Sunday night is the new night for a damn good country time here in Glasgow, as Scotty McCreery had fans lining up around the block for his sold-out headline show at the iconic Barrowland Ballroom.
The Barrowlands is by far my favourite venue in Glasgow – from the history behind it, the icons that have graced the stage to the iconic signage outside the venue – you feel nothing but warmth and excitement when you enter the venue. Fans were out in flocks to catch the former American Idol star Scotty, who earlier this week released his latest single with Hootie and the Blowfish. Ironically, the last time we saw Scotty in Glasgow, he was supporting Darius Rucker, former member of Hootie – I love when fate falls into place.
Opening up the evening was Miss Caylee Hammack, now let me tell you – when Caylee was announced as a support, I was thrilled – I first came across Hammack through her collaboration with Chris Stapleton on ‘Small Town Hypocrite’ and she has been a staple addition to my playlists ever since. Bringing the essence of Willow Avalon and Dolly Parton to the stage, Caylee had the audience in her hands from the start. Showcasing some of her original songs and chatting to the crowd about the background behind each track, we were all absolutely buzzing when Caylee decided to cover one of the most iconic Scottish duos of our time, The Proclaimers – 500 Miles – the crowd went OFF. One thing you should know about The Barrowland Ballroom if you’ve never been is that, because it’s a former ballroom, it has a sprung floor – so you imagine a tonne of country fans stomping and jumping about – what an atmosphere for a Sunday night! We were also treated to covers from Dolly Parton, Bowie and more.
What a start to the night, I cannot wait to see her back in the UK and hope we’ll catch her on the spotlight stage of C2C shortly.
It wasn’t long before Mr McCreery walked on with a Tennents Larger in hand to Can’t Pass the Bar straight into Little More Gone – full band in tow, bringing the energy levels sky high within the first few minutes – boy, are we in for a good night.
Scotty revealed he’d brought his family on the tour this time, with his wife in the audience – about to play her favourite song – It Matters To Her straight into my favourite song – Cab In A Solo – and I sang this to my heart’s content – Scotty has the most incredibly voice – if you closed your eyes, you truly would think it’s a recording – note for note perfection.
With 6 studio albums (excluding deluxe for Same Truck) – it did have me wondering how Scotty and his band would fit as many belters in as possible to the show, but we got a brilliant mix of everything from 2011 to the present – what a time to be alive.
Love Like This, Porch, Wagon Wheel, In Between and Won’t Back Down – giving us not only the Scotty original tracks – but showcasing the McCreery twang we love on a variety of covers from artists we all love.
“Country music is my life, I write about experiences – for example, 5 More Minutes is for my Grandad, This is It is about my engagement – and even when my wife was in labour, I was writing tracks – I write about moments in life”.
From start to finish, this concert was filled with anecdotes, stories, passion for the genre and gratitude to be across the pond playing a sold-out show to a crowd. I don’t think I stopped smiling from start to finish.
You Time had the audience dancing away before entering a medley of some of Scotty’s favourite songs, of course including Damn Strait, See You Tonight and before a brief time off stage, bursting back onto the scene with Country Roads.
Quite frankly, one of my favourite shows I’ve ever attended. We’re incredibly blessed to have some of the world’s biggest country artists on our doorstep, and I cannot wait to see Scotty return because this concert is firmly locked into my core memories as one of the best gigs I’ve ever attended.
Review by Lauren Page
Photographs by Lynsey Wyllie
