After two years of not being fast enough to get tickets, and literally having to flip a coin to choose between seeing him or Bombay Bicycle Club at Leeds Festival, I finally got to see Jake Bugg at the sold out Liverpool Echo Arena on Saturday. All of the true, emotive honesty that had first attracted me to his music came flooding back amidst the rawness of his street-wise musical and lyrical talent, taking me to the time I first listened to his songs, a time when I didn’t understand how almost revolutionary ideas could be conceived so beautifully.
The first support act was Misty Miller: “a twisty thriller,” apparently. Basically, she’s a camouflage-clad, Vagabond boot-wearing Marina Diamandis going through a grunge phase, in a good way. VERY loud and looking like she was having the time of her life, she sang lyrically intriguing songs accompanied by heavy guitar riffs. It’s clear that she’ll be making her name with the likes of Kate Nash and Sky Ferreira soon.
The second support act was Hudson Taylor, a duet of Irish brothers who came fully equipped with what seemed like hundreds of acoustic guitars and a violin. They sang songs from their upcoming debut album, and, as someone who jumped the height of the living room when it was announced that they were supporting, I was beside myself with excitement. Both support acts managed to engage the crowd of 12,000 North-Westerners, who were all eagerly waiting for Jake Bugg to grace the stage.
He came on midway through the crowd’s magical rendition of ‘Champagne Supernova,’ which proved again to me that music has the ability to transcend anything. The first of the 20 song setlist were ‘Messed Up Kids,’ ‘Seen It All,’ and ‘Trouble Town.’ These songs alone managed to teleport the modest arena on the Liverpool waterfront to underneath the summer sun at Glastonbury. Created was an atmosphere that would be hard to match indoors.
‘Two Fingers’ was played not long after, prompting the whole arena to literally “hold two fingers up to yesterday,” allowing us all sing so passionately: “I got out / I got out / I’m alive and now I’m here to stay,” as Bugg watched on proudly.
Two new songs emerged from the setlist. The first was an acoustic, ‘Slide’-esque track called ‘Down the Avenue,’ which emitted sheer heartbreak as we all wished we knew the lyrics to sing along. “Going out to not get far / We’re burning with the brightest star” were the lyrics that stuck the most.”The latter was ‘Hold on You,’ a lovely little blues song. From these, the next album – which could take “five years (or) could take five months,” according to an interview with NME – possibly includes the emotional, acoustic guitar-infused songs that Jake creates so well, but ultimately has the potential to be anything.
Before Bugg played ‘Broken’ I had never witnessed such passion and honesty. Armed solely with an acoustic guitar, he played and sang as if he’d never before. The crowd followed him through each bar, trying desperately to equal his emotion, but, even amidst the tears and the entire arena agreeing that we are “always one, never broken,” ours only reached a fraction of his. These few minutes were the highlight of the night, and I’m quite sure I saw Jake wipe away a tear after the prematurely-ended standing ovation.
Quickly Bugg transitioned into ‘Lightning Bolt,’ a light-hearted and perfect ending to an emotionally draining but truly wonderful night.
Words by Caitlin O’Connor