Mild-mannered pop hero brings it all back home
IT was an excited crowd which turned up at the Motorpoint Arena on Saturday night to welcome back our very own Jake Bugg to the city – and they were determined to have a good time.
Preferring to perform in much smaller venues, such as the concert he gave for 50 lucky fans on Thursday night at the Meadow Lane Sports Bar, it was expected incorrectly that he might have been a little out of his comfort zone on the huge Arena stage.
Celebrating ten years since the release of his eponymous debut album, Bugg began the evening solo on stage with just his guitar and a spotlight for three acoustic songs, Strange Creatures, Love Me The Way You Do and Saffron, all which served to set the benchmark for the rest of his set.
With his band then joining on stage, there was his intimate set that saw him launch into a handful of songs from his 2013 Shangri La album.
And for once Bugg looked as though he was enjoying the thrill of performing live, although his mildmannered stage presence meant he barely moved on the unadorned stage as he rattled through a 35-song setlist.
Up next were all 14 songs from the album that had brought this authentic indie artist to the fore. Obviously there were all the singles, Trouble Town, Country Song, and the ramshackle garage rocker See It All, which still sounded great. Broken was a real delight as he was joined on stage by a choir, and leaving Two Fingers and huge hit Lightning Bolt to the end of this set, he got a huge reaction from the crowd who sang along with gusto.
After a short break he was back for a greatest hits set, which saw him treat this appreciative crowd to six songs from his latest album, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning – which dropped in 2021 – together with some of his wellloved oldies.
This began with the disco-inspired stomper Lost, while Kiss Like The Sun still sounded like a mixture of KT Tunstall and The Stone Roses. There was the crowd-pleaser Slumville Sunrise before the memorable night was brought to an end with What Doesn’t Kill You which thrilled the crowd, and All I Need.
His reluctance to play encores is well known, but here there was really no need because he had already given this crowd everything they needed to leave with smiles on their faces.