It was a Wednesday evening, and I was tired. What better way
to wake myself up than a country music concert? And not just any country
concert at that, but the Queen of Country herself, Miranda Lambert. To be honest, I was
surprised that the event was talking place at the Eventim Apollo, one of
London’s medium size venues. She could easily sell out the O2 as many of her
counterparts have done before.
Kicking the night off was Ward Thomas, who started their set
with a literal bang as drum beats filled the speakers. Their set was much the
same as usual (and you can read more of my Ward Thomas reviews here and here)
but with the addition of new song Breathe
In, a gentle acoustic track which I found a welcome break from many of
their poppy, ‘clap-along’ songs like Boomerang
and Cartwheels. What the new song
did well was highlight their impressive vocals, so I’m interested to see what
their next album holds. Nevertheless, it was clear that they are crowd
favourites as each song ended with raucous applause and standing ovations from
some.
The standing continued, and didn’t stop, when Miranda hit
the stage – her music is not the type you want to sit down during – instead the
crowd were dancing and swaying to each song, an energy I love to see at any
kind of concert. She walked on exuding cool vibes in a blue fringed top and
blue guitar complete with diamond strap before launching into Fastest Girl In Town. Given that this
was the ‘Highway Vagabond’ Tour, I had anticipated that most of the songs would
be from her latest (absolutely brilliant) album ‘The Weight of These Wings’ but
the set appeared to be more of a Greatest Hits type. I can’t say I minded at
all.
We hit real nostalgia in second song Kerosene released when she was only 21 years old so it was nice to
see her old songs still getting a lot of love from the crowd. Just in case we
forgot what kind of gig we were at, we were greeted with a hearty ‘Hey y’all’
and a good old drinking song – Heart Like
Mine. Looking around, not one person wasn’t singing, true dedication to a
country legend.
The next section of the set was dedicated to ‘The Weight of
These Wings’ beginning with Highway
Vagabond, We Should Be Friends and my favourite song of the night Vice which somehow made more sense to me
when sung live than it had ever done before. All the time, Miranda looked like
she was enjoying herself, working the stage and getting the audience to join in
with choruses.
If I had to use one word to describe the concert, it would
be ‘powerful’ and this was particularly evident in strong songs like Baggage Claim, Over You (a song which
breaks my heart every time I hear it) and All
Kinds of Kinds. Raw emotion ballad The
House That Built Me generated the biggest cheer, and again, made it clear
that such songs were of real importance to events that had affected Miranda in
the past. Whilst her latest album is varied in itself, getting to hear tracks
from her entire discography proved how versatile an artist she is, dealing with
any content and style that she wants.
The pace picked up again with Pink Sunglasses in which her cool outfit was completed by a pair of
(definitely more than $9.99) pink sunglasses. This was a song a lot of us had
been waiting for, and audience members hastily pulled their own pink sunglasses
out of bags to join in the fun. The party continued as Miranda poured herself a
glass of whiskey and invited us to toast to failure and when things go bad. She
quoted her own divorce, a little bit of drinking too much, and then things
getting better – no song better to follow this speech than Ugly Lights which transitioned halfway through into the brilliantly
fun Mama’s Broken Heart. Here, she
showed her crazy (watch the music video, it’s fantastic) as did we all. We’d
come out to have a good time and she wasn’t disappointing.
One thing I always appreciate at
gigs is when artists introduce their bands, but Miranda went beyond, referring
to them as ‘family’ and encouraging huge cheers for everyone even if we didn’t
know where they were from. This request was obliged but backing singer Gwen
Sebastian (you might recognise the name from Blake Shelton’s My Eyes) got a mega cheer, and the cheer
for her Essex-born steel guitar player went on for a good two minutes.
Moreover, the stage was let over
to Gwen briefly to sing her new single Cadillac,
something I don’t think I’ve ever seen at a concert before which was really
lovely. We were inundated with special guest singers as Miranda’s boyfriend
Anderson East then appeared on stage to duet Getaway Driver, but in a very different manner to how I’d heard it
before – much slower with Anderson singing with an almost tortured expression.
They clearly bring out creativity in each other and it was nice to watch their
chemistry.
Next up was the second song of
Miranda’s I’d heard – Automatic (I know,
I was late to the party), a song I was really glad made it on to the setlist
given her plethora of tracks to choose from. This was followed by the first
song of hers I’d heard and admittedly hadn’t liked too much – Little Red Wagon – perhaps it’s always
been a bit too rocky for me, but honestly, the way she performed it made it so
enjoyable I found myself getting a new appreciation for it as I left the gig.
The main set ended with two edgy
and very fun songs, White Liar and Gunpowder and Lead, the latter of which
I hadn’t realised had been written in response to Miranda meeting domestic
violence victims – definitely changes the way I think about it! The band then
left the stage but thankfully not for to long as Miranda then returned to ask
us to wish her parents a happy 39th wedding anniversary via video
and then dedicated her penultimate song to them for encouraging her to pursue
music. This was what I’d been waiting for, my favourite song of the moment, Tin Man, and it couldn’t have been more
perfect with just Miranda and her guitar.
The band wasn’t forgotten though,
and everyone came back on stage to sing Still
Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, highlighting their instrumental talents
and vocals. By the end of the night, I was fully awake and happy from a
thoroughly enjoyable gig. This may have only been her second time playing in
the UK, but as long as she keeps coming back, we’ll keep spending money to go
to more country gigs!
I hope you enjoyed my review! If you’re a fan of Miranda or Ward
Thomas, or saw them on tour, I’d love to know what you thought. There’s lots
more reviews and interviews to come so be sure to follow me on Twitter
@CiarasCountry and drop me a message with your comments or what gigs you think
I should head to next!
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