Most gigs start at around 7pm when the doors to the venue open and a support act coming on to stage soon after - not at a Cadillac Three gig. The Cadillac Threes return to London started at 4:30pm ten minutes down the road at The Black Heart, a small punk rock bar tucked behind Camden Town underground station. This would be the location for TC3s meet-up and pre-game. As fans headed to the early venue they would be ushered upstairs shortly after arrival to be greeted by a live music venue and the location for an intimate acoustic set from the trio to the delight of those in attendance.
Half a mile down the road, fans awaited the doors to open at Camden’s The Roundhouse, a venue that is quickly becoming more and more common to country music fans in London as the 1,700-capacity venue is seeming to be the next step up in venue size. The evening was opened by Alberta native Lindsay Ell who has supported TC3 on all there UK dates, as well as appearing at the Long Road Festival.
Lindsay would prove herself to be the perfect compliment for TC3 during her 9 track set. An artist who is giving plenty of time and showing a desire to build a fan base in Europe, Lindsay certainly would have made many new fans during her supporting slot. Hitting the stage, electric guitar in hand, with the support of her drummer she had one of the most attentive crowds I have seen for a support act in a long time. There wasn’t the usual murmur of the crowd as the sound was cranked up to ten for a set of guitar riffs and fan favourites. Lindsay would go on to perform tracks from the 2017 debut album The Project, 2020’s heart theory and her 2021 single Right On Time. Amongst the tracks, a Just a Girl/ Bohemian Rhapsody medley showed her guitar skills whilst a solo performance of the 2018 Brantley Gilbert duet What Happens in a Small Town was a personal favourite. It was no surprise that Lindsay chose to close out her set with the biggest streaming song from her debut album – Criminal.
Following Lindsay’s set, a quick turnaround, and before you knew it the lights dimmed and TC3 took to the stage to close out their UK tour in a 105-minute set that they clearly didn’t want to end. The trio stormed their way through over 20 tracks during their set - at such a pace you almost had to think when one song ended and the next one started! For the trio, this 10th anniversary tour was a tour that seemed like it was never going to happen after having to cancel it at the end of 2021 due to a positive covid case. They had plenty of new music to play for fans - having released the albums Country Fuzz and Tabasco and Sweet Tea in 2020.
Starting the night with Country Fuzz favourites Hard Out Here for a Country Boy, Blue El Camino, Crackin’ Cold Ones With The Boys and The Jam, the trio had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands – singing, dancing and head banging along to every track. Partway through the set, Lindsay Ell would return to the set to support the guys for a trio of tracks from the Tabasco and Sweet Tea album – Head Over Wheels, Tabasco and Sweet Tea and Sweet Southern Spirit. With the night coming to a close, and The Roundhouse’s curfew time ticking closer, the night was signed off with several crowd favourites - I'm Southern, Whiskey Soaked Redemption, White Lightning and finally The South.
From a band who started their UK experience in front of just a few hundred people at nearby Barfly, they have worked hard to earn their place as a fan favourite act to see in the UK and showed why they fully deserved their headline slot at The Long Road Festival and continue to go up in venue size.