Down in the valley where the church bells cry

Last night me and Tom went to see Jake Bugg at the O2 Academy in Oxford and he was simply brilliant. I'm always so happy when I go to see a band or singer live and they turn out to be as good/better than what their recorded songs sound like. He really put all his emotion and energy into his performance and it was heart-warming to see him crack a smile after putting on such a serious face for his songs. He didn't say much to the audience, but he didn't need to. He came across as a really genuine guy and everyone at the sold out gig was really drawn in by his set. His performance of 'Broken' was probably my favourite song of the evening, although it was amazing to hear the whole crowd belting 'Lightning Bolt' back at him.

His 2 warm-up acts were Dublin brothers Hudson Taylor who were absolutely amazing, and Southern American Valerie June. Unfortunately I can't say that Valerie's music was my sort of thing but I'd definitely pay to go and see Hudson Taylor again. They were so full of energy on stage, their songs were fantastic, and their Irish accent just topped off everything.

P.S. It's my blog's first birthday today! To celebrate I think I'll have some cake.