The Jungle Giants
19th October 2018
Studio, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Lauren Sanderson. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.
They are one of the hottest acts in Australia right now and it’s easy to see why, The Jungle Giants returned to Kiwi shores last night as they took K Road’s The Studio by storm. After playing their first ever sold out New Zealand gig last year, the Brisbane four piece have come back bigger and better than ever before.
After a long instrumental intro, The Jungle Giants finally entered the stage, which followed by screams from the crowd and their old-time favourite ‘On your way down’ blasted throughout The Studio closely followed by ‘She’s a Riot’.
Frontman Sam steps forward rocking a new look and shouts, “We’re very happy to be back here with you cool mother fuckers” and it was In that moment that I realised I had forgotten how much of an entertainer he is. He continued to dish out the banter throughout the tracks and had lifted the energy in the room from 0 to 100 in a matter of seconds.
Waiting for a Sign came next, the dance number which is heavily influenced by house music had the crowd simultaneously bouncing along to the alluring beats, while ‘You’ve got something’ showed off Sam’s incredible vocal range.
The transition from track to track was smooth, Drummer Keelan Bijker and lead guitarist Andrew Dooris had their time to shine as lead singer Sam and Bassist Cesira Aitken left the stage. Dooris delivered a poppy instrumental riff which was complimented by the Bijker’s catchy drum beats. Both just as entertaining as frontman Sam, at last they re-entered the stage and blasted out ‘I am what you want me to be’.
As the crowd were simultaneously clapping to the upbeat tracks, I looked around and noticed that there wasn’t a single phone in sight – which was extremely refreshing. Everyone was simply in the moment and was immersed in the music just as much as the band was.
‘Bad Dream’ played next and frontman Sam set the crowd a challenge, to dance and not stop dancing… and that’s exactly what we did. A crowd favourite was ‘ Used to be love’ followed closely by closing track ‘Feel the way I do’, where things turned up a notch as Sam shouted ‘Let’s turn this up to the fucking maximum’.
If you weren’t a fan of the Aussie band before then you sure will be after last night’s performance. The four-piece are not only incredible musicians but they are born entertainers and had the crowd geared up from start to finish. The night finished on a high as Sam said “This has been the best time in New Zealand ever” – and we couldn’t agree more!
Thanks again Jungle Giants, until next time!
Were you there at the Studio for this good times indie rock gig? Or have you seen The Jungle Giants perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
The Jungle Giants Setlist:
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