Look, I’ve been lucky to attend hundreds of gigs over my lifetime, and this year alone, over 35 concerts. But Larry Fleet headlining SWG3 in Glasgow on a Wednesday night may be the greatest concert I’ve ever attended.
There’s no denying Fleet has a powerhouse of records under his belt – he wrote Morgan Wallen and Eric Church’s Man Made a Bar – let’s leave it at that – 10/10 no notes – this man has talent, a voice and the ability to capture an audience in the palm of his hand. Last Autumn, he visited Glasgow supporting Morgan on the European leg of his tour, and this year, he’s back to sell out our 2nd biggest Glaswegian venue.
Starting the show was Everett, who had the audience on their toes from start to finish – bringing the energy and audience interaction we needed to hype up for Larry Fleet.
Ok, so let’s start with one thing: when you go to see a Larry Fleet concert, you’re not just graced with the most incredible vocals you’ve ever witnessed live – you also get an incredible live band behind him, too. The gig is a performance – a production – a full-fledged show from the get-go, and we loved every single second. Kicking off with Whiskey River and Lifetime Guarantee – the Glasgow crowd sang their hearts out – followed closely by the iconic tracks Beer Needs a Beer and the tour’s very own self-titled, Hard Work and Holy Water, as well as a track they’d never played live before – what a treat!
“This is our first time headlining a show over here – and the first night of the European tour which is awesome” – it’s hard to believe that someone as talented as Larry Fleet is only just getting his headline show now – and by the looks of a sold-out SWG3 warehouse, I think we’ll be needing a bigger venue for the next – C2C anyone?
We took a trip down memory lane for the next segment of the show, with Larry saying the next track he was going to play, he wrote, which gave him his first number one – and it was, of course, Man Made a Bar – made famous by Morgan Wallen and Eric Church.
What I enjoyed the most about Larry’s show is his storytelling ability – it’s not just song-after-song – there’s a man on stage who truly enjoys telling the audience the stories behind the tracks and where they came from – and a pin drop could be heard in the audience – we were locked in.
What I loved the most, and didn’t know this about Larry – was that prior to making it big time – he paid a buddy $30 to record a song in a makeshift home studio – that song went on to be Working Man – which he put out online – and American Idol winner Jake Owen went on to sing it on American Idol, and Larrys dad called him to say his song was being sang on a major network. What an incredible moment, and you could see the pride bursting from Larry telling the story. I loved every second. He went on to play Working Man acoustic, and it was a very wholesome and heartwarming moment of the show.
With the band returning to the stage after Larrys acoustic segment, Mix Em’ With Whiskey, Two Beer Plan, Quittin’ Ain’t Working’, A Lotta Women and of course, the moment we were all waiting for, Larry Fleet singing Where I Find God live – nothing will ever compare to this moment – the emotion, the passion the way the entire audience felt captivated in the moment – I’d give anything to repeat it.
After a quick encore off stage, Larry returned to say that he had been instructed by the venue to be off stage by 10, giving him a solid 12 minutes of singing time.
Rounding off the show in the most perfect way possible. This, by far, was the greatest, most heartwarming and special concert I’ve ever been to. There is no voice I’ve ever experienced that even comes close to Larry Fleet, and an artist who genuinely deserves every shred of popularity and recognition. What a night.
Review by Lauren Page
