It was certainly bittersweet walking into the Palace Theatre, a beautiful Melbourne building set to be demolished for luxury apartments next month.
The first support act was Cameron Avery of The Growl, who performed an intimate, revelling set. Accompanied by a loop pedal, the artist delighted the crowd with blues-inspired pieces, somewhat channeling The Cruel Sea’s Tex Perkins. Looking much like a bushranger with a beautiful scraggly beard, Avery charmed those who came out early to see his set.
Next up were The Creases, who wowed the audience with indie-surf musings. Their stage presence was amiable and contagious, and one of their guitarists could’ve won first place in a Beatle doppelgänger competition. The band’s cover of Tal Bachman’s 90s hit ‘She’s So High’ was paired brilliantly by extensive audience participation during the chorus. By the end of their set, the building was filled to the brim and the crowd was buzzing.
Soon enough Bugg took the stage, powering through song after song. He didn’t talk much, instead letting the music speak for him. Opening with a back-to-back trio of ‘Kentucky’, ‘There’s A Beast And We All Feed It’, and ‘Trouble Town’, this was only a little of what was to come. Most of the set was Bugg with his supporting band, but halfway through, the 19-year old was left alone in the spotlight – a feature that emphasised some of his deeper tracks. ‘Broken’ received an overwhelming response; in fact, the crowd interaction was so strong that he looked a little taken aback by it all.
When the band returned, Bugg exchanged acoustics for electrics and powered into ‘Slumville Sunrise’. The distortion-fuelled hit ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ turned the theatre into a complete punk rock fiesta – clearly showing that the time he spent with producer Rick Rubin recording his sophomore record Shangri La had some impact. Some punters were kicked out for reckless behaviour, and even more followed when Bugg played ‘A Song About Love’ – a tune that saw lighters in the air one minute before being thrown around the next.
‘Lightning Bolt’ was the final track, drawing all to a close after tackling Neil Young’s ‘My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)’, an outstanding ending to what was a delightful night.
Setlist
Kentucky
There’s A Beast And We All Feed It
Trouble Town
Seen It All
Me And You
Storm Passes Away
Two Fingers
Messed Up Kids
Ballad of Mr. Jones
Pine Trees
Broken
Simple Pleasures
Green Man
Kingpin
Taste It
Slumville Sunrise
What Doesn’t Kill You
A Song About Love
My My, Hey Hey (Neil Young cover)
Lightning Bolt
