Photo Credit: Jack Delve
In his usual understated manner, Bugg took to the Oxford stage and started his acoustic set, the first of two sets for the night. Fans may not have been expecting Strange Creatures for his first song, it is perhaps what many would consider a deep cut in his discography. Carrying the set on, he got stuck into two songs from his self-titled debut, before digging into a brand new unreleased track which he introduced as I Wrote The Book. This track was reminiscent of his much earlier releases hinting towards a return to his tried and tested country-rock formula, as opposed to Saturday Night, Sunday Morning his 2021 record.
With a clever mix of old and new, Bugg introduced “one of the first songs he ever wrote,” Love Me The Way You Do captivated the crowd and rightfully earned a massive applause after, as we could tell that the song held a special spot for him whilst performing it. Further emphasising the new and old split the singer opted to juxtapose the ending of the acoustic portion of the night with 2021’s Hold Tight and 2012’s Simple As This.
Eighteen tracks comprised his full band set and after a brief intermission, Bugg arrived back on the stage with his bassist and drummer and to the already warmed up crowd, performed Trouble Town, arguably one of his most iconic tracks. A benefit of having already played a handful of songs prior to the main set, this first track was a delight to hear so soon, fans were able to belt out the lyrics to one of his first singles. Mainly sticking to his debut and sophomore albums for the majority of his second set, it can’t be impossible that at least some fans were disappointed by the lack of inclusion from a whopping two albums. Neglecting On My One and Hearts That Strain from 2016 and 2017 respectively was a shame as there are some well loved tracks from them. What was played from his remaining three records however, was well received by everyone in the auditorium. Slumville Sunrise, in particular, garnered an especially loud cheer after its lengthy guitar outro.
The full band set wasn’t without its (as-yet) unreleased song debuts too. A distinct stand out moment was Waiting For The World which provided a break before some of his more laidback and mellow tracks from, again, his first two albums. High tempo and louder tracks such as Screaming were placed amongst the slower points of the evening like Broken, giving an interesting vibe to the latter part of the night. The closing tracks were some of his most memorable moments of the night. A long run of the singles that one might hear on the radio every so often closed the evening, like Lightning Bolt and All I Need, and as a result gave the fans an easy opportunity to jump and sing for one final time.
Some parts of the evening did feel well crafted, including hearing some new material however the majority of the concert did feel a bit unimaginative. His first two studio releases were definitely the albums that kick-started Bugg’s career by selling an unimaginable number of copies but he’s released three since then, it would be nice if he was to visit songs that aren’t just from the first couple, as we’re sure many in his audience also think this. (6/10)
Written By: Jack Delve
