere else, stay there instead.”

She talked about how she drives that bus route every day and has seen regular shootings, day and night. When we got to the apartment it lived up to how she’d described it. We booked it back into the centre of Philadelphia and worked out what to do. Luckily, Philly was the only place we knew someone, and what felt like a very sketchy situation turned into what could be a real highlight of our trip.

My dad went to university with an American named Brian, and last autumn two of his daughters had stayed with our family whilst travelling, so we had arranged to do the same for a night. We ended up staying with them for our whole time in Philadelphia, and had such a good time. From driving his car that he lent us, to sitting in a sports bar eating wings and talking about anything and everything, it turned into a completely unexpected but amazing three days. Brian and Nancy were the epitome of American hospitality and made us both feel so welcome. If the two of you are reading this, thank you again.

We ended up in Baltimore watching the Orioles play the Red Sox at Camden Yards. During the game the Orioles scored what’s referred to as a Grand Slam. For those unfamiliar with baseball, a grand slam is where the batting side have a runner on all three bases, and the player at bat hits a home run, scoring four points. The game finished 4-1 to the Orioles, to give you an idea of how exciting the rest of the game was.

Washington DC was a whirlwind 36 hours; one night, all the sights. I’d been before so was our tour guide because we were too cheap to get a proper guide, so we rented the DC equivalent of Boris Bikes and cycled up and down The Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol building. Made our way up to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a hot dog joint made famous by visits from celebrities and presidents alike.

DC is an incredible place within the United States; it’s a beautiful city centre and has a feeling of being a centre of real international power. New York feels like a business centre – DC feels like a seat of world power. If you’re ever in Washington, look out for “Taxation Without Representation” bumper stickers, t-shirts and number plates. When the Founding Fathers were deciding on a place for the seats of power to reside, they felt that placing the power within a specific state would give that state too much power. As a result, the District of Colombia was born. Residing within the city limits therefore means you do not have any elected officials representing you in the House of Representatives, the Senate, and cannot cast a vote for the Presidential race.

An overnight bus to Cleveland followed, which was an experience. We meandered through Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh, before moving up through Akron to Cleveland itself. Visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is about the only thing to do in Cleveland unless the Browns or the Cavs are at home, or you want to go on a lake cruise. We recovered from the overnight bus journey with a disgusting amount of takeaway food, and got up the next day to get ourselves to Chicago.

This has already turned into a bit of a long read so I’m going to split Chicago and St Louis off into another post, so as you’re reading this now we’re a couple of cities ahead. We’re currently on a plane from St Louis to Las Vegas, to start the West Coast part of the trip. Vegas, Barstow, Los Angeles and Fresno to follow in the next ten days. As always I’ll be putting some photos and videos (when I catch up on making them) on my Instagram so take a look if you want: @_sjoneill and @cheapvacation35mm

Peace

We’re currently on a Greyhound from New York City to Philadelphia. So far we’ve done Boston, Providence and NYC, with Philly, Washington DC, Cleveland and Chicago coming up in the next week or so. It feels like it’s barely been any time at all so far, but at the same time it feels like so long since we left the U.K.

Boston was brilliant – we spent a day walking the Freedom Trail from Boston Common to Bunker Hill. The Freedom Trail is a route through Boston from Back Bay to Charlestown that takes you by 15 or so notable sites from during the American Revolution era and the War for Independence. It includes sites such as the USS Constitution, one of the first warships of the fledgling United States, and Bunker Hill, where untrained revolutionaries held off two waves of British Redcoat reinforcements before finally being defeated, but not before inflicting significant losses on the British and damaging morale.

We were only in Providence for a night, to break the journey between Boston and New York up. Ended up finally coming into contact with American-sized portions when we ordered two mains and managed to eat about 1/3 of them between us. We also accidentally went to a drag show when we found a cool craft beer & arcade game bar that happened to be hosting a drag performance event. It was an amazing little place, with dozens of old games like an original Pac-Man machine and Galaga alongside skeeball and racing games.

Since I went to New York on a school trip five years ago I’ve wanted to go back, and my second visit lived up to all expectations. Seeing the city from the top of the Empire State was as breathtaking as last time, and the hazy midday sun gave us a great view over Downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. Hiring a bike and cycling the Central Park loop is something I’d definitely recommend to anybody in New York for a few days.

Whilst in New York we found ourselves in a bar owned by Jimmy Glenn, the famous boxer and trainer. We ended up there because it was the cheapest bar Google Maps could find nearby and we fancied a drink, but it turned out to be so much more than that. Whilst Eloise went to use the bathroom I noticed a guy wearing a Liverpool cap so asked him if he’d seen Messi’s free kick from the Barcelona-Liverpool game, and two hours and five drinks later we were all still talking. Genuinely good people, and they were so interested and fascinated by our trip – what we were doing, and where we were going.

That’s the sentiment we’ve got so far from everyone we’ve spoken to, both here and at home. The Customs Official when we first got to Boston said “how have you managed to get 2 months off work?!”, and it seemed genuinely curious. Bus drivers, passengers, Mike and Jason in the Jimmy’s Corner, and waiters have followed suit.

It’s already been the trip of a lifetime, and we’re only 1/8th done. Expect another update after Chicago! If anyone is interested in seeing photographs or videos from the trip so far, I’ll be throwing them up on Instagram – check out @_sjoneill or @cheapvacation35mm to have a look.

Almost a year ago today, I was winding up my last couple of weeks of programmed study at the University of Exeter. I still had a dissertation, a couple of exams, and a couple of essays to write, but for all intents and purposes I was just about done. I hadn’t really thought about the future. I’d applied unsuccessfully to a few graduate schemes, applied to a few Masters courses, and started thinking about maybe taking a year out and going travelling. Fast forward a year, and I’m a month away from leaving for a six-week journey across the United States with my girlfriend, Eloise. I still don’t have a graduate job.

This has stressed me out no end in the past few months, as Eloise and my parents can attest to. However, something happened in the past week that shifted my perspective just enough to both feel as though the job search ahead, including finding my “calling” of what I’d like to do with my life, and my current situation are far more manageable than I first thought. A customer at the pub I work at and a good friend of mine, Hugh, found out about how I’ve been feeling and sent me a Facebook message. It read as follows;

“Alright big son, I seen them demons. I know that feeling. This letter might resonate. Don’t forget the universe does to you. But you also do to it”

Attached was a Hunter S. Thompson letter. I had never seen it before, despite being a fan of Thompson since watching The Rum Diary with my parents in early 2012. The letter was penned by Thompson in 1958 when he was 22, the same age as me. It is a response to a friend who asks for some life advice. The important decision he addresses in the beginning of his letter is whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal. He notes that it is a choice that we all make, either consciously or unconsciously at times in our lives. People often feel an innate desire for forward progress; we don’t feel like we’re treading water, we feel stagnant. But as Thompson notes, is it sometimes not better to tread water than to swim towards uncertainty? To make sure one’s goal isn’t a “big rock candy mountain”, an enticing sugar candy goal that has no substance.

It would be foolish, he says, to adjust our lives to the demands of a goal we see from a different angle every day. This has been my struggle with graduate work. We cannot choose and understand a potential path if we do not first choose and understand what it means to be us. I don’t know what I want to do yet. In the past I have been dead-set on being a writer, a lawyer, joining the Army. My perspective on these things have since changed, and I have not settled on a new goal as I do not yet fully understand what I want out of my working life. This is a question that nobody can answer but me, and impossible to do easily.

I have been approaching it from the wrong angle. Anybody who stands across the bar from me, or goes for a drink with me, or talks to me in passing will know that I like doing shit. I love planning my travels, I love going out and taking photographs, I loved being in a band. I am most comfortable and excited when I am working towards these goals, and I think that they have to be the goals for me, at least until I find my working direction.

If there are eight paths available in front of you, and none are what you really want, there is nothing wrong with settling for any one of them, and nobody should ever tell you otherwise. Equally, there is nothing wrong with avoiding each of those paths and treading water whilst you search for the ninth.

I am still trying to find a different job. I am still weighing up further study. I have come back from a short break in London and Exeter with a renewed sense of purpose and drive to apply for jobs, finish my Masters applications, and put myself in the best stead for the future. But in a month’s time, I complete a long-term goal of mine when I fly to the United States for six weeks of travelling, and that is enough for me.

Read Hunter S. Thompson’s letter here;
https://fs.blog/2014/05/hunter-s-thompson-to-hume-logan/?fbclid=IwAR1bbcEyqD2vGoIpCnkWX-PBijWWE-G9eo-ggmicA3gLogppa1U0dzo8XhQ

Foals are back with a brand-new album, or the first half of one. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1 was released on Friday, after the band took a four year hiatus following 2015’s What Went Down. They preceded the release of Everything Not Saved with three singles; Exits, On The Luna, and Sunday.

Foals’ newest album gets political. Riddled with references to a post-climate change world, the uncertainty of our times, and frank conversations on mental health, Yannis explores what the future may look like for humankind. He does this in some of his best vocals to date, layered above a new-sound Foals dealing with the departure of co-founder and bassist Walter Gervers by doubling down on synth. What follows is a rolling journey through the sounds of Foals’ previous four albums, dialed up another notch, and there is something for every era of Foals fans. Fans of their early math rock style from Antidotes will enjoy In Degrees and White Onions, whilst Sunday and I’m Done With The World capture the haunting soulfulness of Total Life Forever. Anyone who’s a fan of jumping around and shouting choruses along with Yannis will love On The Luna and Exits. 

Often when bands switch up their style, it can be divisive and some fans can feel as though they have lost what made them them (see; Arctic Monkeys “Tranquility Base”, Mumford & Sons “Delta“). Foals have kept the quintessential raw energy and power that makes their music as beautiful as it is, whilst simultaneously exploring new avenues and musical styles to cope with the loss of a founding member and treating fans to the first half of a rollercoaster 2018. In fact, I would go as far as to say my first comment to a couple of friends about the album rings true even after a few listens through. The songs on Everything Not Saved sound as though they could be B-Sides from each previous Foals album, but not because they wouldn’t make the cut, but perversely because they would be too good. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1 is the triumph of a band who have lost an integral member and rather than imploding, have exploded outwards after a well deserved break to bring about their best album to date. Bring on Part 2.

My Top Three Must-Listens

1. Exits – The perfect blend of quintessential Foals and an introduction to their new sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18qGBkksToA
2. In Degrees – Soulful vocals and synth over a classic Foals math rock beat. A new favourite of mine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_x2LK2I91E
3. White Onions – Old school cool indie rock track with everything you’d expect. Most excited to see this one live. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7w_eWfWe00

Pink Floyd defined a generation; a collective of brilliant musical minds and reflective liberal philosophical and political thought. Perhaps too brilliant, as the band slowly fell apart under the strain of differing personalities, ideas and musical
directions. As a result, one of the most widely-regarded “great” bands of all time no longer perform, and millions of fans worldwide would be left with no way of seeing some of their favourite music in concert, if it weren’t for tribute acts such as Brit Floyd and The Australian Pink Floyd. I saw Brit Floyd on Tuesday night, and it was an experience which every Pink Floyd fan should take the opportunity to see.

The Gig

Brit Floyd played the London Palladium for this tour, which is marking the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s 1979 Album “The Wall”. The Palladium is an interesting venue, as it is a theatre and therefore all seated. 

One thing I will say about Brit Floyd; you’re seeing a show, not a gig. They aren’t pretending to be Roger Waters and co incarnate, and have very little stage presence (at least until they loosen up a bit through the set) of their own. However, this is no bad thing for the people who are going to experience Pink Floyd’s music live, as the show becomes all about the music. In addition to this, removing the speaking and back and forth between artist and crowd from a performance actually resulted in hearing more music – Brit Floyd played for three hours, with one short break. They packed as much bang for your buck into the set as possible, and left the audience walking away having heard almost every single big Pink Floyd song (except Money, but I’m not bitter at all) along with a great tribute to The Wall. 

Brit Floyd sound almost spot on. It is a big ask to cover and do justice to some of the songs which defined a generation, particularly songs such as Comfortably Numb, Another Brick In The Wall, and Great Gig In The Sky. They were comfortably up to the task, reflecting musical director Damian Darlington’s decades of commitment to honing his craft. He played with the Australian Pink Floyd for 17 (seventeen!) years before deciding that he felt he could put on a better Pink Floyd show himself, and since 2011 has set up and toured with Brit Floyd. They are dedicated to bringing fans the best possible Pink Floyd experience in a post-Floyd world, and it shows.

Final Thoughts

It must take a lot to be a tribute act as a musician. It may feel like a step down in terms of prestige, to not write your own music and create music which fans come to see you for. The fact that each musician in Brit Floyd is talented enough to find fame of their own through their own musical prowess, but choose to faithfully replay and do justice to the songs of a multigenerational artist, which in turn allows generations to enjoy something they never had the chance to experience whilst Pink Floyd remained together, is a commendable choice. Anyone who likes Pink Floyd’s music should certainly give Brit Floyd a chance, to get the chance to hear timeless classics again.

Last September, I went to see Arctic Monkeys at the Birmingham Arena with my girlfriend Eloise, my brother Ben, and one of Ben’s mates. Great gig, but not the point of this blog post. On the drive back a Jungle song came on on the radio, one of Eloise’s favourite bands. Having just talked about how much we loved seeing some live music again, she looked up tickets to see if they were touring and found a date at Alexandra Palace, London. Taking a pretty spur of the moment decision, we’d bought the tickets before the song had finished. Fast forward six months, and we’re there. Saying fuck it and getting those tickets is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. 

The Gig

Jungle played to a sold out, 10,000 strong Alexandra Palace crowd. Playing for about an hour and a half, they ran through all the big songs from their two synth soul albums. 

Jungle seemed genuinely blown away by the crowd and support, being left speechless by the crowd’s happiness and excitedness to be there on multiple occasions. It’s always amazing to see a band express this and it mean something – it’s more than just your usual “thanks for coming out you’ve been amazing” spiel. Having been in a band myself, I remember what it was like to look out over a stage to 20 people who were there jut to see you, let alone 10,000. No matter how famous musicians end up getting, that feeling must never go away, and it’s a unifying experience between artist and fan when this is acknowledged.

The Music

The band themselves are a duo, both sharing guitar, keys and vocal duties throughout their music. However, they have two percussionists and two backing singers supporting them on stage for this tour, and their chemistry was apparent. I’ve been to gigs before where the music has sounded like it’s that artists’ “This is:” Spotify playlist being played over a huge speaker system, which challenges the immersion of being in a live setting. Jungle sounded like they’d taken every song of theirs and funked it up all the way to 11. The bass was grittier, the vocals were more raw, and every song just sounded bigger. 

Jungle are definitely a band to see live if you like their music, as a live setting elevates their low-key percussion and makes the synth and bass far punchier, turning their synth-soul medleys into house-like beats at times. It’s impossible not to dance. 

Top Three Tracks

For this next part I’m going to defer to Eloise’s better judgement on the top three Jungle songs you should listen to if you haven’t, and hope you’re inspired to go listen to a band that are rapidly becoming one of my favourites.

• Time; big and bold dance tune – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ItKS8bUUTA
• Beat 54 (All Good Now); Jungle’s musicality in full force – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SetClFl10cQ
• Lucky I Got What I Want; the catchiest hook I’ve heard in a long time – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9mBubGuOm0

Final thoughts 

Give Jungle a chance. They won’t disappoint.

Also, Eloise is wrong, Julia is their best song and here it is. Have a listen to Jungle, let me know what you think.