C2C: Country to Country returns! - Day 2, Sunday 16th March
The Country to Country Festival continued with a line up of Chris Young, The Band Perry, Rascal Flatts and Brad Paisley on it's second (and final) day. The evening's show was again hosted by Radio 2's Bob Harris.
I managed to see more of the pop-up stages on the Sunday, catching sets from Hannah Jane Lewis (you can read my earlier interview with her here and a separate feature here), Striking Matches and Jill and Kate. All three delivered very competent performances. I have seen Hannah once before so it was great to get to see her again here. Striking Matches and Jill and Kate were the two pairs from Nashville and even though I had heard of both duos and heard some of their music they certainly impressed me, Striking Matches in particular.
Sunday night's headlining act was Brad Paisley. I hadn't been able to see him live when he last toured the UK so it was great to get this opportunity to see him perform. He opened with what is definitely one of my favourite songs of his, Southern Comfort Zone. It was also his set that gave the audience what was in my opinion the real gem of the night (and possibly the weekend!). Brad first released Whiskey Lullaby as a duet with Alison Krauss and I had been hoping he would sing that for a very long time (whilst wondering who he would sing it with!) I was not disappointed as towards the end of the set he sang his opening solo verse and after hearing her vocals during the chorus, Kimberly Perry took the stage to sing Alison's part. I also thought it was really sweet that Neil and Reid Perry were also brought back on to the stage as part of Brad's band. It was certainly a truly lovely moment and was amazing to get to hear live.
As with Saturday's sets, there were also some covers included in these artist's sets. Chris Young covered Sharp Dressed Man from ZZ Top. The Band Perry sang Fat Bottomed Girls recorded by Queen (which seems to have become a solid part of their set list) and Timber from Pitbull feat. Kesha - which oddly worked. Rascal Flatts sang their previously released covers, Bless The Broken Road (from The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) and Life Is A Highway (from Tom Cochrane). Brad Paisley's set included the Van Halen song Hot For Teacher.
Overall it was another great night and I would have to say The Band Perry and Brad Paisley tie as my favourite acts. The Band Perry felt comfortable on the huge stage and gave a really enthusiastic set that saw the family trio interacting well between themselves and the audience. It was also great to see some of their slower songs included in their set. Brad Paisley is without doubt a consummate entertainer who delivered a very impressive set. Whilst I didn't know all of his songs he more than made up for that and his interaction with the audience was brilliant. I only attended the first day last year and am certainly happy that I went to both days this time around. I would unfortunately say there were probably too many pop up stage artists this year, with many artists playing only one or two sets. I ended up missing many of the artists that I would liked to have seen. There were also many of the same stalls at the 'Town Square' as there were last year and I found that I had quickly travelled round them!
A few people have asked me who I would like to see at C2C 2015 (dates have already been announced - 7th and 8th March in both London and Dublin) Whilst I wouldn't want to go as far as to place them in any type of line up, I would love to see Jake Owen, Brett Eldredge, Gloriana, Sugarland, Jo Dee Messina, Faith Hill, Kip Moore, Sheryl Crow or Trisha Yearwood as part of next year's festival.
Read my recap of day one here
Read my transcript of Martina McBride's press conference here
Read my transcript of The Band Perry's press conference here
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