How blessed are we as European country fans to be able to go along to our local Glaswegian venue on a Thursday night and witness the wonder that is the one-and-only icon Charles Wesley Goodwin – along with one of my recent favourite discoveries, Evan Bartels, and as CWG says, “I’d do it all again”.
Kicking off his first European tour, Charles Wesley Goodwin announced a string of UK and Irish dates built around The Long Road Festival in London, which would see him support Country legend, Eric Church.
Charles is one of those artists that you can listen to in any circumstance, the raw and emotional lyrics paired with the energy and passion from his band – you know when you go to a CWG show – you’re in for the night of your life.
Kicking off the night was Nashville’s very own Evan Bartels. Evan is an artist I only recently came across, his track The Devil God & Me is like nothing I’ve ever heard before – the kind of music discovery that stops you in your tracks, and seeing it live would blow your socks off – and that it did. The way this man delivers a show just freezes you in time. Pure country and emotionally charged lyrics – the audience was hooked from start to finish. Evan revealed that we are days away from his latest EP, To Make You Cry, and Glasgow were treated to a host of tracks including some of his already released sneak previews, Luna and the self-titled To Make You Cry, which I will hand on heart admit, had me emotionally and tugged on the heart strings. Evan Bartels, I beg you to return to the UK as soon as possible. I need a headline tour. You are phenomenal, and welcome back anytime.
It wasn’t long before headliner, Charles Wesley Goodwin and his band took to the stage – taking their places one by one to huge applause, the audience was HYPED for 2 hours of country-folk greatness.
“Glasgow – it has been a long time – I have ancestors from Scotland so it is so good to be back” – and when I tell you – for the next 2 hours Charles and his band delivered track-after-track – im talking dancing in the crowd, chanting the words back with the occasional wolf-howl (whoever was doing that fair play but it was not necessary after EVERY SINGLE SONG) – but the vibes were top notch – and hey with the Scottish heatwave we’re having at the minute – I felt like I was listening to pure Country Folk live and direct in America. A show I will honestly never forget, my face hurt from smiling so much.
All Again, Strong, Temporary Town, and She Don’t Love Me Anymore – just WOW. The highlight for me was seeing Dance in the Rain live – this is a song Charles wrote for his daughter, and you could hear a pin drop in SWG3 – the entire audience just locked in ready to listen to the single most beautiful piece of music I’ve seen live in my country, loving life. From start to finish – just pure perfection.
“It’s amazing the first time I crossed the ocean to be playing sold-out shows like this. I promise every single album going forward I will return for another show,” – which is exactly what we want to hear – I’m so glad that Europe is finally getting the dates it deserves on the country scene.
It was an incredibly touching moment when Charles revealed that the following day would be his Grandfather’s birthday – the mfor awhomho he wrote the next song for – Seneca Creek. A beautiful moment, something this show has been full of.
Before rounding off the show, Charles introduced his entire band to the crowd – and when he got to his guitarist – who is also his producer – he revealed that they have almost finished his latest album .. which whether he slipped that in there to tease us or wanted us to know more CWG is hitting our playlists very soon.
The final song hit all the wholesome notes with Charles inviting Evan back on stage for a cover of Take Me Home, Country Roads which had the audience singing back every word. A perfect Thursday evening, and a gig that will remain in my memory for years to come. Charles and Evan, return as soon as possible – we love you.
Review by Lauren Page
