Review: Jake Bugg @ Leeds First Direct Arena


Jake Bugg live in New York, January 2014 (Photo: Paul Bachmann for Live4ever)

Jake Bugg live in New York, January 2014 (Photo: Paul Bachmann for Live4ever)




Jake Bugg‘s refreshing and insouciant take on rockabilly and skiffle was recently brought to the First Direct Arena in Leeds, the huge audience he drew to the venue a sure sign that most people these days are fully aware of what Bugg does.

And, dare we say, after experiencing a plush drinks reception and some spankingly new facilities at the arena, we were in no way distracted from just how exciting his deconstruction of rock and roll actually is.

Especially as it is a form, style and sound that was always intended to be heard live.

From the very beginning his balance of ability and attitude unites the crowd behind an impressive wall of sound. Using rockabilly and skiffle’s stripped down, bare-bones ethos is something most arena size acts wouldn’t do. Many needlessly upscale their live show to match a larger venue such as this, so it was exciting to find a musician focusing entirely on nothing but the music. No bells. No whistles.

Thanks to aggressive and fraught performances of tracks like ‘Two Fingers‘, ‘Slumville Sunrise‘ and ‘Trouble Town‘, amongst others, it was shocking to witness how bright the fire of outrage burns within such a young man. Adding to these impassioned performances, ‘Ballad Of Mr Jones‘ took his sound and gave it scope. It was stunning, somehow reminiscent of an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, both expansive and uncomfortable close up.

Yet, despite the fire at the heart of the performance, Bugg still displayed a tenderness and lightness of touch, something truly brought to the fore on a segment of acoustic solos, ‘Broken‘ being the highlight of this softer side, working perfectly as a heartbreaking ballad and also as a wonderful calm before an oncoming storm.

The approaching storm being Bugg’s closer, ‘Lightning Bolt‘. To hold a track like this until the end, the fact that Bugg knows his mind, and has enough metal to see it through, is truly impressive. Not because of his age or some other patronising aspersion, but because of the surety of his mind. Most artists take time to develop, not only their own sound, but also how they fit themselves into the vision that the sound projects, changing vastly from record to record while they push at boundaries, or incorporate all their passions. And undoubtedly Bugg will also do this to some degree, but he seems already to be further down the road than many of his older contemporaries.

Overall the performance is clean and powerful, unfettered by doubt or extraneous material. There’s no need for flashy gimmicks, or pointless distractions, he is quite capable and willing to be judged on the music alone. And there he stands, centre stage, absolutely everything flapping in the wind. Waiting to be judged, waiting for the reaction, a reaction which seems to fill every inch of this vast and impressive space with nothing but love and adoration.



It’s about trusting the music, and trusting the audience, and Bugg has it and more.

(Dylan Llewellyn-Nunes)


Learn More