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| Emmylou in ambidextrous mode! |
First of all apologies for missing off Little Big Town
from the headline, but the 9:10 from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill
won the day. However, a curtailed day trip to North Greenwich still brought
great riches as the process of cherry picking Country-to-Country (C2C) kicked
back into gear. Resistance to catch a rare glimpse of the legendary Emmylou
Harris drifted away as the secondary ticket market reversed its much
disputed overpricing policy. The twinning with Margo Price was also a shrewd
move for an event making gestures to reach out. Throw in the curious enigma of
Midland, and the scene was set for a splendid afternoon/early evening’s entertainment.
Contrasts from all three acts were in abundance, although
these were not necessarily all from a negative viewpoint. The allotted stage
times for all three (Midland 40 mins, Margo 55 mins, Emmylou 60 mins) were
entirely adequate in the context of the overall presentation and to ascertain the
extent of their presence. Reports of sound issues from the Friday evening show
gladly did not appear to surface, although location in the cavernous O2 Arena
probably creates a disparity. Sitting in an upgraded seat on the Level 1
sideline did present an apparent distant echo from the rear of the arena if you
strained one ear, but it was easy to block out and focus on the crispness
emanating from the stage. This much sonically maligned ‘barn’ probably had one
of its better days.
Midland emphatically scaled the sound threshold to
make a bold statement as a live band with intent. Not surprisingly, Big
Machine’s two-fingered gift to the critics went down a storm with a majority of
the audience, and the vibrancy of their songs relayed much of the acknowledged
accomplishment of the ON THE ROCKS album. While they crossed one bridge with
their charisma, the reluctance to embrace the true country sound still puts a
question mark against their credibility. Maybe it was just a safer option to
ditch any remnants of fiddle, steel or keys, and hit C2C with a fully-fledged
guitar, bass and drum attack.
Admittedly,
this did not overpower a host of good songs including ‘Drinkin’ Problem’, ‘Altitude
Adjustment’ and ‘More Than a Fever’,
but left food for thought of what it will probably take to ultimately silence
the critics. You only had to witness the different league that the bands
supporting the other two acts were operating in to ram home the point. Yet
Midland did many things right, and only a staunch cynic could dismiss them. The
future may be revealing, but the present was appealing.
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| Margo: More than a front person |
One perceptive observation was the contrasting covers
delivered across these three sets. Midland adopted a predictable stance with
trademark Petty and sampling Mellencamp, while Margo roamed into similar
territory, though a slight alternative take on CCR and a little snippet of
timely Willie. Emmylou trumped them all with Billy Joe Shaver, Ralph Stanley
and some Bill Monroe.
Margo’s drift into ‘Whiskey River’ was entirely in accord with being joined on stage by
a Nelson junior in the shape of the rapidly advancing Lukas. The pair served up
the duet ‘Learning to Lose’ off her
latest album, proving that ‘like father like son’ is not some overused cliché.
Early into her set, Margo commented that the journey from playing the
Slaughtered Lamb in the not too distant past was incredible. Having seen her
both in The Exchange in Bristol and The Bullingdon in Oxford, it was a huge
transition jumping into an arena, but she made it effortlessly to
remove any apprehension.
Backed by a momentous band ensuring keys and steel
were going to play some part in C2C 2018, Margo kept mainly to the upbeat songs
from her two albums lifted to international status by the wily arm of Third Man
Records. ‘Tennessee Song’, ‘Cocaine Cowboys’ and ‘Hurtin’ (On the Bottle’) played a
significant part in this rousing set. Clad in a distinguished suit to match the
Midland boys, Margo even rose to the challenge of a mid-set costume change.
When also factoring in the genre-pushing pair ‘Do Right By Me’ and ‘A Little
Pain’, there was more than a touch of show biz panache and a suggestion
that traditional evolvement can work in positive ways.
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| No introduction required |
While post C2C, Margo Price will most likely ease back
into a mid-venue role, the mark made on a wider audience will have some bounce.
Undoubtedly, the duet with Lukas Nelson will be fondly remembered by a large
number. From a personal perspective, it was seeing her rise to the occasion that
brought the greatest smile. The band was pretty good as well!
The good news about Emmylou Harris is that those shows
with Rodney Crowell of a couple of years ago were not the farewell feared. An
opportunity to share her distinguished class with a British and Irish audience
was too good to miss across a hectic weekend. She looked every inch the
statesperson as she glided through an iconic set list, especially showing that
there is still mileage in the voice as she enters her septuagenarian years.
The Red Dirt Boys, Emmylou's regular band, can certainly show the younger
generation how to ‘pick’ an exemplary sound, proving that amped up bass is not
the only way to fill an arena. When you have such expert players as Will
Kimbrough, Chris Donohue and Phil Madeira the results are only going one way.
English mandolin and fiddle player Eamon Mcloughlin probably stole the
instrumental show of the weekend with his sublime performance of stringed
elegance and brilliance.
As mentioned earlier, Emmylou paid tribute to some
great artists, with her version of Billy Joe Shaver’s ‘Old Five and Dimers Like Me’ proving the pick. Of course, there are
a couple of tribute songs where introduction is superfluous. Emmylou has almost
a strong claim on ‘Pancho and Lefty’
as Townes, and all the others who have covered it. It also transpired that the
gem of a set closer London had in ‘Boulder
to Birmingham’ might have been impromptu, with Glasgow missing out and this
set seaming to finish a few minutes early before the prompt to do one more. However, there was no complaints
here with the most glorious of send offs.
Prior to that stupendous hair rising finale, we were
treated to unblemished songs such as ‘Red
Dirt Girl’, ‘Orphan Girl’ and ‘Making Believe’. All perfectly
accompanied by a seasoned band in impeccable form. This Emmylou Harris set was
worth any degree of investment and is firmly locked away in the treasure trove
of privileged gig memories.
Over the duration of its six-year existence,
Country-to-Country has divided opinion across the country music world, and is
likely to continue to as long it re-convenes each March. Periodically, they get
the scheduling spot on and this afternoon/early evening was such an occasion.
Little Big Town may have thrilled the masses at the close, but a certain homage
to Gram Parsons hummed in the head of one person on a Chiltern train service at
the corresponding time.
