Last night, Jagwar Ma played an old crown court in the backstreets of Bristol – and as you can imagine, it was unbelievably awesome. The gig was part of the Lumia Live Sessions, their concept – to showcase emerging artists in the most unusual of settings. Before this show, the sessions have hosted Ella Eyre in a fairground museum in Devon, and Years and Years in a disused tube station in London.
The abandoned courthouse still has its original courtrooms, holding cells, jury boxes and grizzly ageing decor. It made for an incredibly eerie setting, but highly complimented Jagwar Ma’s grungy, almost anarchic presence. A rave in a courtroom, made up of competition winners, who collectively seemed to be their most diehard of fans.
The band were situated in front of the judge’s bench, with fans surrounding them all the way round the courtroom. The room was darkly lit and the acoustics provided by the incredibly tall rustic ceilings were amazingly brilliant.
Jagwar Ma, made up of front man Gabriel Winterfield, guitarist Juno Ma and bassist Jack Freeman played with everything they’d got, opening with ‘What Love’, a ravey little number to get the crowds juices flowing. Gabriel bought his typical ragged, Stones Roses frontman attitude, wearing classic Adidas and leopard print socks.
They played all of their best-known tracks including ‘Uncertainty’, ‘Man I Need’, ‘Exercise’, ‘Let Her Go’, ‘Come Save Me’, and ‘Four’. It was incredible, made up of hit after hit, making for a neat little set, performed with passion, soul and irresistible beats. The volume was incredibly loud and the energy from both the band and energised fans was electric.
Finishing with ‘The Throw’ – their breakout single - the crowd completely lost it. There was one guy in particular, who was almost in tears at the pure elation at how good the whole thing was. Jagwar Ma had obviously clocked him, and noticing how passionate he was, signed his vinyl and gave him one of their plectrums. From a live show, there was nothing left to give. It was perfection, and pretty much iconic.
Photo credit: Rebecca Cleal
