It was a pink cowboy hat-wearing affair at Glasgow’s SWG3 on Tuesday night for Illinois Country Princess Alexandra Kay’s highly anticipated return to Scotland for a sold-out show with up-and-coming sensation Channel Yates.
Now if you’ve been even remotely online over the last 5 years in the country scene, you’ll know Alexandra Kay – from making coffee on TikTok and singing your favourite songs – to releasing All I’ve Ever Known which hit the Billboard Charts, Kay has well and truly paved her way in the genre.
With a full European tour kicking off on May 5th, Glasgow’s date on the 27th was one of the last stops for Alexandra and her team but that didn’t mean the energy was any less low. Fans queued up early to secure their merch and place it on the barrier.
Kicking off the show was English star Chanel Yates who you may remember from The Voice in 2021, the singer has gone on to make waves on the country scene and her track Big Girl Boots has gone viral across major platforms.
Chanel has the most wholesome and welcoming presence, you truly feel like you’re just sitting in your living room watching your friend perform. Her chat with the audience paired with bubblegum-pop-western vibes was an absolute delight to start the show, and she’s an artist I’ll be keeping my eye on for the foreseeable.
It wasn’t long before Alexandra took the stage – a bedazzled pink microphone stood centre stage, Alexandra’s band walked on and introduced the main gal herself.
Kicking things off with the tour’s self-title – Cupid’s A Cowgirl has the audience singing along, arms around one another just living in the moment. Backroad Therapy, More Than You and That’s What Love Is had the audience in their feels from the get-go.
“The last time we played was at a venue called Oran Mor which I think has a capacity of about 500 people – you guys sold this venue out just as fast” (for reference, the SWG3 Galvanizers is 5000 capacity – which is INSANE).
What was interesting to hear from Alexandra is that her fanbase in Europe is growing at the same rate as the States, so she promises to always come back (we’re only a few songs in and I’m already sold on the next tour).
If there’s one thing I’ve said before about country music, it is the impressive ability to capture real-life scenarios, stories and tragedies (as well as happy ones too!) and craft that into music – no genre does it quite like country, and Alexandra Kay is no exception – the wholesome and inspiration that comes from her music is like nothing I’ve ever heard before.
“Two years ago I started touring All I’ve Ever Known – and yet this is the first time I can bring it to Europe which is crazy – in the States, I’m already touring my new album which comes out at the end of the year” – we’re only a week in since Alexandra dropped her latest single from said album, The Last, which despite only being a few days old – the audience already knew word-for-word. Impressive.
One of the highlights of the show for me was when Alexandra decided to bring 2 young fans up from the crowd to sing her next track, Best Worst Ex and the two kids knew every single word – imagine getting up in front of that many people and going into school the next day?! Georgia and Amber had the time of their lives.
For the next part of the show, Alexandra wanted to get an insight into what people wanted to hear – and I admire this – we all wanna see our favourite artists live – but there’s nothing worse than knowing you missed the tour where a certain song was played – and you’ll never hear it again. Because of the audience’s reaction, we were treated to Easy, I Can Do Anything, I Hate Aeroplanes and I Kinda Don’t.
It wasn’t long before after a brief exit from the stage, Alexandra came back to talk to the crowd about the meaning behind her album and how her fans had helped her through the hardest times, it truly was one of the most intimate concerts I’ve been to – you know when you can just tell someone is so blessed to be in the position they’re in? And honestly, she deserves every single celebration and praise – one of the sweetest performers I’ve ever had the chance to see live.
As the show came to a close, it was tied for Alexandra’s 2 biggest tracks – Painted Him Perfect and Everleave. Such a fantastic show from start to finish – Alexandra Kay, we need another European Tour as soon as you have recovered from this. What a night.
Review by Lauren Page
Photographs by Lynsey Wyllie
