Live Review
Jake Bugg
Electric Brixton, London
March 10 2016
Words/photos: Kenny Davies
Night three of 22-year-old Nottingham musician Jake Bugg's four-nighter run of Lonfon venues, sees him pitch up south of the river at Brixton's Electric Brixton to play to a sold-out crowd. It's been a while since Jake has been touring and performing in the UK, and there is a vibrant buzz around the packed venue, with early chants of 'Jake! Jake!' echoing off the walls.
Starting with 'On My One' (first unveiled a couple of weeks ago as a teaser for his forthcoming third album) it's Bugg at his best, faultless vocal delivery alongside some excellent guitar picking. The song itself is about his state of mind after relentless touring, and although not an official release it is one with which the eager crowd are already familiar, lyric-wise. Next sees Jake rattle through crowd favourites 'Two Fingers', 'Seen It All', 'Simple Pleasures' and 'Me & You'. It's still relatively early in the gig, but there's mass sing-alongs already breaking out amongst the hyped-up crowd.
Sprinkled between well-known Bugg classics such as 'Country Song' and 'Troubled Town', Bugg plays some new songs from the next album: the aforementioned 'On My One', 'The love we're hoping for', and 'Love, hope and misery' being some of the standouts which, on first hearing, are likely to become JB favourites fairly rapidly.
Throughout the set the crowd never let up on their relentless singing, dancing with some venturing as far as crowd-surfering, while others opted for a better stage view aloft their mates' shoulders (security not being best pleased there).
Heading into the last part of the show, we are treated to a few more new songs 'Living Up Country' and Put Out The Fire'. The new songs fit in nicely amongst Bugg classics and by the time the set is drawing to an end of it's mammoth 20-song length, the crowd are all hot, sweaty - and wishing the would carry on for another hour. Sadly, it doesn't.
Penultimate number 'Lightnin' Bolt' produces the biggest cheers, sing-alongs and crowd jumping of the night, before closing on 'Gimme The Love'. And after a performance like that the Bugg had just given, the crowd definitely were giving Jake the love. It's good to have the Bugg back.
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