Mackenzie Carpenter C2C Review
Coming out on to the main stage at this year’s C2C:Country to Country festival in London with Mark Morrison’s ‘Return of the Mack’ as her walk out track, it really was a triumphant return to the festival for Mackenzie Carpenter, This marks her second consecutive year at the festival after her first UK appearances in 2025 when she played the Barrelhouse, Saloon and BBC Radio 2 Stages, then followed up her maiden voyage up with a main stage performance at The Long Road festival last summer so it’s clear that the UK really is a core market that her team are really focused on and the ability to be playing full band shows this early again reiterates this commitment.
In terms of the band arrangement, the setup of the quartet of drums, electric guitar, bass and pedal steel/keys/acoustic guitar playing with her really worked and allowed a lot of versatility throughout the six song set which sadly was too short and I definitely would have preferred to see her later in the evening which would have allowed her to to extend the set.
In terms of the band arrangement, the setup of the quartet of drums, electric guitar, bass and pedal steel/keys/acoustic guitar playing with her really worked and allowed a lot of versatility throughout the six song set which sadly was too short and I definitely would have preferred to see her later in the evening which would have allowed her to to extend the set.
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Starting off with the super witty ‘Dozen Red Flags’ which is also the opener to last years ‘HEY COUNTRY QUEEN’ album worked perfectly as the curtain raiser to the entire evening as it is a great way to showcase multiple facets of her vocal prowess and also is the ideal tempo with the way that it picks up into the choruses. This was followed by a sneak peek of some new music, with brand new song ‘All In Already’ which is a really big and loud rockier number and hopefully a great indication of things to come.
A really fun energetic version of Olivia Dean’s ‘Man I Need’ was a cool change up and it works really well for Mackenzie with her vocal style and range, then her big lovey power ballad ‘Only Girl’ sounded incredible in this big space, which you can say the same thing about new single ‘Drunk Cigs’. This is such a cool song and I am sure that I’m not the only person who shares the viewpoint that drunk cigs don’t count.
The twenty-five minute set was wrapped up with a Midlandless performance of ‘I Wish You Would’ which I was curious how it would work without Mark Wystrach and I really like that she sings the whole song herself but also from a live standpoint it works just as well not being a duet.
Hopefully, her next step here in the UK is her own tour so that we can get more of the songs people want to hear and clearly there is enough demand for it based on the amount of people that were in the arena early doors for the opening act compared to other nights and hopefully this is also not too far away.
Dozen Red Flags, All In Already, Man I Need (Olivia Dean cover), Only Girl, Drunk Cigs, I Wish You Would
“Drunk Cigs” from Mackenzie Carpenter is out now and is available HERE. You can learn more about Mackenzie and find details of any upcoming US dates on her WEBSITE or you can follow her socially to keep up with all that she is up to on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
C2C: Country to Country will return to The O2 Arena in London across the weekend of March 12th to 14th 2027, where along with an event taking place in Glasgow the same weekend, Manchester will become the third host city to join the rotation of artists over the weekend. Early bird tickets will go on sale on Friday March 20th and you are able to find more details on their WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
A really fun energetic version of Olivia Dean’s ‘Man I Need’ was a cool change up and it works really well for Mackenzie with her vocal style and range, then her big lovey power ballad ‘Only Girl’ sounded incredible in this big space, which you can say the same thing about new single ‘Drunk Cigs’. This is such a cool song and I am sure that I’m not the only person who shares the viewpoint that drunk cigs don’t count.
The twenty-five minute set was wrapped up with a Midlandless performance of ‘I Wish You Would’ which I was curious how it would work without Mark Wystrach and I really like that she sings the whole song herself but also from a live standpoint it works just as well not being a duet.
Hopefully, her next step here in the UK is her own tour so that we can get more of the songs people want to hear and clearly there is enough demand for it based on the amount of people that were in the arena early doors for the opening act compared to other nights and hopefully this is also not too far away.
Dozen Red Flags, All In Already, Man I Need (Olivia Dean cover), Only Girl, Drunk Cigs, I Wish You Would
“Drunk Cigs” from Mackenzie Carpenter is out now and is available HERE. You can learn more about Mackenzie and find details of any upcoming US dates on her WEBSITE or you can follow her socially to keep up with all that she is up to on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
C2C: Country to Country will return to The O2 Arena in London across the weekend of March 12th to 14th 2027, where along with an event taking place in Glasgow the same weekend, Manchester will become the third host city to join the rotation of artists over the weekend. Early bird tickets will go on sale on Friday March 20th and you are able to find more details on their WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
