Billy Bragg at the Ampere

Billy Bragg, English folk-rock legend, was on fire this past Monday night at the Ampere. He started off strong with his second song into the set already a big sing-a-long with "To have and to have not." The set then meandered through his career from songs about relationships to labor unions as well as covers of Woody Guthrie. He could have nearly passed as a comedian as he had witty stories and jokes between nearly every song throughout the set which gave insight into the songwriter's view of each song. The last song of the night was the expected "New England" which is always a crowd favorite and was a very loud sing-a-long ending. In the end, Billy Bragg still proudly holds the torch of a true folk singer in line with Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie while staying truly relevant to the times.

Bragg's latest album is a compilation entitled "Fight Songs" which was released in 2011 and is available from his official website.