Review: Jake Bugg at the Cambridge Corn Exchange

The prolific Nottingham-born singer-songwriter treated the crowd to old and new songs on Thursday, March 5.

Tonight’s gig wasn’t sold out but it can’t have been far off, given the number of people - of varying ages - who packed into Cambridge’s largest indoor venue to witness this young musician who manages to sound fresh and unique while evoking memories of some of popular music’s biggest names.

Taking the stage to an enthusiastic reception, Jake - backed by a bass player, keyboard player and drummer - began with a few uptempo numbers, which included a moody new song, Rabbit Hole, the raucous Trouble Town the excellent latest single, Kiss Like the Sun.

I generally tend to prefer Jake’s more country-esque material and the undisputed highlight of the night, for me, came when he performed the sublime Simple As This - his distinctive voice beautifully filling the auditorium.

Throughout the show, the down-to-earth star humbly thanked the audience for coming along and expressed his gratitude for their ongoing support. The crowd responded in kind and the sight of an enthusiastic fan in one of the boxes who energetically ‘air drummed’ all the way through was surely tribute enough to Jake’s undeniable talent as a songwriter and performer.

Further musical moments that stood out for me included the beautiful Broken and the frenetic Lightning Bolt - although the song that most people were clamouring to hear seemed to be Two Fingers, which came right at the end.

There was no encore but that was fine with me - I had had a good time, as had most people by the look of it.