It had been a long time coming - a year and a half, in fact, since I had last attended a live music event, so you'd best believe that a return to gigging was well overdue. What better way to restart my foray into the world of concerts than with Europe's biggest country music festival, C2C Country 2 Country?
It was a rush to get to The O2 in time for kick off, but I arrived just after Nashville singer-songwriter Erin Kinsey had taken to the indigo2 stage as part of the BBC Radio 2 Introducing series. With just her, a guitar, and a guitarist, this was a stripped back set, but Erin didn't need anything else. I was so impressed by her lilting vocals and immense control as she sang tracks like This Ain't Heaven, slow ballad Hate This Hometown, and biggest hit to date, Just Drive. A real highlight was her self-proclaimed 'not very country' cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy, which showed off her incredible range and showed a very different side to that song. A great way to start the festival!
I was excited for the next act - Canadian artist Tebey (pronounced 'Tay-bay') had made his way onto my top played songs of 2020 with summer jam See You Around, and I was keen to see what else he had up his sleeve. Tebey's set was certainly a big change from Erin's - much rockier and arguably a little less country as he performed songs like Denim On Denim and a cover of Avicii's (overplayed) hit Wake Me Up. Most of his set could be classified as drinking songs - What Was I Drinking and Happened On A Saturday Night being obvious examples, but I liked it best when we saw the softer side of Tebey on tracks like When The Buzz Wears Off, about using alcohol to drown your sorrows but knowing the one you lost will still be gone when the buzz wears off. Sadly no See You Around, but there's always next time!
I slipped away for a surprise interview (coming soon to this blog!) but returned for the end of Baltimore-based Brittney Spencer's set. I'd heard her songs a time or two on Spotify but never thought it was my kind of music, but seeing her live was an unexpected surprise. Many of her songs are slow and deep, like Compassion and my personal choice Sober & Skinny. Above all, Brittney just seemed to be as thankful as we were that live music was back, and shared the very appropriate Heart Beats Thankful.
Perhaps more than anyone else on C2C's Friday lineup, the artist I had the highest hopes for was Avery Anna, who had risen to fame thanks to TikTok. Despite having only been releasing music for just over a year now, I've already loved her songs enough to choose her as one of my coveted 'featured female artists' on my show (every Friday from 5-8pm UK on www.ukcountryradio.com). Without a doubt, she did not disappoint at C2C. Heading straight for the piano, she launched into a soft and sweet rendition of Just Cause I Love You, and I was immediately blown away by how she sounded just like her records, if indeed not better. She continued to wow us with Can't Miss You Anymore, a song about not knowing if you want your ex back or never to speak to them again, I Love You More, about loving someone more than the crazy trials life throws at you, and Narcissist.
Ensuring that those who hadn't heard of her before weren't left out, she also included spectacular covers of Lady A's American Honey, A Great Big World's Say Something, and a fantastic medley of the songs she used to love singing with her grandpa, including Ring Of Fire, Forever And Ever, Amen, and Have I Told You Lately That I Love You. Perhaps more than her incredible vocals, the thing that impressed me most was her confidence - only a senior in high school, she completely commanded the stage, connected so well with the audience, shared her stories, and showed us why she deserves to be the next big thing in country music. My absolute highlight from Day 1.
It was a good thing there were no more acts on the indigo2 stage after that, as I don't think any could have topped Avery's set. Instead, it was time to make our way into the Main Arena - my first time being around so many people in years. The first main stage act was not one, but three - Morgan Wade, Tiera Kennedy and Priscilla Block, performing as part of Introducing Nashville. The trio sat next to each other, just them and their guitars, and took it in turns sharing stories about their songs and playing them.
Having listened to Morgan Wade’s debut album, Reckless, it was interesting to see how those songs would translate to an arena setting, and as she sang, I thought she seemed like country music’s answer to Miley Cyrus – a little rocky and with those oh so unique vocals. Morgan pre-warned us that ‘if you’ve listened to Reckless, you’ll know I don’t write happy, upbeat songs’, and so her picks were dark and smokey – Take Me Away, Make It Through The Night, and Wilder Days. The latter received absolutely thunderous applause that truly shook the arena, leaving Morgan to look rather emotional. A well-deserved response, I think.
On a very different note, newlywed Tiera Kennedy immediately had the audience falling in love with her thanks to her cute Southern twang, chatty nature, and funny stories. She chose to start with her ‘squishy song’ that she’d written for her husband – Found It In You. This was followed by her ‘saucy song’ – Gentleman – and finally an unreleased track called Alabama Nights, which she did her best to teach us the chorus to (to limited success).
In contrast to the sad and squishy songs of her counterparts, Priscilla Block admitted that she would just ‘stick to the drinking and breakup songs, because that’s just what I know about’ – we love a self-aware performer. As such, Priscilla played My Bar, a track given a new lease of life when played acoustically; Just About Over You, the song we were told changed her life when she was just about to give up her career dreams; and Peaked In High School, which if you like Ashley McBryde’s Fat And Famous, you might enjoy. Priscilla sang with feeling with a voice that filled the arena, and I was really impressed that the three Introducing Nashville artists all held their own in what I imagine was quiet an intimidating atmosphere.
Erin Kinsey returned to the Spotlight stage to perform Better On Me, Hate This Hometown and Just Drive, and seemed both thrilled to be playing for such a big crowd, and an absolute sweetheart too. We’ll have her back, for sure.
Those who had been waiting for the party to arrive got what they came for with Russell Dickerson, who burst onto the main stage with Never Gets Old. Dressed in a black leather jacket juxtaposed with his white guitar, Russell seemed like the type of frat boy you’d actually like to get to know. He wiggled his hips and performed with vigour during Every Little Thing, She Likes It (I was secretly hoping Jake Scott would appear) and Forever For A Little While. He went on to teach us the chant for Home Sweet, but it turned out not to be necessary as he found himself another duet partner in the form of Lady A’s Charles Kelley. I never quite understand how it makes sense for an artist like Charles to fly all the way to London just to perform for less than a minute, but hey, I’m not complaining – a nice treat for the C2C crowd.
Russell briefly toned the party down for a church-like rendition of Yours, before picking it up again for Girl’s Night Out which turned into a medley of I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Shut Up And Dance. Things got a little bit EDM during It’s About Time For A Drink, before we finished with two of his biggest hits – Love You Like I Used To and Blue Tacoma. It was clear to see that Russell is a really fun guy, and a good pick to get the Friday night off to a good start.
A new act appeared on the Spotlight stage next – the cute and excited Breland, who performed Cross Country followed by a song he’d written with Thomas Rhett about ‘getting lit on Saturday night but being in church on Sunday morning’ called Praise The Lord. With some questionable lyrics such as ‘Praise the Lord for southern women, Hemi engines, crispy chicken. Praise the Lord for east Atlanta, Country Grammar, and my nana. Praise the Lord that I got everything I Want and need and more, I might turn up on Saturday, but first thing Sunday morn, I praise the Lord’, it wasn’t quite my cup of tea, but seemed to go down well. He concluded with Don’t Touch My Truck, and let’s just say that I think there’s more than enough country songs about trucks without adding one more. Not my favourite act of the night, but he’d be returning to play a longer set at the indigo2 later that weekend, and I was sure some of his other songs would impress me.
Now, I’ll be perfectly honest with you – I think a lot of Kip Moore songs sound the same. They’re all gruff and gritty, but if you played one for me and followed it up with another, would I be able to pick out any major differences? Probably not. So was I expecting to greatly enjoy Kip’s set at C2C? Not really. Was I pleasantly surprised? Yes, and for a few reasons. I still think many of his songs sound quite similar, but after watching his set, I admit that I can’t say that’s a blanket statement.
I really enjoyed the lyrics in Plead The Fifth: ‘Have I ever dialled you up, but never let it ring? Do I wonder where you are with every sip? Getting onto who you might be with, drown myself in 90 proof, what else? I plead the fifth’, and She’s Mine, about not knowing who or where the one he’s meant to be with is, but still knowing she’s his: ‘Maybe she’s in Dallas, cheering for the Cowboys, maybe laying low in Mexico, I love she loves the sunshine. Yeah, maybe she’s in Vegas, at a table dealing Blackjack. Hey, if you wouldn’t mind, if you see her out tonight, tell her she’s mine.’ I loved the electric guitar riff behind Heart’s Desire (give it a listen, it’s worth it), and Kip’s own ability to shred on the guitar, which he showed off in Crazy One More Time and Wild Ones. His set also included amping up the crowd during Beer Money and Southpaw, a little bit of cuteness in More Girls Like You, That Was Us and Hey Pretty Girl, and true rockstar Kip in Bulls, Something Bout A Truck and Last Shot. An unexpected surprise.
Brittney Spencer made her way back to the Spotlight stage for My Stupid Life, Damn Right You’re Wrong, and Sober & Skinny. Her voice was raw and emotional, but unfortunately too soft to command attention in such a large arena.
The same cannot be said of Friday’s headliner Miranda Lambert. I’d been waiting to see Miranda for years, having narrowly missed out on seeing her headline CMC Rocks in Australia (read my review of the previous year’s festival here) before it was unfortunately cancelled due to the pandemic. Two years of not performing had clearly not had any negative side effects for her though, as she entered the stage looking like a true country queen in fringed shirt and denim skirt. Just in case you forgot what kind of country she sings, she kicked off with White Trash and throwback anthem Kerosene (‘I’m giving up on love cause love’s given up on me’). It was easy to see why she’d been crowned as Entertainer of the Year at this year’s ACM Awards as she really put on a show, completely shredding on the guitar during Fastest Girl In Town and Famous In A Small Town.
Lucky for us, it wasn’t all just old hits, and we got the first live performance of If I Was A Cowboy, along with songs from last album Wildcard like Settling Down and It All Comes Out In The Wash. Miranda had so much vibrancy on stage, and really seemed to be enjoying herself. We had a few more throwbacks with Heart Like Mine and the sassy Only Prettier, before a real treat – a brand new song called Actin’ Up. I loved it – sassy, rocky, and fun, and I’m sure a real highlight off of her upcoming album Palomino. We also had a song from my favourite album of hers, The Weight Of These Wings, Vice, and so many songs that you couldn’t help but know – Bluebird, The House That Built Me, Automatic, Tequila Does (I particularly enjoyed that one), That’s The Way That The World Goes Round, the raucous Gunpowder And Lead, Mama’s Broken Heart, White Liar and Little Red Wagon. And yes, just in case you’re wondering, she did end with one of my top songs of 2021 – Drunk And I Don’t Wanna Go Home. Me too, Miranda, me too.
As for my top 3 acts of Day 1, in no particular order: Avery Anna, Russell Dickerson, and Miranda Lambert. And we still had two more days of the festival to come!
I hope you enjoyed my Day 1 review of C2C Country 2 Country! If you did, do drop me a message in the comments below or on Twitter @CiarasCountry, letting me know which artist you were most excited to see/read about, and who you’d like to see at C2C 2023. Don’t forget you can tune in to my radio show ‘Ciara’s Country’ every Friday from 5-8pm UK on www.ukcountryradio.com, and I’ll be posting my Days 2 & 3 reviews very soon – thanks so much for reading!
