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! 

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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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Concert Review: DARIUS RUCKER, Royal Albert Hall, London

Take one great artist and one beautiful venue, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a good night, so I had high expectations for Darius Rucker’s show at the Royal Albert Hall. We love Darius here in the UK, him having been a staple from the very beginnings of Country 2 Country and always taking the time to come back across the pond to play for us every now and then.

I headed to my seat, right in the pit in front of the stage (I find at the RAH you can either have great seats if you’re in the lower sections, so close that you could reach out and touch the artist, or rubbish seats if you’re higher up and can barely hear anything) as the lights dimmed for the opening act. Out rushed Russell Dickerson, dressed in a flowy shirt as if ready for a summer barbeque. Without a word, he launched into twentysomething with huge energy, as if he were kicking off a rock show.

From the get go, it was evident that Russell was overflowing with charisma as he sang catchy songs like Billions. He was certainly turning up the heat on this cold October night and seemed to be the perfect act for a beach party or the like. As he moved on to Every Little Thing, he smiled and pointed at people singing in the audience which I thought was a lovely move, showing that he appreciated those who had come to see him.

I was surprised, given that the demographic of this gig was slightly older than the usual pop-country gigs I go to, just how much people seemed to warm to him. Cheers went up when he spoke about the song he’d written with Florida Georgia Line, That’s My Girl, and I saw the crowd visibly grooving to his slower paced tracks like Low Key, where he showed off some impressive low notes.

With Russell, I found you just couldn’t help but smile as he really knew how to work a crowd, jumping into the pit during a mashup of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun / I Wanna Dance With Somebody  and his own song MGNO (My Girls Night Out). He finished the set with his two number one singles Blue Tacoma, inspired by driving along listening to Shania Twain’s You’re Still The One which he treated us to a few bars of, and Yours, a wonderful love song I’m sure many have walked down the aisle to. I thought he was an excellent pick for an opening act as we were certainly hyped up for the main show.

Right on time, Darius Rucker waltzed onto the stage dressed down in baseball cap, tshirt and jeans and my first thought was “he’s so chill.” This is the vibe he exuded throughout the  whole show as if he were here just to have a nice evening with friends. He kicked off with surefire hits Homegrown Honey and Radio with some cute little dad dancing that made me beam from ear to ear.

Even though it had been a while since I’d heard Darius’ songs, the minute he started playing them I felt I immediately knew all the words as they’re just so recognisable and easy to pick up, exactly what you want for a concert that’s basically just a big karaoke session!

It was a continuation of hit after hit as we moved through Southern State Of Mind, When Was The Last Time and self-proclaimed one of the greatest songs he’s ever had the pleasure to sing, If I Told You. There’s no such thing as a sad song in Darius’ vocabulary, so this was the perfect way to get the whole crowd feeling good.

Like Russell, Darius had great interaction with the crowd, heading off stage and into the stalls during This and getting us all to raise our hands during gospel/soul track True Believers. He evidently cares what his fans think, and had asked on social what we wanted to hear tonight, and played a track from his short lived RnB career for those who had wanted it, even though we know him mostly from country.

After Life’s Too Short, he picked an apt moment to tell us that playing RAH had been on his bucket list for a number of years, and how happy he was to have booked the venue, and not only that but had to open up the seats in the back choir as it had sold out within two weeks. We certainly were happy he’d made it.

It wouldn’t be a Darius concert without a throwback to his magnificent years as frontman for Hootie & The Blowfish (which I’ll always remember as Ross Geller from ‘Friends’ favourite band) so we all lit up our phones as he played Let Her Cry before he transitioned back to ‘country Darius’ for It Won’t Be Like This For Long. There are few who have experienced such a versatile career as Darius, so hearing these different parts of his musical career was a pleasure.

As well as his own career, Darius seems to be a lover of covers as he took on Friends In Low Places (a surefire crowdpleaser) and No Diggity. These again proved his ability to move swiftly between pop, country, RnB and even gospel which he somehow melds together in his own music.

The setlist continued through All I Want, Only Wanna Be With You, Don’t, and Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It. There wasn’t a single song that I thought ‘Eh, I don’t like this so much’ be that on ballads like History In The Making or the beatbox fuelled Alright. We were all just out here having a good time, and it was evident that Darius was too, as he played the parts of Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Charles Kelley during Straight To Hell, always a fun song to see country fans sing along to.

The main show ended with hit after hit after hit, as Darius brought Russell back on stage to sing Hootie’s Hold My Hand, followed by the heartfelt Come Back Song. I loved his choice of final song for the main set, a cover of Oasis’ Champagne Supernova (which, IMHO, sounded better than the original) in honour of the Manchester bombings before flashing a winning smile, thanking the crowd and heading offstage.

We knew the show wouldn’t be over without his most famous song with chants of ‘Wagon Wheel!’ echoing around the stadium. Darius returned with a stunning cover of Adele’s Someone Like You which the lady herself would be proud of, the sultry Hands On Me, and of course, Wagon Wheel. He took off his cap, signed it and handed it to a young fan in the crowd, and left us all cheering in his wake. In just two hours, we’d been on a whirlwind trip of a very impressive career. Darius is a joy to watch, and I hope he’ll be back soon.

I hope you enjoyed today’s review! Make sure to stay tuned for even more country content on Twitter @CiarasCountry and drop me a message in the comments below with your favourite song from Darius' career - thanks for reading!

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Concert Review: KACEY MUSGRAVES, Wembley Arena, London

Kacey Musgraves is probably the artist that I listen to most these days, so you’d best believe that I was going to trek halfway across London to see her perform at Wembley Arena for the London leg of her Oh, What A World Tour.

Proceedings kicked off ahead of schedule with opening act Soccer Mommy, who I thought was an interesting choice given that she would certainly not be regarded as country, but more indie/emo style with downbeat lyrics and groovy guitar beats that you can imagine moping around your room to.

The band, led by lead singer Sophie played a number of tracks from new record Clean including Last Girl, about wishing you were like his ex, Your Dog, which seemed to be the one members of the crowd were most familiar with, Cool (as in ‘I wanna be that cool’), and Scorpio Rising. Perhaps not the type of songs to hype you up, but she made sure there was at least one song in there that we’d know by producing a cover of Bruce Spingsteen’s I’m On Fire, although this slowed-down version was quite unlike what we would have heard before.

Personally, not exactly my cup of tea and perhaps suited to a tour where the main act is the same style of music. Having said that, if the aim was to bring along a talented songwriter, with Kacey also fitting into that bucket, then I believe this goal was achieved – whilst sad lyrics, they certainly had meaning behind them.

We had a bit of a wait before the main act, but the tension was palpable – any time a song on the speakers ended, the crowd would cheer in hope that this would be the start. All of a sudden, the lights shut out and were brought back up again, illuminating the large metal fans at the back of the stage and Kacey in front of them as the opening bars of Slow Burn began. I really appreciated this as the first track of the set given that it is also the first track of latest album Golden Hour – a very fitting start to the show.

For an arena tour, the setup was not too hi-tech with only coloured lights and the very occasional video played on the big screens. The theme seemed to be rainbow, with Kacey dressed in a beautiful sequined rainbow jumpsuit and lit up every now and then with rainbow lights as she launched into one of my favourite tracks from Golden Hour, Wonder Woman. It was at this point, two songs in, that the whole arena took to their feet in almost a Mexican wave style. We’d stayed reserved for one song, and that was enough. If you want heartfelt songwriting, look no further: “I can show you strong, I can fight for you / I can try to move mountains if you want me to / But baby, I ain’t Wonder Woman.”

It was at this point that she greeted the crowd and I was pleased at just how personable she was given that she looks quite stoic and calm whilst singing. She exclaimed about how excited she was to have first played in London six years ago whilst opening for Lady Antebellum, had then played the Royal Albert Hall, and was now doing an arena tour, encouraging us to ‘turn up’ tonight, as if we needed to be told!

Most of the tracks were from Golden Hour with their groovy 70s and 80s inspired vibes like Butterflies and Lonely Weekend, but she managed to slip some older songs in there. These included an updated electro-style version of Keep It To Yourself - again, I love the lyrics in this song with lines like “If you think that you still love me / Put it on a shelf / If you’re looking for someone / Make it someone else / When you’re drunk / And it’s late / And you’re missing me like hell / Keep it to yourself,” so it was wonderful to hear it live. We were also treated to a stripped back version of initial hit Merry Go Round, and the ever so fun High Time.

Every so often, she would pause to let the crowd sing alone with every word crisp and clear – Kacey fans are diehard and would happily have sang the whole gig by themselves. It was interesting to hear how the songs changed when played live as opposed to on the record, for instance Golden Hour started with a Latin-influenced intro; whilst Die Fun’s final notes were stretched out to allow for a mini set change.

We delved into the softer songs at this point with interlude track Mother and tour name inspo Oh, What A World. After this, Kacey stopped to introduce the band, saying “I would love to tell you who I’ve got up here with me and take a minute to recognise I have a kickass band and crew.” This is clearly someone who doesn’t take her fame and the people who have helped her along the way for granted.

In the second half of the show, I felt that she gave more time to introduce the songs as they came, including a song about ‘all the weirdass people in my family’ (Family Is Family), how we live in a very weird time in both the US and UK but that she is hopeful for the future (Love Is A Wild Thing), and about enjoying taking covers and making them her own (Somewhere Only We Know), for which she brought our lead singer of Keane, Tom Chaplin. They were clearly big admirers of each other’s talent, so this was a lovely moment to watch.

It was in the next song, Velvet Elvis, that I felt like the fun Kacey was well and truly released as she danced along to the song, playing it up for the camera. Looking around, it was lovely to see that everyone was having the time of their lives (their were some well and truly enviable dance moves displayed by members of the audience). The next song seemed particularly apt as Kacey prefaced Happy & Sad by saying it was inspired by that feeling of being happy in such a wonderful moment but sad at the prospect that it would soon have to come to an end – exactly as I felt in that moment.

Space Cowboy and Follow Your Arrow ended the main set after which a few people began to leave clearly not aware that an encore was still to come, but I knew the show wouldn’t be over until we heard High Horse. After a few moments, Kacey returned to the stage, asking if we wanted a few more songs, and if so good, she had 35 more to play and we’d all be missing the train home, she hoped we’d brought our sleeping bags. If only that were the truth, and we had to settle with just three more.

She began the encore perched atop a stool with the ballady Rainbow before turning up the heat for a cover of *NSYNC’s Tearin’ Up My Heart with Soccer Mommy, complete with 90’s boy band style dancing. One of the women sitting next to me near about lost her mind at this point – country queen covering boy band royalty? Amazing. We finished with the brilliant High Horse. I was secretly hoping for huge blow up beach balls like we’d had at C2C, but just the fact that we’d been treated to such a great show was good enough for me, and I left happily thinking about the next tour. BRB, booking tickets to see her on the rest of the UK leg!

I hope you enjoyed my review of Kacey's concert! I'd love to know what you think so be sure to drop me a message in the comments below. If you'd like to stay up to date with my music blogging, including plenty of reviews and interviews coming soon, follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry. Thanks for reading!

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TRAVEL: Top tips for budget friendly travel - food

Photo credit: Mother Nature NetworkI'm a big fan of food - I mean, isn't half the point of going on holiday being able to experience different cuisines? But when your stomach starts making your decisions for you, it can sometimes neglect to focus on whatever budget you have in mind, so I've written down a few of my tips and tricks for saving your bank balance when you're travelling, and still making sure you get some great nosh out of it too!

Food

·      Use TripAdvisor

Apparently there are people out there who just pick a random restaurant off the street and decide to eat there. Not me – I like to know that I’m going to get quality food (based on general consensus) and that it’s decently priced. With this in mind, TripAdvisor has always been a useful source for me when abroad, as you can easily check what establishments are available in the area you’re staying, and where they range in price ranging from $ to $$$$. I normally aim for the mid-region of $$-$$$, but it’s important again to check how expensive the city you’re in usually is versus what you’re used to, as what you might consider in this budget back home could be vastly different in another country. So far, I’ve not been disappointed by any of the restaurants I’ve landed in based on TripAdvisor suggestions, but would love to know if there’s another website or app you use to pick where to go!

·      Check tipping habits

Again, this is something which can vary dramatically depending on country, and should be considered when going out to eat, as you could find somewhere reasonably cheap and then realise you have to add on a 20% tip on top of this. Some cities choose to include service charge in your bill, so it might be worth Googling what ‘service included’ is in the foreign language so you can check if it’s on your bill so you don’t end up paying twice! If you’re not sure what the tipping culture is in this country, I’d say 10-15% is always a safe bet. Saving your change for occasions like this can also come in handy, so try to break some of your bigger notes into coinage that you can have to hand, rather than putting down a 50 Euro note and not knowing if your server will think the whole thing is the tip!

·      Grocery shop

If you read my last blog (if not, find it here!), you’ll know I’m a big advocate of the Airbnb and hostel lifestyle which, if done right, can be a great way of saving money. Conveniently, most Airbnb and hostels will have a kitchen facility that you can use, and this can be another great way to keep within your budget. Head out to a local grocery store to pick up some essentials and you can save tons when you’re not eating out for every meal. I think this is great to do anyway to give you a flavour for what the locals are eating, be that snacks, main meals or picking up something from the bakery. If you’re lucky, your accommodation might also provide you with basics like cooking oil, milk and butter, but make sure to check before you go out and buy food that might require these items too!

·      Bulk up at mealtimes

At home, I find I’m hungry pretty much 24/7. However, this all changes when travelling, when there’s so much to do I sometimes find I’m so busy rushing around the city to find time to be hungry! My usual routine is to eat a big meal at breakfast and power through until dinner, meaning that I can usually get away with only paying for the one meal if breakfast is included or I can make it myself e.g. having brought bread or cereal from a local supermarket to last me for my stay. In fact, I’d go as far as to say breakfast is my favourite meal to have when travelling as every cuisine is so different and can set the day off right! This normally tides me over for the day and means I’m raring for dinner when the time comes around, but if the hunger strikes earlier, I always make sure I’m carrying around some snacks throughout the day along with my water bottle and other essentials.

·      Go half-board or all-inclusive

Sometimes, the above options simply aren’t possible, be that because you’re staying in an area where restaurant options are limited or ridiculously overpriced, as you’ll find at many seaside locations; or maybe you don’t have access to fridges and cooking equipment you might need to cater for yourself. In this case, it can sometimes be best to see if where you’re staying offers built in food options, to save yourself from starvation or paying for a taxi to travel into the nearest town or the like. Check whether there are different levels of all-inclusive, as some will offer just bed and breakfast, half-board, or full-board; different drinks packages which can vary in price; or access to different restaurants associated with your accommodation. Where I’ve had all-inclusive experiences, such as in Crete (you can read about that here), most of the restaurants offer buffet style options, so it’s not like you’d get bored of eating at the same place each night either!

With that said, I'm getting hungry! I hope you've enjoyed today's blog, and there'll be plenty more travel tips to come, so make sure you stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry. I'd love to hera if you've used any of these tips in practice, or have any other recommendations I might have missed, so feel free to drop me a note in the comments below - thanks for reading!