11 months ago, Breland played Camden’s Electric Ballroom as the support act for Russell Dickerson and on Saturday night he returned to the London venue as part of his Extra Mile Tour (Extra Kilometre for some Europeans!) for the biggest headline show of his career at the 1,500-capacity venue. Breland’s latest visit was mixed amongst an appearance at this year’s Long Road Festival and supporting Shania Twain later this month on her Queen of Me tour. Having only made his UK debut 18 months ago, Breland gave the same opportunity to teenage Nashville up and comer Avery Anna.
Avery’s 30-minute set was just her and a keyboard, which was enough to impress the early attendees to the point she was even requested for an encore. There is no doubt that the 19-year-old will be around for years to come and was even able to spot people singing along and wearing her merchandise in the crowd, so we can only hope she can return to the UK to show what she can do in her own show and with the backing of a band.
Anyone who has been to one of Breland’s shows previously or was one over by him as he co-presented this year’s C2C festival in London, knows you’re going to get an extremely upbeat, non-stop show and Breland was ready to deliver as he stepped on stage. There’s no better place to start a headline show that with the opening track of your album, and accompanied by his three-piece band, Breland did exactly that with ‘Here For It’ and the crowd was ready to sing-along for the rest of the evening from the opening beat. Throughout the evening Breland would play tracks from his Cross-Country album but would also return to his 2020 Breland EP to perform Hot Sauce.
Known for collaborating with other artists, Breland took on a HARDY impression for Beers on Me but did welcome UK act Kezia Gill on stage to perform For What It’s Worth and welcomed Avery Anna back for a cover of Deanna Carter’s Strawberry Wine. In the 18-track set there was also time to introduce his new track Cowboy Don’t to the London crowd.
Elsewhere in the evening, there was time for a marriage proposal – which would inadvertently be followed by Breland’s breakup song Happy Song! Breland would jump down from the stage during his final track, My Truck, to greet those at the front as he pushed the Electic Ballroom’s 9:45 venue curfew right to the final seconds.
In his brief time performing in the UK so far, Breland is quickly becoming a fan favourite this side of the Atlantic and his energy on stage resonated with every audience member as the main lights came on at the end of the night. Breland isn’t done yet on this UK leg and we can only hope it won’t be long till we welcome Breland back to our shores as the venues are only going to get bigger each time he visits.
Set list: 1. Here For It 2. Hot Sauce 3. High Horse 4. Told You I Could Drink 5. Thirsty 6. Natural 7. Thick 8. For What It’s Worth (with Kezia Gill) 9. Strawberry Wine (Deanna Carter cover) (with Avery Anna) 10. Happy Song 11. The Extra Mile 12. Cross Country 13. Beers On Me 14. Cowboy Don’t 15. County Line 16. Praise The Lord 17. Throw It Back 18. My Truck
SEPTEMBER DATES WITH SHANIA TWAIN 14th – Glasgow, OVO Hydro 16th – London, The O2 17th – London, The O2 19th – Dublin, 3Arena 20th – Dublin, 3Arena 22nd – Glasgow, OVO Hydro 23rd – Glasgow, OVO Hydro 25th – Manchester, AO Arena 26th – Birmingham, Utilita Arena Birmingham 28th – Leeds, First Direct Arena