The second day at C2C opens with a press conference held by Chris Young, who continues to thank Brad Paisley for having greatly helped him to achieve success. Brad Paisley probably helped, but Chris Young showed today at The O2 Arena that the qualities needed to emerge in this business are definitely there. His show is enchanting and his voice, warm and powerful. All the artists featured at the C2C have lived up to their expectations, but Chris Young has played and sung even better than usual, this may testify to the fact that this guy from Murfreesboro TN had this London concert at heart. Best songs: “You”, “Aw Naw”, “I Can Take It From There”, “Voices” and “Who I Am With You”. The usual break of about 40 minutes whilst we wait for The Band Perry, the band that has intrigued many because of the speed with which they have arrived to the top of the charts. On CD’s, they are perfect, and after seeing them live you have to admit that they possess the performer’s DNA, thanks to their musical abilities as well as their stage show. Despite their young age, in fact, they “hold the stage” as if they were long time professionals and Kimberly Perry, as well as being very good, is also very beautiful.
The brothers, Reid and Neil, her support, play well, but she is the true leader of the family. Their show is a must, to see and hear. Just think of “Pioneer”, introduced during the British National Anthem, with Neil Perry waving the English flag, got the 20,000 of the crowd to their feet, singing out loudly. The country music of The Band Perry is very modern, perfectly in line with the current Nashville standards, and it seems that a lot of the young people at The O2 Arena appreciate it a lot, seeing their ecstatic reactions to songs like “Timber”, “If I Die Young”, and especially “Better Dig Two”. There is still time for a tribute to Queen (Fat Bottomed Girls) and The Band Perry, after an hour and a quarter, leaves the stage, applauded by the audience. Coffee break at Starbucks and then it’s Rascal Flatts turn. Here in London, the band from Ohio (Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney) has many fans who are eagerly awaiting. As usual, a brief introduction by Bob Harris then onto the Rascal Flatts with Banjo.
Gary LaVox sings in his usual way and offers all the great hits from the charts. “Bless the Broken Road”, “Fast Cars And Freedom”, “Me And My Gang”, “Summer Nights”, “Why Wait”, “Here’s To You”, to close the show with, of course, “Life Is A Highway” included in the soundtrack of the Disney movie, Cars. The concert finished just over an hour. The atmosphere now skyrockets: Brad Paisley is on the way. Bob Harris does the usual introduction, the lights go down which leads onto the opening notes to “Southern Comfort Zone”: it’s Brad Paisley. As well as being a great musician he is also a great entertainer. The gags with the public are numerous. He introduces the band members as French and Germans, during “She’s Everything” he take the cell phone of a girl in the front row and starts filming from the stage, he throws his guitar to one of the audio engineers who catches it, he apologised to the public because he speaks another language and thanked Chris Young, The Band Perry, Rascal Flatts and Lady Gaga … (?). The songs are great, switching from a moving version of “This Is Country Music” to pieces like “Mona Lisa” and “Alcohol”. At one point of the show Brad leaves the main stage and goes to the bottom of the Arena to get onto a small stage, almost invisible until then, where, in an acoustic version, performs some of his classics such as “Online” to “I’m Still A Guy”.
The acoustic show ends with “Mud On The Tires” sung whilst running towards to the main stage amongst a huge crowd. Of course, the duets were a must: “Outstanding In Our Field” with his friend Chris Young and “Whiskey Lullaby” with The Band Perry. Nearly a two-hour concert. Two hours of contemporary country music performed by he who is currently the number one. The C2C ends, the next event is scheduled for the 7th & 8th March 2015. Thank you London, America is no longer so far away. (Gianluca Sitta gianluca@planetcountry.it )
