We caught Rob Green on the grand opening night of his Jungle Child UK tour. A jaw-dropping show featuring new music, soulful tunes and moving poetry, all the while praising the love for his hometown, Rob continues to prove he is a true Notts showman not to be missed live...
Fellow Nottingham singer-songwriter and acoustic sensation Tash Bird warmed us up from 8pm. A good old friend of Rob’s, he apparently called her up 48 hours before, convincing her to come down and “set the perfect vibe.” (She certainly did.) Her set was charming, engaging and laced with self-deprecating humour – a perfect musical recipe for an-eager-for-weekend crowd on a Thursday night.
I’m in a happy relationship - so have got no heartbreak to write about!” she joked, detailing an "angry phase” of her messy past relationship with breakup song Happier. Tash also delivered an excellent cover of Pink’s 2001 single Just Like a Pill, and encouraged audience participation, although some members of the crowd were too polite to join in (or perhaps weren’t familiar with the lyrics). However, this quickly changed with a warm cover of MJ’s Man in the Mirror, as the classic “HEHE!” triggered an audience call-and-response.
Tash took her took her guitar away for her final stirring pop song Stay, allowing her husky voice to echo through the mic, enhanced by a backing track and loop pedal (this candied, lovely track is available to stream on Spotify).
The dim blue lights moved to blazing orange, as we all anticipated Rob’s presence. A diverse audience of all ages; from first timers to hardcore ever-Greeners who have been there since the very beginning, as well as close friends and family. Rob’s former schoolteachers came to show their love and support for their previous student; one of whom inspired his poem Desire and actively encouraged his songwriting - gifting him a notebook “not for the GCSE exam board!” to use for his writing craft.
“Will you be my cliche / My door open shirt soaked in the pouring rain / Me on your doorstep in my smouldering shame / Burning for something to say / Call you by my name.”
Just around 9pm his band came on to assume their positions, and before we could blink, the thundering opening of Belief took over the space, right before Rob Green’s signature grin and smooth voice graced us for the first time on Saltbox’s stage.
“You look amazing Nottingham – HOW ARE WE DOING?!” *Loud cheers and whoops*
Raring to go in his Jungle Child outfit, stylishly clad in a long white sleeved floral shirt and teal trousers, standing tall and proud at 6ft 5... Everyone was feeling the love, music and energy.
Green truly knows how to make you feel as part of the family. He openly detailed heartfelt back stories, sharing personal anecdotes and reflective words of wisdom in between each song. The poignant story behind his poem Nature Boy was particularly moving, and definitely resonated:
On a Thursday, 13 years old, I came crying to my mum as my voice was quaking, I thought it was broken – she said: yeah, it’s breaking. It’s just the natural course your voice is taking. And with that, she played Nat King Cole on blast. I could see his voice shaking the frames of a single pane glass, teaching how the greatest thing he ever learned was just to love, and be loved in return.
I was 13 years old, closeted gay constantly afraid cause of my Catholic school – I got me a fair bit of hate. At the time every night on my knees I would pray, say that I would do anything to make it change. And when I felt like God wasn’t hearing me, or changing me in the way I plead, the way I thought I need. I put myself through my own conversion scheme. I learned to walk like men and talk like men. Gesture less with my hands like them, I uncrossed my legs and got a girlfriend and never eat bananas in public again.
And then, some random Thursday, 13 years old, Nature Boy sang straight to my soul – love that’s the nature that you can’t control! And to love that nature, will keep you whole. Where you fear your voice is broke and won’t be mended, where the life you lead isn’t comprehended, when the books say right don’t document it, remember you are just as nature intended.
Rob smiled and paused for a second, before the band went straight into his tour namesake and recent single: Jungle Child - an absolute pleasure to witness debuted on stage. A short song that packs a mighty punch, it highlighted all the band’s musical talent - gospel backing vocals, growling rock guitar riffs from Ryan Cornall, groovy basslines from Cameron Websdale and rhythmic drumming from Craig Norford. A wholly electric, joyful performance - RG did not hold back.
Rob gracefully returned to our demand of an encore, following crowd contributing Victorious, I’ll Be Around, What Are We Waiting For. He reappeared along with his backing singers, and an acoustic guitar in hand. Promising that “we’re gonna end with dance!” But that he wanted to perform and fulfil a poll he had asked on Instagram – about which song we specifically wanted to hear that night. Blue was the “overwhelming demand,” an RG single released back in 2016 from his first self-titled EP, which came to number 3 in the iTunes R&B Album Chart (the music video features Television Workshop’s Skins and Game of Thrones star Joe Dempsie.)
Blue was stripped back to Rob, his guitar and gorgeous backing vocals from Tila and Tav, who have been singing with Rob since they were teenagers. Their tender voices blended harmoniously alongside Rob’s gentle strumming – a beautiful friendship dynamic captured on stage.
Headstrong lifted our spirits once again, ending the night on a high, as we all danced and double-clapped along to the funky chorus while RG expressed his gratitude.
“You’ve absolutely made my dreams come true; it’s been so beautiful to share tonight with you. Thank you so much Nottingham!”
Rob Green performed at Saltbox on 20th March 2025. You can catch him in his glorious prime during his current Jungle Child UK Tour. Tickets are available here.
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