Rum Jungle at Pearl Street Warehouse in Washington, D.C.

Date: Tuesday, September 9th

Tour: Marginalia Tour

Tickets: I got my tickets straight from the Union Stage website (Pearl Street is a “Union Stage Presents” venue), and they were $25. I love that that ticket price still exists somewhere. As I said, it’s a great venue to catch a band you like that hasn’t hit big popularity yet, because you can see them for cheap. Rum Jungle was a band I’d see for over $100 if it came to that, but to see them for $25 and being able to stand 30 feet in front of them, that’s a dream.

Set Time: Rum Jungle came on at 9:12 and came off at 10:22. I think they were running a tad late at the start, they looked just a little rushed getting everything set up. The band members came out and did their own sound check, or at least it seemed like that’s what they were doing. They were on stage about 20 minutes before they started playing. The opener, Bluebelt, came on at 8:00 and came off at 8:38.

The Music

Rum Jungle’s overall sound was strong, especially their collective vocals. There were multiple times when all four of them sang and it sounded really good. Benny, the lead singer, was great on his own as well, his voice is really powerful and carries them as expected, but the other band members provided at least backing vocals in every song I think. I thought they sounded best together, particularly in “Weather’s Better,” for example, their collective vocals were apparent.

Instrumentally they were really solid too, Benny and Josh played together really well, Benny being more rhythmic and Josh playing the backing licks. I will say though, at times, I thought the backing guitar sound could have been louder. It didn’t punch through like it does in the studio recordings and I think it’s a big part of their sound. For example, in “Notice” and “Quiet While You’re Listening,” the backing guitar sound was pretty light, and the licks in those songs really help define them. If I was someone who didn’t know their music really well, I’m not so sure I would have noticed it coming through in this live performance. I was listening for it as a fan. Curious if anyone else agrees with this. The bass player, Maje, was really smooth and Frey, the drummer, had a great pace all night. He wasn’t super noticeable, which I think is a good thing for a drummer because they’re in the background, and you might be more likely to notice them if they’re screwing up. It’s not that he wasn’t providing anything exciting, he just wasn’t flashy and provided the almost essential backing that a drummer does. I don’t know anything about drumming, so feel free to scoff at me if I’m off on this.

However, in other songs, the instrumentals were excellent. They did a long outro (had to be 3-4 minutes) to “Glass Top Suite,” and it was stunning. It was heaven for a couple minutes. Really atmospheric, slow buildup to an energetic climax, and they slowed down straight into the next song. Josh was really impressive in this stretch, and he was great all night overall.

The Band

They were having a good time. Benny was pretty pumped up, he screamed “WASHINGTOOOOON” at the beginning of the first song, and did so many other times throughout the night. They all spoke to the crowd individually at different times, which is something to note because sometimes it’s just one member of the band (usually the frontman, obviously). Benny and Josh both expressed a lot of gratitude for everyone coming out, and Benny talked about how amazing it was for them to be in Washington, coming all the way from Australia (“This is our first time in these parts, thanks for being so nice to us”). He introduced the band quickly after playing “Notice,” mentioned where they’re from (Newcastle: “About two hours north of Sydney”), and introduced the new album before playing a few songs off of it. He also shouted out their crew after the eighth song of the set, which I always like. A lot of people working hard on a tour, I appreciate when the band gives them credit.

They joked around a lot too, Frey especially. He asked the crowd if anyone played hacky sack at one point, and the rest of the guys chimed in and talked about how they got a hacky sack at Buc-ee’s in North Carolina the night before (“It’s the best place on Earth”). Josh said in the beginning of the show, “Thanks for dealing with us all night.” He also asked, toward the end, “Does anyone have work tomorrow?… Sorry about that, we’ll come on a weekend next time.” Maje probably said the least but added “Boy do you guys have some fuckin’ monuments, I’ll tell ya what,” which was funny.

Overall, they seemed really grateful to be there and that they like each other, and they’re having fun so far. Couple of easygoing lads who are a nice presence on stage.

Also, one thing to note is that Benny mentioned one of his pedals died “about three songs in” so he had been down on the ground making adjustments throughout the set. He mentioned that at the end, but I honestly didn’t notice him messing around with pedals much throughout the show, so he did a good job of adjusting.

Lastly, they played in a four-piece. Lead vocals (guitar), guitar, bass, and drums.

The Setlist

Overall, they played more of their energetic, “harder” songs in the set, which makes sense. Their more mellow songs are likely not going to grab the average fan’s attention, and as an up and coming band trying to make a name for themselves, I understand them wanting to grab the audience’s attention as much as possible with their songs that lean more into a heavier rock, fun, jumping sound. I personally am a big fan of “Always on Your Good Side,” “What it’s Like,” and “Figure it Out Someday,” which are quieter, slower tunes with more melancholy, sensitive instrumentals, but I understand the band straying away from too much of that sound in their setlist at this point in their evolution. Plus, those songs sound a little bit like Rum Jungle is a solo act with just Benny at the forefront (I thought that’s what Rum Jungle might have been when I first discovered them), and the songs they played in this set present them as a band. Overall, everything went over well, regardless of personal preference. I think over time, they’ll mix in more songs that fit into this type of setlist, like “Did the Morning Let You Down?” for one, and I even think they can make their set longer if they want. But I am a fan of 90 minutes or less, and this was just over an hour. No complaints here.

My top songs from the set were “Glasstop Suite,” “Weather’s Better,” “Her and the Sun,” and “Electric Snowman.” Those last two were particularly jumpy in the beginning of the set, really came in hard.

1. Coal dust
2. Upbeat Lord
3. Her and the Sun
4. Electric Snowman
5. Notice
6. Got Time
7. Glasstop Suite (long outro)
8. Keep
9. Unreleased song, only second time playing it they said “Lady I’m a fuckin fool” was a prominent lyric
10. Don’t be a Stranger
Heavy jam until the next song, lead singer grabbed acoustic guitar as they kept jamming, then he played a little acoustic lick, then into next song, lead guitarist switched guitars too “let’s keep that enter going Washington!”
11. Wasting Your Time
12. Weather’s better
13. Lowlife
14. Everything is Easy
Came off stage at 10:18.
Encore
15. Quiet While You’re Listening

The Venue

Pearl Street is a gift to see a band like Rum Jungle at, it’s really a bar with a small GA area and a stage. There’s a small balcony as well, and a little “VIP” seated section just behind the GA area. You walk in upstairs and go downstairs to the stage. It’s cool, you can still see outside through a pretty big window they have downstairs, so it feels like you haven’t really gone anywhere. I’m pretty sure you can sit at the bar outside and see into the show, which is awesome, but I don’t know if that requires a ticket or not. There’s a bar downstairs and upstairs that are very easy access, and bathrooms are close by as well. Very easy venue to see a show in, and being right on the Wharf, it’s a great location with plenty to do before/after a show. A quality small venue in D.C. to catch smaller-name bands you like.

The Crowd

It’s a small venue, so obviously there was a small crowd. But I thought most everyone was into it the whole time. Benny actually asked if anyone was there who hadn’t heard much of their music before, and only a few hands went up (he thanked them for coming). Plenty of people jumping for the high-energy songs (literally), and who knew the lyrics too. During some of their longer, stretched out instrumentals, there was the natural chatter that comes with that, which is unfortunate, but nothing egregious. It just seems like at any show, once the singing stops for an extended period, people stop paying attention, but sometimes they’re missing the coolest part of the show. Just my opinion. Anyways, good crowd overall, it’s cool to see that other people have noticed this band. I hope more do, and I think that’s almost inevitable with how appealing their music is.

The Opener

Bluebelt was really good and definitely worth showing up early for. I would say to catch them on this tour, but it looks like Rum Jungle has a different opener on every stop. But they’re local to D.C., so if you’re in the area, check them out. They were a six piece band: Lead vocals, two guitars, keyboard, bass, and drums. The lead singer had a hell of a voice. She was really deep, but not delicate, because they had a harder rock sound at times that she meshed really well with, her voice clearly very polished but also loud and emotional enough to fit with their sound. She has a confident attitude about her too, just in her body language. Nothing too flashy, but she’s comfortable and satisfying to watch. A good tell of a band you’ve never heard before is how quickly they catch your attention, and they caught mine quickly. Her voice was a big part of that, but also their instrumentals were very interesting, they ranged from light, jammy, tone-y chords to heavy, thrushing rock, especially within the lead guitarist. He carried a lot of their sound with some emphatic playing. He was a little scary, and I mean that in a great way, because he played so aggressively at times, but it was awesome. Really impressive. He broke his string at the end of one song and they handled it really well, jamming for 3-4 minutes while he fixed it, it was funny.
I don’t know any of their songs, but they mentioned they played a song called “Willow Towers” that is going to be released on Spotify soon. They’re really young as a band, they only have two songs on Spotify that have under 10,000 listens each, but they were really impressive live. I believe that they’ll make some good music.
The lead singer was especially impressive in the last song, which I believe was Sonar, but I’m not totally sure. Anyways, go see ‘em in D.C. if you hear of the playing somewhere. Hopefully, they land some more opening gigs with bands like Rum Jungle.

Anything Else

Definitely go catch Rum Jungle now while they’re still a cheap show. They’re an interesting band with some genuine songwriting and instrumental creativity, and when they want to, they can rock pretty hard.