Texan Combs has a couple of fine albums under his belt and has been namechecked at a couple of gigs I have been to over the past year or so. ‘Fresh’ from his transatlantic plane he rattles though 45 minutes of new songs and a few oldies accompanied by his acoustic guitar. He’s a real talent, the songs sounds great and the crowd are warmly appreciative.
It’s then onto the main act. It’s fair to say that life has dealt a bum hand to Margo Price over the years. Hers is the classic country tale of life, loss, love, heartbreaks, booze, and jail but thankfully she draws on all of this to have produced one the finest country albums in years.
I was expecting a sedate laid back classic country gig but what we got was a powerhouse show from the tightest band I have seen since Sturgill last year. Price has a commanding presence on stage unleashing her impressive voice though a set of originals and covers. There’s a real warmth and connection between her and the audience and she is genuinely happy to be playing here for us tonight.
But it’s not all bombast and there’s some lighter moments none more so than when it’s just her and her husband duetting around a single microphone.
There’s a suitable dig at country’s establishment the CMAs where she has been shamefully overlooked for any of the awards. Price’s future is assured in spite of this if she continues to produces albums and shows of this quality.
In a set full of highlights ‘Hands of Time’ and ‘Hurtin on the bottle’ really nail it for me. The band are joined on stage for the encore by album producer Alex Munoz who has just received the all clear from cancer that day where they proceed to blow the lights in the venue but they carry on illuminated by the crowd’s phones and end the night with Gram Parsons ‘Ooh las Vegas’.
After the Avett Brothers the night before its two five star gigs in a row. Let’s see if Drew Holcomb and the Jayhawks can match that next week.
Keep on rockin y’all.