C2C Country To Country 2014
Festival (Day 2):
The Brilliant, The
Good, The Bad and The Ugly
#C2C2014 Setlists, Press and
Blog reports, Fan Feedback, Audio and Video
Updated March 28, 2014
Updated March 28, 2014
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| #C2C2014 Day two Collage Wallpaper CLICK to ENLARGE
Photos used
with kind permission courtesy of :
Hels Bels
Photography (Helen Parish)
|
DAY TWO (Sunday March 16, 2014)
C2C Country to Country 2014
Sunday Highlights (Day 2) >> YouTube
Hot UK Talent: Glenn "The Outrageous" Rogers
(From the Smith and Rogers Country TV Show): "They keep telling us that country music in
the UK is on its knees and people don't want it and the youngsters don't come.
You just need to take a look around here
to see how wrong the country establishment has become over here and fortunately
it's people like us who are gonna put them straight".
Country BIG in the UK: Talia "The Voice" Smith: "It's amazing, we've been walking past the
Pop Up Stages and they sound fabulous. It's brilliant to show what country
music is all about, there are some many preconceptions about what it is, and
its not, so this is a really good eye- opener"
WATCH:
CHRIS YOUNG
Photo Credits – Frography (by Flex) - Facebook Gallery (9
Photos)
CHRIS YOUNG:
16:15 - 17:00 C2C Setist: Included:
“‘Voices”, “Lonely
Eyes”, “Who I Am With You”, >> “Sharp Dressed Man” (ZZ Top cover),
>> “I Can Take It From There”, "Tomorrow", “You”, >> "AW NAW"
>> “I Can Take It From There”, "Tomorrow", “You”, >> "AW NAW"
>> Listen to the Chris Young
C2C Press Conference (CMR Nashville):
Chris Young tweeted @ChrisYoungMusic Thanks to everyone in London! Now get ready for
@thebandperry #C2C2014
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#C2C2014 Chris Young
With kind permission courtesy
of :
Hels Bels
Photography -
|
A much better
sound to start the second day. This 28-year-old Tennessee native has a sensational
voice, and in between a few slower, acoustic numbers his muscular band were
channeling pure Led Zeppelin, U2 and ZZ Top in their brand of guitar riffs. In
fact no sooner had that thought formed in my head than they launched into the
Top's Sharp Dressed Man. Rather sweetly, before launching into his lovers'
anthem I Can Take It From There, he made sure we would understand the lyrics'
reference to bygone country star Conway Twitty. We liked Chris Young a lot.
For The Country Record (Day Two Review) Extract:... Chris Young; sporting a slightly
fuller audience than Martina McBride had enjoyed the day before..... He
began with polite applause opening up to some hardcore fans screaming as the
performance progressed, but I think overall he was the least known artist on
the bill so had the most to do to get the fans worked up..... it would have
been nice to hear him play guitar a little more, as he has yet to really figure
out how he’s moving around the stage, and having a guitar would give him
something to do during instrumentals. But that’s nothing that a little honing
wouldn’t fix....
Fan Comments – (C2C
Facebook) & Twitter
Patrice Devine - cried at Tomorrow, amazing!!!
Allison Clark - Amazing, lost my heart to Chris Young,
sorry Mr Buble. Xx
Jane Thomas - He smashed it as always !
Hannah Smith - He was absolutely amazing and more
just wish he'd have been on longer
Petra Ventresca - Smoking sexy man grrrrr
Peter
Richardson - Neon? No neon:(
Willie Morgan (CMR Nashville radio presenter) tweeted @WillieMradio Just watched @ChrisYoungMusic give an
outstanding performance at @C2Cofficial at London's @TheO2 ! Ok
@SonyNashvilleUK
THE BAND PERRY
17:30 - 18:30 Set included: “‘Night Gone Wasted’”, “DONE”, “I’m A Keeper”, “Better Dig Two”, “Fat Bottomed Girls” (Queen cover), “Chainsaw”, >> "If I Die Young", “You Lie”, “All Your Life” , >> “God Save The Queen” / Pioneer”
17:30 - 18:30 Set included: “‘Night Gone Wasted’”, “DONE”, “I’m A Keeper”, “Better Dig Two”, “Fat Bottomed Girls” (Queen cover), “Chainsaw”, >> "If I Die Young", “You Lie”, “All Your Life” , >> “God Save The Queen” / Pioneer”
>> Listen to the Band Perry C2C Press Conference (CMR Nashville):
The Mirror by Brian Hancill
This one sister,
two brothers act from Mobile, Alabama, are a force of nature – lead singer
Kimberly Perry especially. Songs like Better
Dig Two and Chainsaw are full of
crunching guitars with dramatic pauses emphasised by precise choreography and
video close-ups. They're young
and poppy enough to follow Taylor Swift's example and transcend the country
genre, though to grown-up
non-American tastes Kimberly's between-songs messages of inspiration sound
impossibly cheesy.
The moment when
they paraded a Union Jack around the stage while their fiddler played God Save
The Queen was just one of several jaw-dropping moments. With so many Scots in
the house I think it was only appreciation of how sincere and well-meant this
gesture was that stopped a few of the well-lubricated Caledonians around me
from blowing raspberries.
The
disconcerting thing for me, however, was how staged everything was. Everything
Kimberly said was well-rehearsed and sounded cringe-worthily cheesy, complete
with awful dramatic pauses..... Perhaps drunk on the high of such a large crowd
on British shores, they ramped everything up, and went too far..... TBP are
just too preppy at this point in their career, too young and bouncy, but they
have plenty of time to grow.
Fan Comments – (C2C
Facebook) & Twitter
Stephen Peake - The band perry brilliant so much
energy.
Hannah Jane Lewis (UK C2C Pop Up artist) tweeted @hannahjane001 Actually dying watching @thebandperry Just so good. Kimberley is my DREAMMM #C2C2014 xxx
bigcarpchaser - BP...terrible...just terrible..
m1lrr (Edinburgh) - Not my cup of tea but they seemed to go down well with the
younger elements in the crowd.
RASCAL FLATTS
Photo Credits: Hels Bels Photography (Helen Parish) -
Flickr.com or Facebook Gallery
Rascal Flatts (19:00 - 20:00 the set was cut 15 minutes short than advertised) C2C Setist: Included:
“Why Wait”, “‘Summer
Nights”, >> “Here's
To You” >> “Fast
Cars And Freedom”,
“God Bless The Broken Road”, “Stand”, >> “What Hurts The Most”, >> “These
Days”, “Life is a
Highway”, “Come Wake Me Up”, >> “Rewind”
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#C2C2014 Rascal Flatts
With kind permission courtesy of :
Hels Bels Photography -
|
They are huge.
They have topped every chart, won every award, they are almost a sector of
country music in their own right. But the dad and daughter in Row Z just did not get it. Imagine the overwrought vocal swoops and
over-polished harmonies of 'N Sync fronted by a man with the physique and
deportment of the Mirror's esteemed astrologer Russell Grant. That can't work,
can it? Did for everybody else. But we dived out in the middle for fish and chips
For The Country Record (Day Two Review) Extract:...Then was the
downtime act.... I did sit in for most of their set, and fondly remembered some
of the songs of my teenagehood... pleasant nostalgia, the actual performance in
essence was rather embarrassing. Three middle-aged, overweight men (with the
exception of Joe Don Rooney who doesn’t look like he lives off pies and beer),
wearing Britney Spears-esque headworn mics, a lead singer who sounds even more
like a chipmunk in real life, and an awful, awful attempt at comedy halfway
through..... found the whole affair bizarre and quite amusing.
Fan Comments – (C2C
Facebook) & Twitter
Hannah Jane
Lewis (UK C2C Pop Up artist)
tweeted @hannahjane001 - Oh my
GAWDDDDDDD. @rascalflatts were unbelievable!!!! I will never recover. Dead to
the world #C2C2014
Al Booth (BBC Radio 2 producer for Bob Harris) tweeted @albooth2 - I’ve never been a big Rascal Flatts fan but have been won over tonight. Class act and lovely stage vibe #C2C2014
Cathy Growney
Woodward - Sorry, mr Mirror,
but the Flatts did an incredible show. Dixie chicks were worth the ticket price
on their own
Steve Reeder - What is wrong with the sound with
Rascal Flatts? Sounds like
they're playing under water
?
bigcarpchaser - OK..once they sorted the sound out but
nothing country about them
whatsoever. Second year now
that the evening was spoilt
by two morons that security refused to shift. Loud, rude, ignorant, drunk yobs. And the idiot with the bird call
whistle...why, just why? VIP tickets are not worth the extra money either
although you don't have to que at the bar you're still seated with divvys on
company expenses.
Drew Burnett - Will be back next year but security need to do something about some
of the drunken behaviour.
Saw some poor bloke being
badly beaten up in the lower tier during the Rascal Flatts set.
BRAD PAISLEY
BRAD PAISLEY (20:45
- 22:15) C2C Setist: Included:
"My
Tennessee Home", "Outstanding in our Field" (a duet with Chris
Young),
>> "Whiskey Lullaby" (with Kimberly Perry), "This Is Country Music", "She's Everything", "Nervous Breakdown", "Mud On The Tyres", “Water”, “American Saturday Night”, “Then”, “Old Alabama”, "I'm Gonna Miss Her", "The Mona Lisa", "Hot for Teacher" (Van Halen cover), “Southern Comfort Zone”, >> "Ticks", >> "I'm Still A Guy" (from 5th Gear), >> Online, “I’m Still A Guy” "Alcohol",
>> "Whiskey Lullaby" (with Kimberly Perry), "This Is Country Music", "She's Everything", "Nervous Breakdown", "Mud On The Tyres", “Water”, “American Saturday Night”, “Then”, “Old Alabama”, "I'm Gonna Miss Her", "The Mona Lisa", "Hot for Teacher" (Van Halen cover), “Southern Comfort Zone”, >> "Ticks", >> "I'm Still A Guy" (from 5th Gear), >> Online, “I’m Still A Guy” "Alcohol",
The London Evening Standard by John Aizlewood (Rating: 4 STARS) C2C, the O2 - music review
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#C2C2014 Brad Paisley
With kind permission courtesy of :
Hels Bels Photography -
|
The Mirror by Brian Hancill (Brad Paisley review) Now you're talking. This
guy is simply magnificent. He may wear a big white Stetson hat and he may doff
it to all the old Nashville greats, but Brad
is almost a post-modern country star. Superbly crafted songs like Southern
Comfort Zone and Outstanding In Our Field celebrate the whole thing but make
fun of it too. This is the man who wrote a song called Accidental Racist after
he was criticised for wearing a Confederate flag on his T-shirt, then recorded
it
with a rapped
response from LL Cool J.
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Hels Bels Photography -
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He and three of
his band decamped to a tiny stage near the back of the auditorium at point,
telling the audience: "When I use to go to concerts I couldn't afford to
get any closer than this, so this one's especially for you..."). Mr
Paisley (who plays a paisley-patterned Telecaster, of course) is, almost
incidentally, a brilliant guitarist, tearing through mind-blowing lead breaks
with seemingly effortless wizardry. I always liked his music but after seeing
him live it's clear that the
warm, witty and charming Brad Paisley is one of the world's greatest living entertainers. No, that's not an exaggeration. He
should be a superstar everywhere, on TV every week, playing sell-out UK
stadiums in his own right. If you were at C2C and agree with me, let's spread
the word and make it happen.
For The Country Record (Day Two Review) Extract:... everything was made better by the
headliner, Brad Paisley, and his 90-minute set.....the special moments were in
abundance as later The Band Perry joined him onstage for ‘Whiskey Lullaby’,
previously sung with Alison Krauss, and he broke out into extensive instrumentals
with an amusing cartoon accompanying, as well as a cover of ‘Hot For Teacher’.....
Brad proved on Sunday that he is not only a hugely talented guitarist who
seemed not to stop playing the instrument to a ridiculous standard all night,
but that also his voice matches up to its studio quality... He knows how to
make people laugh, how to make them happy, how to make each show different and
memorable. I couldn’t ask for anything more from an artist. Well played, sir....
Fan Comments – (C2C
Facebook) & Twitter
2country Radio
@2countryradio - We're being treated
tonight! Now @thebandperry join @BradPaisley on stage! #C2C2014
Gary Quinn (Irish C2C Pop Up artist) tweeted @GaryQuinnMusic - Never seen anything like
him!! Com'on @BradPaisley !! @C2Cofficial London!!!
bigcarpchaser - Brad...brilliant as usual but I'm
biased as he can do no wrong live
Roger Peck (Aldershot) - Another great night. Brad
Paisley absolutely fantastic. Have been watching concerts for 35 years and
tonight Brad ranks in Top 5 all time! Wonderful and comment from Bob Harris
sums it up. Looking at audience in packed O2 said "this is a dream
realised"
Simon Joslin - Brad Paisley was totally amazing and
produced one of the best performances I have seen. And he can play the heck out
of that telecaster.
Daniel MacQueen - Never heard of ZBB before, won't bother with
them again. Other people like them, that's up to them, I didn't.
Rascal Flatts
wasn't really my sort of thing but I guess others liked it......Dierks Bentley
owned the stage and I for one will be getting all his albums soonest. Brad
Paisley totally stole the weekend (as expected) he just gets better every time.
Gillian Wright - Shame we had to leave the Arena 3
songs into Brads set, WTF did
the sound techs do to the bass, could not stand it & ended up watching it
from Brooklyn Bar. Needs
sorting for next year or else will put people off, & damage their ears to
boot! Disappointing end to otherwise fantastic weekend
Steven Wilshaw - Awesome second night I really didn't
want this weekend to end.. ONLY
complaint, the bass on Brad Paisley set was 2 loud couldn't hear him in some
parts + really hurt the ears
Sean Doherty -
I will be back next year but please
please get some new sound engineers. It was difficult to hear the vocals for BP, RF and Brad as the
band volume was so high. In Brads case it was made worse by a very loud and boomy bass drum that rattled
the venue literally where I was. Also when Brad started could not hear his guitar or vocals. I was
sitting in what where fairly good seats so should have been better
Keith
Stewardson - I had the same thing, a guy and his mrs were on their phones
all night and fell asleep during Brad Paisley, waste of 2 seats!!
Toni Smith - We were lucky enough to get 2nd row
from the front on the ends right in front of the base speakers and omg it was crazy, my whole body, heart,
hair everything was jumping it was soooo bad. A lot of us had to put our fingers in our ears at times.
This was only for Brad's performance ie when they seem to crank up the volume
for the last act. Really bad!
John McCardle - I was front row and nearly had to give up on Brad. No doubt a stellar performance RUINED by the unnecessary ramping up of
the bass. It was uncomfortable,
we had to stick our fingers in our ears.
Paddy Flavin - We were in block 404 on the left side
of the stage and the sound
from bass and drums on both nights was bad but during Brad's set it was
horrendous. It was
impossible to hear the melodies from the higher pitched instruments. The sound engineering was appalling ALL
weekend. It is such a shame
when there were so many great musicians on show that the overall effect is
ruined by these clowns. Furthermore who decided that playing reggae and hip hop
during the intervals was a good idea. If I did not know better I would suspect
that certain people did not want this event to work. Despite wearing ear plugs
my ears are still ringing today. Will need some reassurance about the sound
engineering before booking next year. Have a word with them Bob Harris!
Phil Gibbons (Horsham) - A great weekend spoilt by incompetent cloth-eared sound
engineers on Sunday night.
Why they couldn't hear the bass drum was 'swamping' everything else I don't
know. Do these guys have performance appraisals I wonder? Thanks guys, I saw 4
bands where the bassist, pedal steel and keyboard players might just as well
not have been on stage
C2C Day Two Sum Up's -
Steve Powles - Cannot wait it's been an amazing
weekend and next years dates are over my birthday ... Bonus
Claire Louise
Ghandi Martindale - An
absolutely fantastic weekend can't wait till next year take your hats off chaps and chappesses a
truly awesome show xx
Gera Hoving - It was an amazing and unbelievable
weekend!!! One thing I haven't seen in all of the past posts was the FANTASTIC
job the videographers did this entire weekend!!! The production was so smooth,
the video footage was very diverse, it covered all people on stage and showed
everything that was going on just wonderful for everyone that wasn't up in front
of the stage. I am a videographer myself so it might be just me noticing it,
but they sure gave their best all weekend!!
Helen Fearn - Absolutely fab day today 100% better
than yesterday ( Martina & Dierks excluded) all acts were spot on and
interacted with the crowd which made for a really great atmosphere &
concert
Maverick Magazine @Maverick_mag - Who
said country was dead?!
Joyce Palin - Great weekend...Will be back next year
but please can you try and
get the sound sorted out?
Where we were sitting you sometimes couldn't hear the guys singing it was
coming across muffled. Too much volume on the equipment, everyone around us was
commenting on it
Gary Higgins - Security too scared to chuck the knobheads out again this year.
Gingecat - Contemporary mainstream country is the pits which is sad because it used to be so
ngood. I've been an avid listener to Bob Harris' Country since it started but
his current concentation on the shallow Nashville mainstream stuff (which is
just low-calibre pop music with added twang) is turning me off. Last night I
got so fed up that I turned it off and put on a Buck 65 album - there's more
genuine country feel in a lot of his stuff than anything coming out of Nashville
today. The Guardian Comment
london2k (Forum)- Sunday was better. Chris
Young is a great artist. But
he should sack his drummer....For
many of CY's songs, the out BOOM,
BOOM, BOOM of the drum simply drowned many of the subtleties in CY's fine
baritone. Many of the songs
sounded alike,
almost entirely because the non-stop pounding of the drum was identical on
almost every song, and that's most of what we heard...bang, bang, bang. The Band Perry are, to me, a decent Pop band, who do a FEW
quasi-Country songs.
'Perfectly listenable, but nothing I'd go back to see...But good luck hearing
her sing like that in their Pop-based set, where again, the background music is
as loud or louder than the actual singing. I've never been a particular fan of Rascal Flatts, and tonight didn't
change anything. To me what
RF do is Pop music, with an occasional "Ya'll" thrown in. Also again....Le Vox's fine tenor was barely
distinguishable over the sound mix. How can professional sound men not be able to get the mix right?
Anyway, a polished,
professional,
and to my taste, fairly bland performance....but decent. Brad Paisley is the Golden Child....He proved again that he is
simply a different class of talent than any of the other 7
"headliners". He was, quite simply, superb. His guitar playing is of
course top notch.....and his personality is the real topper. He is a star, from
head to toe....possessed of talents that just can't be taught. All four of us
ranked the order of the 8 headliners virtually identically. All picked Paisley
as the CLEAR star of the weekend. Seventh place went to the Dixie Chicks with
Zac Brown a VERY distant 8th. So the good outweighed the bad, and only Zac Brown was truly awful. We'll all certainly be back next year!!
C2C 2015
To follow
another triumphant year, C2C Country to Country is pleased to announce it's
return to The O2 London and The O2 Dublin on the weekend of 7th & 8th March
2015!
** Early Bird
tickets for the London event will go on sale at 9am on Friday 21st March from
the official website!
