Back for their sixth visit to Glasgow, Old Dominion finished their ‘How Good is That’ European leg of the tour in the iconic SEC Armadillo to a sold-out Scottish fanbase with support from the ICONIC Kassi Ashton.
It only feels like yesterday we welcomed Old Dominion next door to the Hydro for their C2C slot in 2024, but the 6-piece announced as part of their tour supporting their latest release, they’d be landing in Glasgow on Halloween, which fans leapt for tickets the second they went on sale. I’ll be honest, when I saw it was the Armadillo, I thought it was an unusual venue, but in true country music fan style, the second the lads came on stage, everyone was on their feet.
Opening the show was Kassi Ashton, another artist I discovered through C2C, who played the Spotlight stage at the UK leg in March. Drive You Outta My Mind is one of my favourite songs, and hearing it acoustic in March in an arena was sheer perfection – but in the armadillo, an intimate venue 3 rows from the front? Absolutely INCREDIBLE. The way Kassi can mould a crowd into the atmosphere she wants is nothing short of an ART – playing a selection of songs, covers (duh, it’s Halloween), and even treating the audience to an unreleased (even unreleased to her own team) – I could easily have sat there for longer listening to just Kassi for the rest of the night.
Sporting a costume pair of wings, the Halloween spirit was high with Kassi talking about getting out of her hometown and taking her music across the world. If you haven’t already discovered Kassi – please even follow her socials – she styles her own clothes and it’s incredible – how is one person so talented?
It wasn’t long before Old Dominion arrived, bursting on stage with Coming Home, No Hard Feelings, Break Up, Talk Country, How Good is That and Broken Heart.
Telling the crowd about their love for Glasgow, with lead singer Matthew admitting the band still can’t believe they’re playing their sixth show here in Scotland, as when they started the idea of taking their music overseas seemed impossible – and deliberately chose to end their tour in Scotland as its their favourite city (are they just saying that? We’ll take the compliment regardless)
Nowhere Fast, Can’t Get You, Make it Sweet, Save It, and Heart is a Bar had the crowd up and dancing, and there wasn’t a single second the energy dipped below level – the band were also having a few drinks on stage to celebrate the final show – I can’t blame them – 3 weeks on the road abroad is HEAVY.
Halfway through, the band decided to take a request, with Should Have Married You winning the vote (which is great for me as I LOVE that song). Matthew even jumped off stage and ran through the crowd meeting fans – the Armadillo certainly felt like a really personable venue – but maybe that’s before I was on the floor – I’m not sure how it would be for anyone else far back.
Written in the Sand, Snapback, Hotel Key – which ended with an audience member handing their own hotel key to Matthew mid song (got to admire the boldness), and Ain’t Got a Worry before the ultimate favourites – One Man Band and Memory Lane.
Old Dominion never failed, even after a short encore, they came back for Boat which had everyone singing every single word from start to finish.
They always bring a party, and it was a great mix of newer and older songs as well.
Review by Lauren Page
