Despite being a seven-time Grammy Award winner, it was only at the 2025 Love Supreme Festival in Glynde that Jacob Collier had his first major festival headline show.
Wearing his beloved crocs and vibrant, trademark garments, he burst onto the stage after a day of quintessential festival wind and rain, an example of “reassuringly English weather” which required wearing two pairs of trousers, as the maestro himself wryly remarked. The arrival of his vivacious presence was like warm sunshine after such rain.
The 75 minute set, supported by his band, began with a morse code intro. It featured music from his latest album Djesse Vol. 4, covers of iconic songs, and crowd-pleasing tracks from his earlier albums. Collier marvellously pulled together disparate genres, showcased his expansive vocal range and multi-instrumentalist talents with raucous joy.
‘WELL’ was delivered with gusto as Collier strummed the electric guitar and rocked the stage with his punchy vocal line, while his voice soared in the glittering pop rendition of ‘Wherever I Go’. Changing to the intimate acoustic guitar, he tenderly serenaded us with ‘Little Blue’ using arpeggiated chords (a nod to Joni Mitchell’s ‘Little Green’) as the audience cooed and sang along: “don’t be afraid of the dark in your heart.” In a world of turmoil and change, a beautiful lullaby like this was truly ‘All I Need’.
As with all of Collier’s engaging shows, audience participation was inevitably a salient ingredient. He darted across the stage, vigorously waved his arms like a conductor, and transformed us into his audience choir, adding layers of harmonizing notes and sampling, whilst the aaahing and oooing of heavenly motifs built up. He expertly weaved these layers of sounds together into a stellar musical tapestry. It was an otherworldly and transcendent experience, as thousands came together under the moonlight to sing, and clap deliriously in harmony. It felt as if we were all connected through the music emotionally, rising and falling giddily to the cues of the choirmaster. Together we became a living and breathing musical instrument, as the line between performer and audience blurred into one.
Improvisation is a cornerstone of jazz, and Collier was able to craftily conjure cascading piano melodies throughout the night, as well as entertain us with a dynamite drum battle with his drummer. His rendition of ‘Witness Me’ began with a soft jazz piano improvisation which crescendoed with the textured audience choir. I have great admiration for artists that sing in foreign tongues and do not shy away from a challenge, and Collier showed his characteristic adventurousness with his powerful Spanish song ‘Mi Corazon’, which delighted with its delicious head-bop chorus.
Importantly, Collier paid homage to the 1965 John Coltrane album A Supreme Love, after which the festival is named, that spirited jazz into uncharted territory. “Music has the power to get people to come together and wiggle about,” Collier exclaimed, and in accordance we wiggled in wonder.
Whether we were seeing Collier for the first or tenth time, his exuberant, infectious energy was undoubtedly palpable from the beginning to the final note. He switched between the piano, guitars, bass, drums, and harmonizer with absolute ease, and punctuated his singing with high leg kicks. The immersive, sonic landscapes were further amplified by the gorgeous natural set design, depicting starlit woodlands and colourful backdrops of trees.
During past shows, Collier has brought on surprise guests to perform duets with him, and I could not help but anticipate a similar surprise. Perhaps due to time constraints, this was not the case at Glynde. It would have been electrifying had musical titan Nile Rodgers (who had bewitched the audience on Sunday), shared the Love Supreme stage with Collier. The two combined would have been a musical phenomenon, but it was not to be.
Nevertheless, we were treated as a finisher to an encore of the timeless ‘Somebody to Love’, which culminated in absolute choral euphoria. Collier signed off the night with a universal hand heart to the crowd. Yes, I mused, exhilarated after being dazzled by Collier’s musicianship: the message of music is love, indeed.
