Jake Bugg, oh how I couldn't bloody wait to see young Jakey Bugg do his thing at Paradiso. I mean here was a singer/songwriter, and well hyped guitarist, on display at "my church" ready to make me believe that there is a god.....a guitar god that is.
Am I being a little dramatic? Well maybe just a tad, but the fact is that Jake had played a sold out show here last tour, and this time would be no different. In fact he, the cheeky little Bugger (pun intended) had sold out two nights back to back at one of the greatest rock venues in Europe....Paradiso, Amsterdam.
Upon entry into the venue you couldn't miss who we were there to see
His first album had been an amazing success (and I loved it) and he had just released his second album "Shangri La" which had been produced by Rick Rubin, a producer who has worked with everybody of note in the music industry. All of these factors made me expect that I could well be in for quite a show and it would take a lot to disappoint me.
What became extremely noticeable over the night was the fact that the first half of the show was very, very, different to the second half. And if I would hazard a guess, that clearly it was as deliberate decision to do so, and for the record, this did not (in my humble opinion) make it bad, it just pointed to a much more complex show that I had expected.
What became extremely noticeable over the night was the fact that the first half of the show was very, very, different to the second half. And if I would hazard a guess, that clearly it was as deliberate decision to do so, and for the record, this did not (in my humble opinion) make it bad, it just pointed to a much more complex show that I had expected.
It wasn't like Jake picked up his guitar, walked on and played, rather he wanted to get some new songs out there into the musical ether and then rocket into the rock n roll hits and attitude tracks. Upon reflection, if I had to pick, I think the second half (for mine) was by far the stronger and was when Jake used much more of his "true" electric guitars and to me this what when the gig really rocked and rolled.
What is evident to every punter in the venue is that Jake is a young man. But one who clearly has been exposed to a lot of guitar wisdom, I mean he makes that guitar wail and yearn as good as most, well at least most coming out to play, in this modern era. Furthermore he would appear to be a rather complex young man, I mean this could be totally wrong, but up on stage he seems to be thinking a lot, like the brooding musician that I probably wanted him to be. Finally when little Mr Bugg covered a Neil Young song (Hey Hey, My My) I was in musical seventh heaven, and it's strange how a good cover can go a long way to enhancing an already stellar performance.
So I personally loved the show, maybe more than the rest of the crew that I went with, but not by much, I think on this night all were well satisfied. I had just wanted guitar rock and roll, I wanted something musically special, I wanted all of Jakes last album to be played. And I also wanted to drink my fill in my favorite venue in the world. And I found that all boxes on this particular evening were ticked.
Sometimes I wonder if just "one" main man can captivate a large crowd with just his voice and a guitar, and it is easy to say that I think Jake can. On top of that let’s see where this guy is at in 10 years' time? I think at best he will be a musical guitar genius, at worst he will be the next Jack White (who is already a musical deity).
JV
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