Saturday 22 March 2014

C2C Country To Country 2014 Festival (Day 2)

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 

#C2C2014 Day two Collage Wallpaper CLICK to ENLARGE
Photos used with kind permission courtesy of :
Anthony D'Anglo Frography (Kiss The Frog Ltd) Website - Facebook
Hels Bels Photography (Helen Parish) 
Find her on Facebook - Twitter - Website

DAY TWO (Sunday March 16, 2014)




C2C Country to Country 2014 Sunday Highlights (Day 2) >> YouTube

Hot UK TalentGlenn "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: 

2country Radio share a 39 minute synopsis of the C2C2014 experience >>  YouTube

CHRIS YOUNG
Photo Credits – Frography (by Flex) - Facebook Gallery (9 Photos)
Hels Bels Photography (Helen Parish) - Flickr.com - Facebook Gallery (15 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"

>> 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

#C2C2014 Chris Young
With kind permission courtesy of :
Hels Bels Photography - 
The Mirror by Brian Hancill
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

Suzanne Peake - Chris Young you were outstanding, brought me to tears! What a pure country star x
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

>> 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.

For The Country Record (Day Two Review) Extract:...I was intrigued to see what all the fuss was about. Kimberly Perry absolutely leapt onto the stage as if injected with speed.....Focusing on tracks from their current record ‘Pioneer’, they got the crowd on their feet, dancing and clapping..... It’s notable that they stayed away from the ballads just as the Dixie Chicks did the day before and Dierks Bentley mostly did too.... but it would have been nice to hear a few slower songs....
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

Caroline Littler - The Band Perry were awesome! Set could have been way longer! Man that Kimberly can sing!!
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

Margaret Docherty - Didnt like them
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

#C2C2014 Rascal Flatts
With kind permission courtesy of :
Hels Bels Photography - 
The Mirror by Brian Hancill
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

Meredith King - Fantastic show from Rascal Flatts! Loved the shout out to The Lord. God Bless You!
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

Joanne Mountford-Williams - Not impressed that Rascal Flatts time has been cut! They were supposed to play till 8.15!! What happened??? Disappointed fan in the O2!!
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",   

The London Evening Standard by John Aizlewood  (Rating: 4 STARS) C2C, the O2 - music review   
#C2C2014 Brad Paisley
With kind permission courtesy of :
Hels Bels Photography - 
Last night’s cheery headliner Brad Paisley looked like the archetypal country honcho — big white hat; jeans; small, slightly caddish Terry-Thomas moustache — and he paid homage to his genre with the self-explanatory This Is Country Music; the heartbreaking suicide ballad Whiskey Lullaby and Mud on the Tires. But Paisley took chances too. He guitar soloed like a rocker and sprinted through the crowd to a tiny stage near the back....Southern Comfort Zone demolished perceptions about the American south, he covered Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher and, as if to prove the hat was a style choice rather than a baldness shield, he gave it away at the end. Before that, Rascal Flatts featured the near-falsetto of Gary LeVox, harmonised like twangy angels and offered their own mighty ballad, Bless the Broken Road, while The Band Perry covered Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls, but their leader Kimberly Perry offered both glamour and further hope for country’s future.


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.
Hels Bels Photography - 
Every one of the artists except the Dixie Chicks had made creative use of the big screen behind the stage at C2C but Brad's back-projections were on another level, putting his live video feed up there to interact with Marvel superheroes and even William Shatner as Captain Kirk pleading to be rescued from alien attack. ("I don't know whether they're Romulans or Kardashians, Brad...")
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 (UK Internet Radio) tweeted @2countryradio - Yeehah!!!! @ChrisYoungMusic joins @BradPaisley on stage! #We'reOutstandingInOurField #C2C2014
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.

Anthony Collier - Horrendous base in the Brad Paisley set, really spoiling it!
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!!
Stuart Mcniff - My personal thoughts are that the sound was dreadful during Brad Paisley and the bass was way too heavy. Maybe it was the engineers fault, maybe it was the bands preference but i agree that Brad Paisleys set was badly effected by poor sound. Unfortunately this was theme throughout the weekend with Natalie Maines vocals during the Dixie Chicks on Saturday night was dreadful
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.
Lynda Wreyford - I was in block 104 and the sound was dreadful obviously not blaming Brad but the sound engineers should be sacked the whole area was vibrating and the bass was going straight through you we had to leave early along with other people because it was so uncomfortable, such a shame it ruined the night
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 -

Astrid Blackburn -  Fantastic evening...loved all 4 acts...am a huge Rascal Flatts fan but Brad was amazing! Roll on 2015. Shame the guy next to me looked bored witless all night and spent most of the 2 acts he was there for on his mobile...why did he bother coming?!!
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?!

Andrew Carter (Calthorpe) - Utter crap
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!

Missed out on #C2C2014 merchandise? Check out their online shop  

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