Concert Review: MADDIE & TAE, Koko, London

Going to concerts is always a lot of fun, but somehow whenever Maddie & Tae are involved it’s always a bit more fun. I started the night by heading backstage to say hi to the girls and update my photo with them (last time was C2C 2015!) and can confirm that both girls are absolute sweethearts, both on and off stage. You can’t help but like them.

I rushed back inside to catch the end of opening act Frankie Davies’ set – she’d been recommended to me on Twitter a number of times so I was very excited to finally see her live. She certainly has a lot of charisma, laughing along with the crowd and encouraging us to help sing on final track Shivers. From what I saw, she has a beautiful pure voice, and I look forward to seeing more of her soon. Great choice for an opener!

Maddie & Tae’s set began with Brothers Osborne It Ain’t My Fault blaring through the speakers which had us all singing along within seconds – we were definitely in the mood to have a good time. The girls appeared on stage and began with Your Side of Town, having a great deal of fun and both rocking out on guitar. It’s clear these two are young superstars.

The chemistry between the duo is undeniable, and as they sang Right Here, Right Now, they would look and smile at one another making it clear how fun it must be being on stage every night with your best friend. M&T prove themselves as queens of satirical songs as we moved onto Sierra with lyrics like “A heart of pure gold is something very rare / And the only one she has is on that necklace that she wears” and “I hope that I'm around when you get knocked up or knocked down.”

Both girls had the chance to show off their unique talents, Tae on guitar and Maddie’s stunning vocals which shone through on Waiting on a Plane. However, I’m sure the crowd would have happily sang the whole show themselves as was made clear when Maddie pointed her mic into the audience during No Place Like You and the crowd heartily took over.

I was impressed to see fans even knew the words to some of the duo’s unreleased tracks from their upcoming album such as We’re Gonna Get There. As the girls don’t tour the UK as often as they do the US, they offered us sneak peeks of new songs which suggest there’s a lot to look forward to on M&T2. I particularly enjoyed the sultry Why You Looking At Me Like That which I can’t wait to hear on the new record.

More new songs came in the form of Welcome to the Club, an upbeat song which somehow makes heartbreak and all the pain that comes with it sound fun, and Growing which details the ups and downs they’ve experienced over the past year – brilliant storytelling and a key component of great country music.

Perhaps my favourite moment of the night was when the girls covered Niall Horan’s Slow Hands which was utterly fantastic and dare I say even better than the original. I’ve spent all morning trying to find a YouTube link to prove it to you but with no luck – hopefully we’ll hear it again soon!

Whilst that was my favourite song of the night, the duo also got to play theirs, with Maddie choosing Downside of Growing Up which generated a huge cheer from the audience, whose age ranged from mid-teens to elderly couples – now that’s how you know your music speaks to a wide range of people. Tae’s choice came from the new album, a lilting ballad called Walk In Her Heels discussing how hard it is to see the person you like with someone new. I told you you have a lot to look forward to on the upcoming album!

Maddie & Tae showed off their rocky side on Smoke, jamming along with their brilliant band and making sure everyone was singing as loud as they were. I kid you not, when they began to play one of their top-selling songs Fly the crowd was singing louder than the girls were – it was magical. I loved the easy transition into Coldplay’s Fix You which meant that even if you weren’t a fan of Maddie & Tae (which I’m sure was not applicable to anyone in the audience) you could still sing along at the top of your lungs. No one was not having a good time.

The main set ended with more fun songs including new songs Blame It On The Tree with great lyrics like “My roots run way too deep to be pulling them up / They're stuck where they oughta be / You can't just bury what's hereditary / So don't blame it on the apple, blame it on the tree”, Just Fine, and of course the original sassy Girl In A Country Song. Each of these highlighted to me just how great songwriters the duo are, especially given their young ages. I find it hard enough to write a coherent review, let alone catchy, meaningful and fun lyrics!

As they left the stage, the room was filled with love for what had been a brilliant show, but we weren’t ready to go yet. Maddie came back on stage and asked the crowd “Do y’all have time for two more songs?” (like we were going to say no!) and we finished up with sweet ballad Somebody Will and the thoroughly enjoyable and well-written (when they were only 16 years old, would you believe it!) Shut Up and Fish. I left with a smile from ear to ear.

The last word I wrote in my review notes was ‘FUN’ and that sums up everything Maddie & Tae’s concert was for me – the girls, their songs and their performance were all so much fun, and it was easily one of the most enjoyable nights I’ve had at a gig so far. Don’t miss them next time they’re here!

What’s the most enjoyable concert you’ve been to? Let me know on Twitter @CiarasCountry or in the comments! I love to hear anything and everything music related so be sure to let me know who your favourite artists are, what your favourite albums are, and what you’re listening to right now. More reviews and interviews coming soon!

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Concert Review: MIRANDA LAMBERT, Eventim Apollo, London

It was a Wednesday evening, and I was tired. What better way to wake myself up than a country music concert? And not just any country concert at that, but the Queen of Country herself, Miranda Lambert. To be honest, I was surprised that the event was talking place at the Eventim Apollo, one of London’s medium size venues. She could easily sell out the O2 as many of her counterparts have done before.

Kicking the night off was Ward Thomas, who started their set with a literal bang as drum beats filled the speakers. Their set was much the same as usual (and you can read more of my Ward Thomas reviews here and here) but with the addition of new song Breathe In, a gentle acoustic track which I found a welcome break from many of their poppy, ‘clap-along’ songs like Boomerang and Cartwheels. What the new song did well was highlight their impressive vocals, so I’m interested to see what their next album holds. Nevertheless, it was clear that they are crowd favourites as each song ended with raucous applause and standing ovations from some.

The standing continued, and didn’t stop, when Miranda hit the stage – her music is not the type you want to sit down during – instead the crowd were dancing and swaying to each song, an energy I love to see at any kind of concert. She walked on exuding cool vibes in a blue fringed top and blue guitar complete with diamond strap before launching into Fastest Girl In Town. Given that this was the ‘Highway Vagabond’ Tour, I had anticipated that most of the songs would be from her latest (absolutely brilliant) album ‘The Weight of These Wings’ but the set appeared to be more of a Greatest Hits type. I can’t say I minded at all.

We hit real nostalgia in second song Kerosene released when she was only 21 years old so it was nice to see her old songs still getting a lot of love from the crowd. Just in case we forgot what kind of gig we were at, we were greeted with a hearty ‘Hey y’all’ and a good old drinking song – Heart Like Mine. Looking around, not one person wasn’t singing, true dedication to a country legend.

The next section of the set was dedicated to ‘The Weight of These Wings’ beginning with Highway Vagabond, We Should Be Friends and my favourite song of the night Vice which somehow made more sense to me when sung live than it had ever done before. All the time, Miranda looked like she was enjoying herself, working the stage and getting the audience to join in with choruses.

If I had to use one word to describe the concert, it would be ‘powerful’ and this was particularly evident in strong songs like Baggage Claim, Over You (a song which breaks my heart every time I hear it) and All Kinds of Kinds. Raw emotion ballad The House That Built Me generated the biggest cheer, and again, made it clear that such songs were of real importance to events that had affected Miranda in the past. Whilst her latest album is varied in itself, getting to hear tracks from her entire discography proved how versatile an artist she is, dealing with any content and style that she wants.

The pace picked up again with Pink Sunglasses in which her cool outfit was completed by a pair of (definitely more than $9.99) pink sunglasses. This was a song a lot of us had been waiting for, and audience members hastily pulled their own pink sunglasses out of bags to join in the fun. The party continued as Miranda poured herself a glass of whiskey and invited us to toast to failure and when things go bad. She quoted her own divorce, a little bit of drinking too much, and then things getting better – no song better to follow this speech than Ugly Lights which transitioned halfway through into the brilliantly fun Mama’s Broken Heart. Here, she showed her crazy (watch the music video, it’s fantastic) as did we all. We’d come out to have a good time and she wasn’t disappointing.

One thing I always appreciate at gigs is when artists introduce their bands, but Miranda went beyond, referring to them as ‘family’ and encouraging huge cheers for everyone even if we didn’t know where they were from. This request was obliged but backing singer Gwen Sebastian (you might recognise the name from Blake Shelton’s My Eyes) got a mega cheer, and the cheer for her Essex-born steel guitar player went on for a good two minutes.

Moreover, the stage was let over to Gwen briefly to sing her new single Cadillac, something I don’t think I’ve ever seen at a concert before which was really lovely. We were inundated with special guest singers as Miranda’s boyfriend Anderson East then appeared on stage to duet Getaway Driver, but in a very different manner to how I’d heard it before – much slower with Anderson singing with an almost tortured expression. They clearly bring out creativity in each other and it was nice to watch their chemistry.

Next up was the second song of Miranda’s I’d heard – Automatic (I know, I was late to the party), a song I was really glad made it on to the setlist given her plethora of tracks to choose from. This was followed by the first song of hers I’d heard and admittedly hadn’t liked too much – Little Red Wagon – perhaps it’s always been a bit too rocky for me, but honestly, the way she performed it made it so enjoyable I found myself getting a new appreciation for it as I left the gig.

The main set ended with two edgy and very fun songs, White Liar and Gunpowder and Lead, the latter of which I hadn’t realised had been written in response to Miranda meeting domestic violence victims – definitely changes the way I think about it! The band then left the stage but thankfully not for to long as Miranda then returned to ask us to wish her parents a happy 39^th wedding anniversary via video and then dedicated her penultimate song to them for encouraging her to pursue music. This was what I’d been waiting for, my favourite song of the moment, Tin Man, and it couldn’t have been more perfect with just Miranda and her guitar.

The band wasn’t forgotten though, and everyone came back on stage to sing Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, highlighting their instrumental talents and vocals. By the end of the night, I was fully awake and happy from a thoroughly enjoyable gig. This may have only been her second time playing in the UK, but as long as she keeps coming back, we’ll keep spending money to go to more country gigs!

I hope you enjoyed my review! If you’re a fan of Miranda or Ward Thomas, or saw them on tour, I’d love to know what you thought. There’s lots more reviews and interviews to come so be sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry and drop me a message with your comments or what gigs you think I should head to next!

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