A few hours of sleep after my first day at C2C (which you
can read about here) and I was back at the O2 early in the morning to jump into
the indigo2 where I was to spend most of my day. This venue was home to the BBC
Radio 2 Stage where smaller, but still known artists were to play. We began
with Levi Hummon who played a fun
set with his own music including songs like Stupid
as well as rousing covers from the likes of Keith Urban’s Days Go By. A benefit of this venue was
the artist signings which followed each set, giving fans the opportunity to
meet artists who no doubt will continue to hone their craft over years to come.
Next up was – well, let me preface this by saying that at
each festival, I tend to find an artist who I cannot praise enough. Previously,
these included Brooke Eden and Logan Brill and there is no doubt that
this years accolade goes to Delta Rae.
Had I heard of them before? No. Will I be telling everyone about them now? You
bet. Both vocalists, Brittany Holljes and Liz Hopkins, have absolutely stunning
vocals, and boy are their songs good. They got us dancing with songs like I Moved South and A Long and Happy Life, they made us cry with No Peace In Quiet, and they took us to (metaphorical) church with No Dry Eye in the Chapel. Just go and listen
to them and thank me later!
We continued the day with Ashley McBryde who I honestly think could have an equally
successful career as a comedienne. I was jealous of those who would see her at
C2C’s version of the Bluebird Café because her stories behind her songs were
hilarious, as were her songs themselves – take You Got Fat, I Got Famous for an example. It wasn’t always satire
though, and we all loved Girl Goin’
Nowhere with its truthful lyrics like “When the lights come up / And I hear
the band / And where they said I’d be is exactly where I am / I hear the crowd
/ I look around / And I can’t find an empty chair / Not bad for a girl goin’
nowhere”.
Following Ashley was Walker
Hayes who for me was the least country of all the artists I saw performing
at the festival (but we can talk all day about what country actually is) with
his talk/rap style of singing. I can see the appeal of songs like Lila’s Stars and of course You Broke Up With Me (interestingly
written about his record label, not an ex-girlfriend) and he certainly makes a
good argument for the fact that country can be anything you want it to be.
I was looking forward to the next artist, previous The Voice
winner Danielle Bradbery mostly because her song Sway had been making me feel like doing
just that whenever I heard it. She had some great songs in her set like Worth It and the emotional Human Diary, so you can be sure I’ll be
downloading a copy of her album I Don’t
Believe We’ve Met soon, and no doubt will try and catch her gig if she
comes back to the UK.
The tone changed dramatically with the arrival of LANCO as the performance turned into
something of a rock show. The 5-piece band blew the speakers with Long Live Tonight and Born To Love You, with lead singer
Brandon Lancaster jumping into the audience at one point to literally bang his
own drum. He certainly was a showman, dancing all over the stage and
encouraging the audience to sing at the top of their lungs. Again, they certainly
brought the party although it did feel slightly strange for 3 o’clock in the
afternoon.
The rock show continued with Canadian singer Lindsay Ell and her very cool guitar.
Like LANCO, she was very high energy, working the stage and occasionally diverting
into a rousing guitar solo. I particularly enjoyed the slower tracks she played
including her own self-proclaimed favourite song from her album, Castle and bluesy Waiting On You which truly allowed her vocal range to shine.
At this point, I ducked out for another interview (Catherine
McGrath – coming soon!) before making my way into the arena. Due to the long
queues, I unfortunately missed Ashley
Campbell’s stint on the Spotlight Stage (although I’m sure she was due to
play the Main Stage when initially announced). Nevertheless, I heard great
things about her tribute to her father Glen Campbell which brought audience
members to tears.
First on the Main Stage was Luke Combs who for me was this years Chris Stapleton in that he needed nothing more than his voice to
put on a fantastic show. There was no need for elaborate visuals projected on
the background as his gritty voice quite literally did all the talking as he
began with the stirring Out There. There
wasn’t a low moment in the set and we continued in a great fashion with fun
songs like One Number Away and Moonshine.
His songs are undoubtedly hugely entertaining – I mean who
can say no to a song about a break-up being the best thing that’s ever happened
to you? Whilst a year ago I would have said ‘who?’ if you’d asked me about Luke
Combs, now I’ll be forever rethinking his great opening set. He also took this
as an opportunity to announce a second date at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
later this year which, after that performance, I have no doubt will sell out.
We moved to the Spotlight Stage for Ashley McBryde who was undoubtedly one of my highlights of the
festival. Whilst her set here was only long enough for two songs, they couldn’t
have been better suited to the occasion as her intense vocals rang out across
the arena on American Scandal and of
course the lyrics behind Girl Goin’
Nowhere could not have been truer than right in that moment. I only wished
she’d had time to show her fun side too as she’s truly a very versatile artist.
Next on the Main Stage was Kip Moore who counts himself as another of C2C’s returners. His set
was markedly different to that which I saw on Thursday at the Songwriters
Series as Kip proved himself as an artist who can play acoustically as well as
in an arena setting. Whilst Luke brought the more traditional country, Kip
brought the rock, racing around the stage to songs like The Bull and Wild Ones.
His set list was full of fan favourites and there was no
halting the sing alongs that occurred with songs like Hey Pretty Girl and Somethin’
Bout A Truck. If ever there was an artist needed to tear the roof off the
arena, you can’t go far wrong with Kip. As country is very much a storytelling
genre, I was pleased that Kip chose to end his set with an stripped back
version of Guitar Man in which he
regaled the tale of heartbreak that those there on Thursday at the Songwriters
Series had had the chance to hear. It’s clear that Kip has come a huge way
since then, and the only way is up.
We continued with Jillian
Jacqueline on the Spotlight Stage where she performed powerful and
emotional songs like Hate Me, Reasons and
God Bless This Mess. Not only where
we able to hear the emotion in her voice, but it was clear that playing the O2
was a huge deal for her as she shed a few tears throughout her performance. No doubt
this was made all the more special for the fact that her mum was in the
audience (and recording the whole thing) – a very proud moment for the both of
them.
I was excited to see the next act, Sugarland, perform as I had no doubt that they would be hugely fun,
and I wasn’t disappointed. Having seen both Jennifer Nettles and Kristian
Bush play at C2C separately in previous years, but never together, we knew
we were in for a treat as one of the first performances that the duo would play
together after their six year hiatus. Whilst we were told that a new album is
in the works, the pair did not debut any music for the crowd with the exception
of new single Still The Same. However,
I don’t think this was an issue at all as it allowed us to relive our favourites
and sing along to tracks we were already familiar with.
And what a fun night was had! It’s impossible not to dance
along to All I Wanna Do and Stuck Like Glue with their infectious
energy, brought even higher by Nettles who looked like she was having the
absolute time of her life on stage. I imagine that both Nettles and Bush are
absolutely lovely people and this persona came through very clearly as the two
performed on stage. They’ve both been brilliant performers in their own right
(and showed this again at the festival by taking time to sing their solo hits Trailer Hitch and the emotional Unlove You) but it is when they came
together that it seemed like this was where they were supposed to be. Their
lyrics (slightly adapted by me) to Baby
Girl could not seem to be more true: “Please don’t worry cause I’m alright
/ I’m (playing here at the O2 tonight) / What do you know, we made our dreams
come true.”
The tone changed quite quickly as we moved to the Spotlight
Stage to watch Lukas Nelson, who I wasn’t too familiar with, but it wouldn’t
take anyone long to realise what family he comes from, as his voice was to me a
mirror image to that of his father, Willie’s. He used the venue to really
accentuate his guttural tones on songs Just
Outside of Austin and Find Yourself, slapping
his guitar and roaring out across the silent arena. He’s certainly something
different to much of modern country and if the world is ready for it, we could
well have Willie Nelson 2.0 on our hands.
The headline act was one who I would have happily seen had
it just been her playing – Kacey Musgraves.
This excitement was made all the more palpable at the thought that we would
be amongst the first to hear songs from her upcoming album Golden Hour. As much as I love her previous albums, it will be nice
to add some more songs to my Kacey playlists! She took to the stage in a
sparkly rhinestone jumpsuit – a considerably different look from her 2016 set
where she and her band sported pink suits and cowboy hats.
The set kicked off with a brand new song and one I can’t
wait to hear on the album, Slow Burn which
just sounded so very Kacey – listen to it and you’ll know what I mean. The night
continued with a mix of the old, like Silver
Lining, Family is Family and one of my all time favourite songs Late to the Party as well as a
considerable number of new tracks including Butterflies,
Velvet Elvis and a tribute to her grandmother played on the Spotlight Stage
in the form of Rainbow. It was an
interesting move to play new songs before we’d even heard them as obviously
there’s little chance of engaging your audience to join in with singing, but I
think it just added to fans anticipation for the album.
The concert also undoubtedly ended the best that I’ve ever
seen any concert end, as huge neon beach balls descended from the back of the
arena as she sang final track High Horse and
so we spent the last few minutes whacking the beach balls around the arena and
having the time of our lives. What a party, and a good indication of what’s to
come on her return to the UK (and Wembley Arena) in October.
Saturday was an absolute
highlight for me and I hope you enjoyed my review! Stay tuned for coverage of the
final day of the festival, as well as exclusive artist interviews coming very
soon to this blog. Make sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry for all the
latest country music news and drop me a comment below with any questions or
suggestions you have!
No comments:
Post a Comment