Jake Bugg Review – The Corn Exchange, Edinburgh

For someone who has been unwittingly hailed as the spokesman for his generation, Jake Bugg is a man of very few words. Sauntering onto the stage at Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange on Saturday night, he launched into There’s a Beast and We All Feed It without saying a single word, and continued to play tracks from his two albums pretty much back-to-back for the duration of his short set.

Seen It All and Two Fingers were predictably popular with the drunken, sold-out audience but stripped-back acoustic performances of Broken and A Song About Love showcased Bugg’s signature raspy vocals flawlessly and also went down a treat with the diverse crowd. The singer-songwriter was far from acting like a showman and remained still throughout the gig, standing defensively behind his microphone and guitar, moving only to swap instruments or take a short break backstage.

Bugg might have an undisputable air of nonchalance about him when performing, but his reluctance to engage with the audience didn’t seem to affect his connection with them. They sang and danced along to every track and no one seemed to leave feeling short-changed, even though the mellow gig only lasted for a mere 70-minutes.

Lyrically, there’s no doubt that Jake Bugg is a great social commentator and he seems destined to perform in venues much larger than the Corn Exchange. If he can work on his stage presence and letting his guard down, he’ll be selling out The Hydro this time next year.

Jake Bugg’s latest single, A Song About Love, is out today and can be purchased from http://po.st/ShangriLaYT