Brett Young Live at The Eventim Apollo
With seven number one hits spanning across five studio albums and a real commitment to touring the UK, it comes as no surprise that Brett Young doubled the capacity of the venue from his last headline show in London but sold it out!
Following a UK debut opening for Lady A in 2017, a pair of appearances at C2C festival, closing out The Royal Albert Hall as part of Highways Festival and his own headline show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2022, the tenth and final European show of the “Back To Basics World Tour” at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith marked the sixth London show for the former baseball pitcher from Anaheim, California.
One of the biggest changes to the performance from his most recent visits was the way his band had grown and added more elements. We had previously seen Brett stand alongside a quartet of musicians where drummer Billy Hawn along with the masterful guitar shredders (who happen to be good friends to us here at Country In The UK) Keaton Simons and Tony Lucca are still here to entertain with Daniel Cooper coming on board with the added bonus of bringing some pedal steel to the table as he takes up the keys/guitar utility position but we now see the addition of Katie Larson on bass and Allie Lawn really enhancing the dynamic to the BY sound as she introduces some electric cello to the show. One thing that Brett has always looked to do is give his incredibly talented musicians their own place in the spotlight and tonight was no exception as he left the stage following his rendition of Luke Combs’s “Beautiful Crazy” and allowed his guys (and girls) to do their thing much to the delight of the south-west London crowd.
Someone else that really took their chance to shine was US based yet one hundred percent Australian through and through, “pop-rock” (I guess is where I would place his sound if I was forced to put it into a box) singer Sam Fischer who after his own set as the support would return to join Brett on stage as he performed verse of his 2019 label debut release “This City” before leading into the multi-platinum hit “Mercy”.
To the ninety minute set itself, it began with high intensity and what personally is both his biggest and best live song. “Sleep Without You” was also the opener at the last London show back at Highways but closed out his last headline show in London and although I am not really sold on people doing their best song first, it set the intensity for the entire show and really worked as an opener.
Brett is the undisputed king of country ballads and this is obviously reflected in the live show as it is what the fans come for but the real focus of the tour is his recently released fifth studio album “2.0” which were featured as eight songs throughout the set starting with “Tastes Like You” as the third song of twenty-one.
The show spanned hits across his entire catalogue and the set was well paced throughout to maintain the balance between the latest record and the rest of his locker although four new songs from the most recent record in a row is bold as the show drew to a close and sadly did not get as big a reaction in the seats upstairs and maybe swapping a song like “You Didn’t” to later in the set with one of those may have worked better. Hits like “Catch” and his most recent number one “Lady” come earlier in the set whilst “Here Tonight” was something that fans were eagerly awaiting towards the end of the show whilst the real highlight of “In Case You Didn’t Know” was held until the encore.
This felt the most chilled we have ever seen BY on stage over here, it felt really comfortable and not just the performance but he was even more engaging than we can remember and this latest release has really implemented where his next chapter is going. The next jump in venue here is the big boys, headlining shows at The O2 or Wembley are coming and we cannot wait for it, this was a truly wonderful night that is only going to keep getting bigger.
Sleep Without You, Ticket to LA, Tastes Like You, Catch, Kiss to Forget, You Didn't, Lady, Full House, Drink With You, You Ain't Here to Kiss Me, Like I Loved You, Beautiful Crazy, BAND SOLO’S, This City (with Sam Fischer), Mercy, Dance With You, You Still Got It, Who I Do It For, That Ain't Yours, Say Less, Here Tonight, In Case You Didn't Know
Following a UK debut opening for Lady A in 2017, a pair of appearances at C2C festival, closing out The Royal Albert Hall as part of Highways Festival and his own headline show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2022, the tenth and final European show of the “Back To Basics World Tour” at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith marked the sixth London show for the former baseball pitcher from Anaheim, California.
One of the biggest changes to the performance from his most recent visits was the way his band had grown and added more elements. We had previously seen Brett stand alongside a quartet of musicians where drummer Billy Hawn along with the masterful guitar shredders (who happen to be good friends to us here at Country In The UK) Keaton Simons and Tony Lucca are still here to entertain with Daniel Cooper coming on board with the added bonus of bringing some pedal steel to the table as he takes up the keys/guitar utility position but we now see the addition of Katie Larson on bass and Allie Lawn really enhancing the dynamic to the BY sound as she introduces some electric cello to the show. One thing that Brett has always looked to do is give his incredibly talented musicians their own place in the spotlight and tonight was no exception as he left the stage following his rendition of Luke Combs’s “Beautiful Crazy” and allowed his guys (and girls) to do their thing much to the delight of the south-west London crowd.
Someone else that really took their chance to shine was US based yet one hundred percent Australian through and through, “pop-rock” (I guess is where I would place his sound if I was forced to put it into a box) singer Sam Fischer who after his own set as the support would return to join Brett on stage as he performed verse of his 2019 label debut release “This City” before leading into the multi-platinum hit “Mercy”.
To the ninety minute set itself, it began with high intensity and what personally is both his biggest and best live song. “Sleep Without You” was also the opener at the last London show back at Highways but closed out his last headline show in London and although I am not really sold on people doing their best song first, it set the intensity for the entire show and really worked as an opener.
Brett is the undisputed king of country ballads and this is obviously reflected in the live show as it is what the fans come for but the real focus of the tour is his recently released fifth studio album “2.0” which were featured as eight songs throughout the set starting with “Tastes Like You” as the third song of twenty-one.
The show spanned hits across his entire catalogue and the set was well paced throughout to maintain the balance between the latest record and the rest of his locker although four new songs from the most recent record in a row is bold as the show drew to a close and sadly did not get as big a reaction in the seats upstairs and maybe swapping a song like “You Didn’t” to later in the set with one of those may have worked better. Hits like “Catch” and his most recent number one “Lady” come earlier in the set whilst “Here Tonight” was something that fans were eagerly awaiting towards the end of the show whilst the real highlight of “In Case You Didn’t Know” was held until the encore.
This felt the most chilled we have ever seen BY on stage over here, it felt really comfortable and not just the performance but he was even more engaging than we can remember and this latest release has really implemented where his next chapter is going. The next jump in venue here is the big boys, headlining shows at The O2 or Wembley are coming and we cannot wait for it, this was a truly wonderful night that is only going to keep getting bigger.
Sleep Without You, Ticket to LA, Tastes Like You, Catch, Kiss to Forget, You Didn't, Lady, Full House, Drink With You, You Ain't Here to Kiss Me, Like I Loved You, Beautiful Crazy, BAND SOLO’S, This City (with Sam Fischer), Mercy, Dance With You, You Still Got It, Who I Do It For, That Ain't Yours, Say Less, Here Tonight, In Case You Didn't Know
