TRAVEL: Petra, Jordan - the worth it wonder of the world

Before you start, make sure to read my last Jordan blog here! 

Upon arrival in Petra, we stopped briefly in the town to pick up our tickets for our upcoming activities before driving along some very treacherous and scarily narrow streets up and up to get to our hotel, the Marriot. Offered complimentary Arabic coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice on arrival, we settled into our rooms before running outside to catch the end of the sunset. It was absolutely spectacular, spreading right across the mountain range in front of us with stunning colours, and rays of light unlike anything I'd seen before. Only being on Day 1 of the trip, and I was already content. 

As we were half-board, dinner was served buffet style with a good selection of salads and starters, including hands down the best hummus I have ever tasted, a few mains and a plethora of desserts. What more could you ask for? When I had become more hummus than human, it was time to head back into Petra. 

We had booked something called Petra By Night, again recommended to do before seeing Petra in its full capacity to build up the excitement. We arrived at the visitors centre at about eight o'clock for our quarter past eight booking. I don't think we'd quite realised just how many people would be on the tour with us, as there must have been at least fifty people in our group with only one guide, and everyone trying to push to the front before we'd even started for reasons unknown to me. 

When the clock struck eight fifteen, chaos broke loose and everyone kept clamouring to get to the front of the group in spite of the guide telling us to walk in twos. After about ten minutes, I think he just gave up, and then it was every man for himself. We got caught up in the racing, still not knowing quite what we were racing for, as all fifty of us scurried along in the darkness, the route lit only by candles in paper bags lighting the way. Quite frankly, this was not enjoyable at all - we should have been gazing up at the stars as we wandered along, but instead were desperately watching our footing as we tried not to break an ankle. 

I don't think people quite realised the length of the trail either, as it was about two kilometres before we reached the Treasury, aka the building in all of the photos when you search 'Petra'. Out of breath from our journey, we took in the sea of candles in front of us before finding somewhere to sit on the carpets laid out around. I think this had been the reason for all the scurrying - finding somewhere to sit, but honestly even at a normal rate you'd have found somewhere, leading me to believe we'd kind of just wasted our time and energy on the way in. 

Hundreds more people pored in, and then the night began, with a man off to the side playing some kind of wooden flute for about ten minutes, followed by some Arabic singing, and back to a tinny flute type of instrument. We could see nothing of this, so it made just as much sense to close our eyes and listen, interrupted only by servers with massive trays of sweet tea coming round to everyone. 

Our guide from the beginning took to the centre to tell a short poem/story about Petra being 'the dream he didn't want to wake up from', a short pause, and then the Treasury was lit up with coloured lights, and off went the camera flashes. It was pretty and all, but we only stayed for about five minutes as once we'd had our pictures sorted we were keen to make a move before the hordes descended, and enjoy our walk back.

All in all, I'm not sure I'd recommend this experience. I found it frankly quite stressful, and all for about twenty minutes of music and some lights. Writing this in retrospect having seen Petra in the daytime, you're much better just going in the day as you'll see all the same and more (considering it's light out rather than pitch black!) so I wouldn't say it was worth the money. 

The next morning was an early start with a pleasant breakfast of mostly Western fare (tis the case when you're staying at places like the Hyatt and Mariott) before we hopped in the car and headed back to Petra to be there for eight. Getting our tickets stamped, we were met by a local guide, Eid, as private guides are not allowed to take visitors around and we headed back into Petra, this time by day. 

Our tickets technically included a horseback ride to take us a short way down the trail, but having heard how the animals are treated (or not, as the case may be), we opted to just walk instead, which was actually more pleasant as there were certain sights you would have missed had you been on horseback. 

The guides work on the basis of distance, rather than duration, and so we had Eid to take us pretty much throughout the whole site, up to the stairs to the Monastery, although I've heard not all guides will take you this far. We sauntered along at a much more pleasant pace than the previous evening, Eid stopping to point out various buildings or shrines carved into the rock. I was glad we had a guide with us, as otherwise likely we wouldn't have had a clue what everything we were passing was. 

The winding alleyway through the canyons was pretty busy even at this time in the morning, made all the more difficult by horse drawn carriages tearing their way at breakneck speed past us, and not really seeming to be bothered stopping even if there were tourists in their way. Waiting at the treasury were a number of Bedouin traders, known colloquially as 'Jack Sparrows' due to their resemblance to Johnny Depp's famous character with his kohl-lined eyes and bandana around the head. We were constantly asked if we wanted donkey or camel rides, but again wary of the way they were purported to treat their animals and the fact that a 'ride' could literally mean walking around in a small circle, we declined. 

Petra is a lot bigger than we had imagined, going far beyond just the famous Treasury and including plenty of smaller buildings carved into the rock face and more impressive tombs as well. Eid offered to take us up to see some other tombs not on the usual route - we had been warned about being offered 'extra' trips by Ra-ed as usually the guides will then charge you for these extra excursions. To be frank, it really wasn't clear, as Eid kept going on about doing it as a 'gift' with no mention to any added cost. Either way, we decided to go for it, and he didn't ask us for more money at the end, although that may have been because we gave a reasonable tip which most likely would have covered any extras anyway. 

Regardless, our extra journey was worth it, as we clambered up rocks Indiana Jones style (part of which was filmed in Petra) to see tombs with nobody else around, and offering a great view over the theatre and its surroundings. However, please do be wary that other guides may very well count anything beyond the agreed tour as extra and charge you handsomely for it. 

We had a few more impressive buildings to see including three royal tombs with impressive views over the surrounding sandstone landscape, similar to that of the Grand Canyon, before Eid dropped us at the foot of the stairs up to the monastery. All in all, our tour through Petra to this point had taken us about three and three-quarter hours, and we still had more to do! 

There were 815 steps up to the monastery, so certainly not a trek for the faint of heart. Some people chose to take a donkey up instead of walking, although I'm sure this would have been even more disconcerting as the donkeys had a habit of teetering on the edge, occasionally slipping on the uneven rock. However, it seemed worse for those who chose to donkey down, many of whom looked like they weren't enjoying themselves!

Thoroughly puffed out, we made it to the top after about forty minutes. The monastery itself is very similar to the Treasury, although with slightly less decoration and much less crowded as fewer people opt to take the trek up here. This was pleasant to catch our breath and enjoy the scenery from the top of the world. There were two panoramic viewpoints up here, both claiming to be 'the best view in the world'. Most people were heading up the closer (and steeper) of the two, which I presume offered views of the monastery from higher up, but we remembered someone mentioning a view with a large Jordan flag, which looked like the other one, so alone, we headed to that view.

And boy, what a view. You really did feel like you were on the edge of the world, especially since it was literally just us within eye view. As we approached the edge, a small tea shack was perched there with a Jack Sparrow to greet us. I can't imagine he gets much trade up there!

After a few photo opps, it was time for the return journey down which certainly felt a lot easier than the way up. With no guide with us for the way back, we were able to walk at our leisure, pick up a jar of sand with some camels etched into it, and an ice cream at the Movenpick hotel before we headed back to our hotel. It was the perfect time for a quick dip into the freezing cold pool to recover from the days heat before watching the sun go down again before dinner (and a lot more hummus). And then - off to the desert, coming soon to the blog! 

I hope you enjoyed today's travel blog! I'll be back with more very soon so make sure to stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry, and drop me a message in the comments below with any comments or questions you may have about my adventures - thanks for reading!

TRAVEL: Arriving in Jordan & Little Petra - churches, castles, and camels

I love being able to visit another continent in only just a few hours. Amman, Jordan, is a little less than a five hour flight away, meaning it didn't seem like too much of a trek for our trip. We arrived under the cover of darkness and were greeted at the airport by an executive from the travel agency who helped us pick up our visas, and then handed us over to our driver/guide Ra-ed, who was to accompany us throughout our stay in Jordan.

We drove for about forty minutes away from the airport to the Hyatt Regency in New Amman, past hundreds of green lights adorning minarets across the landscape to let residents know where their nearest mosque is. The hotel was grand, but waking up the next morning knowing it was still 5am back home was tough! A buffet breakfast of mainly international cuisine with a few Arabic dishes thrown in for good measure helped to perk us up, and then we were on our way. 

As we passed beyond the city, one thing which I immediately noticed was the lack of actual houses - almost all of Jordan that we were driving through consisted of large apartment buildings, with the only houses we saw were of similar size to the apartments and built for millionaires. We were told that the country had boomed in the last twenty years, and this appeared to be a telltale sign.

Our first stop was the Memorial of Moses at Mount Nebo, supposedly home to Moses' death place. One thing which became very clear was just how important religion and belief is to Jordanians, although they didn't seem to mind which religion in spite of 90% of the population being Muslim, so long as God was involved, as atop Mount Nebo was an Orthodox Church. As well as an ornate metal cross with a serpent wrapped around it to one side, the church floor itself was covered in the remains of mosaics which had been restored over the centuries. 

We continued our journey to Mataba to another church, this time St George's, famed for a mosaic map representing much of the Middle East. I was surprised to see that unlike the mosaic at Mount Nebo which had been protected under glass, St George's had only a velvet rope which didn't stop people from stepping on its edges. 

Our final en-route destination of the day was Karak Castle, perched atop a hill meaning there were plenty of beautiful views across the surrounding desert countryside. The castle was fairly vast, and offered us an hour of so of entertainment as we wandered around by ourselves, with no route to follow as we clambered up the battlements and underground rooms.

As we were a more efficient tour group than Ra-ed had expected, we had gotten through our attractions quicker than anticipated and so were offered a choice for how to travel on to Petra - the highway, or the scenic Dead Sea Road. The scenic route, I think! As the name suggests, this brought us down towards the two parts of the Dead Sea (North & South) which rifted apart as the warming climate dehydrated the lake. Much of the South is now mined for salt, so we passed huge factories pumping not-so-nice gases into the air and creating a hazy atmosphere. 

Nonetheless, the scenery was pleasant as we drove through hill and valley, stopping for an Arabic coffee at the Why Not Cafe in seemingly the middle of nowhere - I wonder how much trade they usually get in a day. I also caught my first glimpse of camels as they stood around grazing on what little greenery there was or were led across the plains by their owners. How exciting! 

Our efficiency led to another suggestion, that we visit 'Little Petra' on this day rather than in two days time as planned. Ra-ed said that seeing it today would be more impressive than seeing it after we had visited Petra, as to come from 'the big one' to the less impressive version would be disappointing. Instead, going to Little Petra first and getting a glimpse of what was to come would only help to build the excitement, and so we agreed. 

Little Petra did what it said on the tin, with two impressive buildings carved right into the rock face and a number of smaller caves as well. Even though it was small scale, I was still very much impressed, and the reddish-pink colour of the rocks looked beautiful as the sun began to set. A good indication of what was to come... stay tuned to read about it on the blog!

I hope you enjoyed today's travel blog! I'll be back with more very soon so make sure to stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry, and drop me a message in the comments below with any comments or questions you may have about my adventures - thanks for reading!

Concert Review: THOMAS RHETT, Eventim Apollo, London

Thomas Rhett well and truly loves the UK, this being his third year running of touring this side of the pond. Each year, the venue has got bigger with the Eventim Apollo hosting the London date of his Life Changes Tour. The gig started earlier than most would, but this was because we had not one but two opening acts.

First up was Danielle Bradbery, who I liked from the moment she came on stage and greeted us all with a cheery “how’s everybody doing?” This was a smaller setup than the last time I’d seen her play at The Long Road Festival (you can read my review here) as she was backed only by an acoustic guitar, keyboard and snare drum.

She began with Can’t Stay Mad, before expressing her gratitude for having a fan base in the UK to come back to so often. This genuine interaction with the crowd became something that she did after every single song and I was impressed by just how much she not only wanted to put on a great show but engage with the crowd too.

She showed off her flawless vocals on What Are We Doing and what she called her most real song off of latest album I Don’t Believe We’ve Met, Messy. I was actually surprised that she hadn’t been higher up the bill on the tour as I would personally consider her a bigger star than other opener Devin Dawson; although perhaps the tour organisers had wanted Devin to have more of a chance to break the UK as he hasn’t played the UK as much. Nevertheless, I could’ve listened to Danielle sing all night long.

We moved onto the ever so catchy Sway, throughout which she held out her microphone to hear the audience sing, and treated us to a fan request in the form of Heart of Dixie to prove that she does still play her old songs. She regaled us with the story behind current single Goodbye Summer which had been rerecorded featuring Thomas Rhett in order to be released as a single. She sweetly told us to sing along if we knew the words, and if we didn’t, well we could just make them up!

As she sang, she was joined unexpectedly by the man himself, and the look of happiness on her face as he sang with her told it all – there’s a video on my Twitter @CiarasCountry to prove it! This was a very special moment for us all as the two of them performing this live is quite a rare occurrence.

She finished her too-short set with Worth It to send a positive message to all of us in the audience. In my humble opinion, she has one of the best voices in the business, and is a force to be reckoned with. I look forward to seeing her perform many times in the future.

After the interval, ‘the man in black’ Devin Dawson came on stage with a much bigger setup than Danielle, having brought his full band on tour with him. The vibe was vastly different from Danielle as we started with the rocky War Paint and Dip, in which he certainly sounded pretty persuasive as he sang ‘So we’re gonna hightail out of her / To tell with trying to tell them goodbye’

He whirled round the stage like a rockstar before slowing it down briefly for the sexy Symptoms and then bringing it up for Prison, a song he dedicated to “all of you Metalheads out there – you know who you are” – I’m not sure exactly how many of those there were in the audience…

There was quite the contrast between the previous act as he moved from song to song with little break, presumably trying to squish as many songs into forty-five minutes as he could to give new listeners the best chance to get to know his style. As he played another rocky song, Placebo, I felt that his music for the most part was not particularly country and whilst he’d be a great fit for another genre of music, he was an interesting choice for this tour.

I had to bite back my words as he told us about a song he wrote about apologising without saying sorry, Asking For A Friend, which was considerably more country and one that I enjoyed a lot more. During these country songs, he also seemed to open up to the audience a bit more as he told us about getting into songwriting after having had his heart broken as a means to say what he couldn’t say in conversation, which had inspired Secondhand Hurt.

Next up was the song I’d been waiting to hear – All On Me. Now if all of Devon’s songs were like this and the two prior, I would be a megafan, as I’m sure would many of the other country fans in the audience. He finished with the most important and autobiographical song he’d written, Dark Horse. It was good to see that vulnerability and realness that makes country so special, if only just for a moment.

Now where do I begin with Thomas Rhett? He is something else entirely and if you haven’t heard his music yet, I strongly encourage you to give it a listen. It certainly wasn’t an understated entrance as strobe lights flashed along to the beginning beats of Leave Right Now before Thomas ran on stage to screams that could’ve torn the roof off.

He was clearly keen to get the rocky songs out of the way as he moved on to T Shirt, hyping up the already hyped crowd. I was delighted to hear some of the songs I’d loved on his Life Changes record like Renegades performed life, and can assure you that he is one of the few who sounds even better live than on stereo. Three songs in and I was already writing down in my reviewers notebook ‘Now THIS is a show!’

We had a throwback to Get Me Some Of That before he showed off just how much of a partyman he is during the Uptown Funk Country Gold, leaning into the audience and showing off some pretty impressive dance moves. We had another throwback with Make Me Wanna before he told us about his good friend Maren Morris (who really should be playing a venue as big as the Apollo when she returns to the UK next week rather than the tiny Omeara!) before singing Craving You. I was half hoping (Ryan Hurd reference for you Maren fans there) that he’d surprise us by bringing Maren on stage like he’d done for Danielle, but alas, not today.

He moved onto the cutesy Star of the Show which worked stylistically very well with Life Changes which received thusfar the biggest cheer of the night. He stopped before the third verse to tell us the story of adopting a little girl from Uganda just months before his wife unexpectedly gave birth to another baby, leading to two under two and no doubt a lot of sleepless nights! This autobiographical song is so well written and another great example of country differentiating itself from other genres with the truth it tells.

We had another special moment as Thomas revealed that he would play us a new song for literally the first time ever. This two was inspired by his kids and how no matter how old they got, he’d always remember them young, hence the title Remember You Young. This slow and sweet song was accompanied just by the piano, offering us a sneak peek into his next album which can’t come soon enough.

This ballady atmosphere continued with If I Could Have A Beer With Jesus and the last slow song of the set – his ‘What If’ song when he wasn’t sure if he would get back together with then girlfriend Lauren, and thought about what it would be like having to see her marry someone else. The result was my favourite song of his, Marry Me, to which he certainly did justice as I felt the tears prickling my eyes.

We picked up the pace with It Goes Like This (cue more dancing) and current single Sixteen which pretty much summed up everyone’s experiences of growing up and wishing we were just a little bit older. Heck, I’m still counting on my thirties to be when I’ll finally have my life all figured out, and hopefully a thriving blogging business beneath my belt…

What a fun time we had for Unforgettable as Thomas worked the stage marvellously and then wowed the crowd by taking to a drum kit that was wheeled on stage and doing his own solo. Did anyone know he was a talented drummer? It almost made me regret giving up the drums years ago now that I know I could have had something in common with Thomas Rhett!

The main set finished with Vacation and an introduction to his talented band, including Frank the saxophonist, something you wouldn’t normally see at a country concert! He didn’t keep us waiting long and returned to sing Die A Happy Man to ear-splitting screams. As if this wasn’t enough, a couple in the pit literally got engaged to this song, causing Thomas to invite them on stage and sing to them as they slow-danced together. I mean, could you ask for a more unique proposal? We finished with the high energy Crash And Burn – great fun but something I’m sure we don’t wish on the happy couple! I’ve been to a fair few concerts recently and they’ve all been a blast – 2019, the bar is high! 

I hope you enjoyed today's review - I'd love to know what you thought, so drop me a message in the comments below or on Twitter @CiarasCountry! If there's any other music related content you'd like to see, drop me a line, and make sure to stay tuned for more reviews and interviews coming soon - thanks for reading! 

Gallery 

 

TRAVEL: Top tips for budget friendly travel - activities and attractions

Photo credit: MyDiscoveries 
 I love saving money while I'm on holiday, because all the money I save is just more money to spend on future holidays! So far in this series we've learnt how to save money when booking your trip, at the airport, on accommodation and food, whilst abroad, which leads me to today's blog on how to stick to your budget in terms of activities and attractions. If you're anything like me, you'll want to see all the city has to offer, so read on to find out how to do just that without breaking the bank...

Activities and attractions

·      See what events are on

There are so many traditions, festivals, public holidays, and events that are highly location specific, that chances are, you may stumble across one on your trip, so it’s always worth checking on the locations tourism website to see whether you can take advantage of any of these. On some of my previous festivals, I’ve come across folk festivals, craft fairs and even medieval re-enactments that have just so happened to be on when I’ve been in town, and they’ve been fantastic for spicing up my holiday a bit and allowing me to do something different from the usual touristy activities. Many of these activities are free and easy to find, so can be a wonderful way to pass the day discovering something that you might not usually do.

·      Decide which attractions you want to go to

I like to believe that it’s physically impossible to do all that can be done when you’re visiting somewhere, and I’ve even found that to be the case in the city where I live. With this in mind, whenever I’m travelling I like to have different lists of ‘must-do’s’ and ‘nice-to-do’s’, with the former being things that I’ll do no matter what the cost, and the latter only if I can swing it within my budget. This makes it a lot easier to tick off the key attractions and avoid being disappointed when paying vast sums of money for things that I probably would have been just as happy not doing. Have a think about whether these are things you’ll ever be able to do again – if not, it may be worth the cost; but if so, you can always do them again or somewhere else when you have a bit more money in the bank.

·      Act your age

A lot of attractions – be they theme parks, historical buildings, churches, zoos and aquariums – often offer concessionary rates for students or over-60s, so make sure you bring some form of identification that proves if you fit into one of these categories, as they can bring down the entry price quite substantially. If there are no signs suggesting one way or the other, there’s no harm in asking either! The same sometimes applies to public transport, so always check just in case – ‘do you have a student rate?’ is another phrase that I tend to have readily translated should the need arise!

·      Buy a city pass

If you’re doing a city break and know there are a number of tourist activities that you want to tick off, it can work out cheaper to buy a city pass either individually or as a family. These passes essentially involve paying a one-time fee which will then allow you entry into some of the city’s top rated attractions, sometimes with a fast pass entry, and at a cheaper rate than buying entry individually. I’ve also found that with these passes, you can sometimes end up visiting places that you might not otherwise have considered but end up being great fun – I had a tourist pass in Amsterdam which gave me access to a diamond museum that would otherwise probably not have been on my list, but was a fantastic way to pass a few hours. Another example is the London city pass, which gives free access to over 80 attractions including the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, London Zoo and Kew Gardens – probably well worth it if you were planning to visit these places anyway. Plus, some of these city passes offer concessionary rates too as above, so can save you even more!

·      Free walking tour

If you’ve read a single one of my travel blogs, you’ll know that I love, love, love a free walking tour, and these tend to be the staple of any trip that I go on. Often taking only a few hours out of your day, these walking tours usually take you to every key attraction in the area, with the added bonus of a qualified tour guide telling you all about what you’re seeing (with more detail than a self-guided guidebook) and there to answer any questions you might have. At the end of the tour, you can pay whatever you think the tour was worth, which is pretty much guaranteed to be less than what you would have paid for an organised private tour. On the free walking tours I’ve been on, the guides have always been passionate about their jobs (they are volunteers, after all) and have provided me with great tips on what to do for the rest of my time there. Add to this that such tours are a great way to get a feel for the city, and to know where everything is should you wish to return at a later point, and you’re sure to feel that it was worth it. 

I hope you enjoyed today's blog! I'd love to know what other travel-related content you'd like to see on the blog so be sure to let me know on Twitter @CiarasCountry or drop me a message in the comments below. I have some very exciting holidays coming up so stay tuned for some travel blogs on those coming soon - thanks for reading!

TRAVEL: Top tips for budget friendly travel - throughout the holiday

Photo credit: Your Money

 Congratulations - you've made it to your holiday! So now you're here, I have a few tips & tricks on how to keep all that hard-earned money that you've save up so far, be that through making sure you don't get caught out by hidden fees and charges, and checking that you're taking advantage of the cheapest ways to ensure the best trip possible - read on to find out more!

Throughout the holiday

·      Check your credit/debit cards

One of the ways money can easily be sucked out of your bank account is through hidden charges or fees that can occur when you’re taking money out or paying for things with a card. Each bank will have a different currency exchange so I often bring different cards abroad than I would use at home as some banking agencies have more preferable rates than others. I would also advise that when paying or taking out money, you pay in the local currency and at the rate selected by your provider (there should be options for this) as local banks may charge more for the privilege. I also find it easier to use different cards to take out money as to pay for things, as again there can be different charges depending on the transaction. Complicated, I know, but two cards should do the trick, and make sure to do your research (or ask me!) to make sure you get the right card for you.

·      Make your own plans

Speaking of being overcharged, you’re almost always guaranteed to get a better deal when you make your own plans rather than leaving it to your hotel concierge or travel agent, as in many cases they may charge a fee for the service too, or be affiliated with particular companies that may be more expensive than ones you can find yourself. For instance, let’s say your hotel is offering an excursion to visit a local attraction – have a look online to see what other companies are offering the same service, and I have no doubt you’ll find cheaper alternatives. This applies to transport too, as your hotel or accommodation may  offer to organise travel to your destination for you, but at a higher price than you could find yourself. It’s always worth being a bit more prepared!

·      Get around like the locals do

The beauty of pretty much everywhere in the world is that other people probably already live there, and have to get around in other ways than overpriced taxis or shuttle buses. See what the public transport system is like – most metropolitan cities will have an easily understandable train or bus network that should link a lot of the most important places you’re trying to get to. Sometimes, buying a day or week pass can also be cheaper than single tickets for every journey, especially if you know you’re going to be moving around a lot. I’ve also seen a recent explosion in accessible bikes in many cities, where you simply find a bike somewhere around the city, pay at a docking station or via an app, and the bike is yours for as long as you want. Cheap as chips, and a way to work off all the delicious food!

·      Don’t fall into tourist souvenir traps

You’re at that famous attraction you wanted to go to, and they have a gift shop – how convenient! But don’t get sucked into tourist traps like this, as you’ll find much cheaper souvenirs the further away from the tourist centres you go. I always like to shop around if there are a few souvenir shops within a short distance of each other to make sure I’m getting the best deal and won’t stumble across the same thing later for half the price! If you want something of high quality, yes, it might be better getting it from the source, but if you’re just looking for something that says ‘I was here’, smaller shops can often be a much cheaper option – I’ve even found souvenirs in supermarkets for next to nothing. Craft fairs are also a great way to find some fantastic souvenirs, and sellers are often open to haggling, so start the bidding low and walk away if they won’t budge – half the time, at this point the seller will drop their price to get you to come back, and if they don’t, just know you didn’t waste your money! 

I hope you enjoyed today's blog - I'd love to hear what other content you'd like to see on Ciara's Country, so make sure to drop me a message on Twitter @CiarasCountry or in the comments below. There'll be plenty more travel blogs to come - I hope you'll stick around, and thanks for reading!

Concert Review: OLD DOMINION, O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

I go to a lot of concerts, so you should trust me when I tell you that one of them’s good. Spoiler alert: Old Dominion’s Happy Ending Tour was. The venue was the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, which I always like as it feels intimate and yet a decent enough size for worthy bands to play in.

I was impressed with the lineup of the gig too, with not one but two opening acts who you’re pretty certain to know if you’re a country fan. We began with Eric Paslay. Eric looks to me like a bit of an introvert with his busy beard and cap pulled low, which would make sense as he spent many years of his career writing for other artists before charting out on his own.

We got to hear both songs recorded by him and those he had written for other artists, including Never Really Wanted, Jake Owen’s Barefoot Blue Jean Night. He asked the audience what songs we wanted to hear before playing She Don’t Love You and Eli Young Band’s Grammy nominated Even If It Breaks Your Heart (a song and a half if ever I’ve heard one!), putting his full power into it. We finished with his biggest hit to date, Friday Night which had everyone bopping along happily.

Next up was Walker Hayes, who I think can be touted as the Marmite of country music – you either love him or hate him. He certainly has his own unique style, as immediately became apparent by the techno strobe lights and expletive filled backing song announcing his arrival.

Walker seems considerably younger than he is, talking about swag and sporting a shirt with the slogan ‘No I Ain’t Drunk, I’m Amazing’ (which I later discovered was his merch), and I think his music is tailored towards perhaps a younger audience too.

Throughout the set, he made his way through songs off last years album boom. such as Prescriptions, Break The Internet and Beautiful. In comparison to Eric Paslay’s well-thought out lyrics, choruses such as “I said baby, why do you have to be so beautiful (x2)” seemed a bit of a disappointment.

We moved on to Mind Candy (more lyrics like “Mind candy, sideline candy, pretty post game dose with a lime candy, little piece of why school was high, make a pop rock, wanna be my Valentine candy, sublime candy” – no, I don’t understand them either), new single 90s Country, for which he had done significant research on songs of that era, and Halloween which he said was “about as deep as I go.” Take from that what you will.

We finished with his platinum hit You Broke Up With Me and a song dedicated to Kenny Chesney entitled Shut Up Kenny (I’m not sure I’d be too happy with that were I Kenny Chesney). In case you hadn’t guessed, Walker Hayes is not quite my cup of tea but if you’re looking for country’s answer to Eminem, he may just be your guy.

And then onto the main event, as the five-piece band took to the stage to as warm a response as they deserved, cheers filling up the concert hall. We kicked off with Song For Another Time, and within thirty seconds, OD had already got the crowd to wave their arms from side to side to the music. Every song was expertly linked to one another as we flowed seamlessly into Wrong Turns and then Beer Can In A Truck Bed to create the most coherent set I think I’ve ever seen.

Song after song, the band members switched places on stage so that they all got their chance to be at the front (bar drummer Whit Sellers who arguably couldn’t move) which I thought was really nice. We moved onto more recent songs like Not Everything’s About You, Be With Me and Written In The Sand – I loved how recognisable the opening chords to each song were so you knew immediately what was coming and be ready to sing along from the very first word.

This was followed by the masterpiece that is Said Nobody (songwriting at its finest in this plot-twist song) and sultry Hotel Key. I found myself thinking that this was the most fun I’d had in a long time and I’m sure many of my fellow concert goers felt the same.

We headed onto another of my favourites, Still Writing Songs About You as the band members showed off their musical skills, switching between various guitars and keyboards and of course singing at the same time. Stars In The City got a great reaction as Matthew Ramsey told us about ‘the girl who sees things differently’ who’d inspired the song, as did No Such Thing As A Broken Heart where we were encouraged to have ‘a big sing-along’ – as if we needed to be told.

Crazy, Beautiful, Sexy was followed by new single Make It Sweet from confirmed upcoming third album. This was the first time I’d heard the song and I thought there was no better place to hear it than live. This relatively ‘more country’ song was juxtaposed nicely with the uber-rocky Can’t Get You (send this to your friends if they say country is nothing like rock) as the strobe lights went wild and Matthew spun his way around stage in a frenzy like a proper rockstar.

OD weren’t afraid to take other artists songs and make them their own, offering a sweet rendition of Kenny Chesney’s Save It For A Rainy Day (no ‘Shut Up Kenny’s here) before another rocky track in the form of New York At Night, sung by guitarist Brad Tursi. As with Florida Georgia Line, I enjoy when ‘not-necessarily-lead-singers’ are given their time to shine, and the crowd loved it, giving Brad one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Nowhere Fast and Break Up With Him ended the main set but thankfully OD weren’t going to leave us high and dry, returning to the stage for a decent three more songs. First was So You Go, another example of lyrical genius and multiple uses of the titular words, before another treat – new song Smooth Sailing. OD haven’t disappointed with albums yet and I don’t think they’ll do so with the next one either. We finished with karaoke favourite Snapback, with whoops and cheers following the band of stage, and the memorable ‘Whoa-oh’ hook ringing in our ears all the way home.

I hope you enjoyed my review of Old Dominion! If you’re a fan, drop me a message with your favourite song in the comments, and make sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry for even more country reviews and interviews coming soon – thanks for reading!

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