This is one of the hottest tickets in London this week and the show sold out straight away back in March. As an added bonus Sarah Darling was added to the bill. So a proper double header and as country a gig as you are ever going to get.
First up is Sarah Darling and its obvious that hot pants are the outfit of the day with both her and her partner Julie Lavery and indeed Ms Pearce too all donning said shorts. I felt positively over dressed in my jeans. They clearly knew how hot the venue was going to be and dressed accordingly.
We have seen Sarah a couple of times and she always delivers a fine set of classic country tunes. Tonight is no exception with a short set of originals with two new songs ‘Cowboys and Hippies’ and ‘Primrose Hill’ which were excellent. Plus Sarah and Julie finding their inner Stevie Nicks on a cover of ‘Dreams’.
A great starter to whet our appetite for the main course. Following her superb five piece band resplendent in their matching jeans and short sleeved denim shirt combo, Ms Pearce enters the stage to rapturous applause and whooping. I have said this before but there is very little louder than a UK country crowd. The noise was off the charts.
What follows is ninety minutes of deeply personal songs documenting the last couple of years of her life, a bunch of good fun honky tonking, singalong, dance along bangers and a couple of choice covers to really take the energy up a level and I think I can still hear the chorus of Shania’s ‘feel like woman’ ringing in my ears hours later.
It’s a fine set of oldies and tracks from ‘29: written in stone’ that really showcase her songwriting talents at what was a traumatic but hopefully also cathartic couple of years.
The show was eventful say the least with a boot heel breaking necessitating a change of boots and after eulogising about how much BBC radio had done for her career over here she continually got Bob Harris’ name wrong referring to him as Bill. Embarrassing didn’t even come close but she put it down to jet lag and rose.
It’s a super show, the band are excellent to a man, Pearce has a great voice and the songs are not just some throwaway muzak. Props to the venue as the sound and lighting were spot on too and it felt more like an arena show. I am glad to have seen them at this sized venue as I am guessing it will be the last time she is playing venues this small next time around.
Keep on country rockin’ y’all.