On May 20, 1867 Queen Victoria of England laid the foundation stone for the
future Royal Albert Hall of London by
announcing: "It is my wish that this Hall should bear his name to whom it will have owed
its existence and be called The Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences."
Almost 4 years later, on February 25th of 1871, about 7.000 people attended
the first concert in the hall, which was named after Queen Victoria's late
husband, who had already passed away in 1861.
From then on until today the venue has become the site for numerous outstanding events in art, culture, science and even sports. Among them appearances by Albert Einstein, the Dalai Lama, The Beatles, The Rollings Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 and the world premiere of the James Bond film Die Another Day (2002).
On Mai 20, 2023 another event was added to the long list already existing. It was the day that concert promoter Live Nation UK together with the Royal Albert Hall staged the first Highways Festival at the historic venue. The announced acts, as well as the promotion beforehand sounded impressive:
"Intimate yet grand, Highways is set to be an unforgettable occasion for Country and Americana fans and artists alike. The festival will touch every corner of the Royal Albert Hall from main performances in the legendary auditorium, to carefully curated showcases speckled across adorning rooms. Fall in love with the deep south when music is paired with an authentic culinary offering, and the doors open to a first-of-its-kind festival at the Royal Albert Hall."
An ambitious goal, which in the end was achieved by the musical acts, while
the supporting program fell a little flat. In any case, the announcement was
reason enough, to leave the EU and combine a trip to the United Kingdom with
an attendance of the legendary venue. Despite the fact, that one could have attended a show
of the evening's headliner Kip Moore on his
2023 Damn Love World Tour in Hamburg or Cologne, Germany, which would
have been some 370 miles less to travel.
With a current capacity of a little over 5.000, Royal Albert Hall looked like it was almost sold out for the Highways Festival, by glancing around the impressive interior.
Well on time, at 6pm, the as of yet little known singer-songwriter
Stephen Wilson Jr.
kicked off the evening. With a vigorous voice and his
biting acoustic guitar he starting telling strange seeming tales of people
from the rural south. He was accompanied by Scotty Murray, who provided
the dramatic soundtrack for the show. After roughly 30 minutes and an
unreleased tribute song to his late father, an intense performance, impressive
yet not easy to swallow, came to a close.
Time for the majority of the audience to seek the hallways and look for the
bars. Unfortunately not all of them made it back in time, contrary to the next
artist Jackson Dean, who did start his show right on time at 7pm.
Unfortunately this was repeatedly the case during the evening, forcing other
people in the audience who were in their seats on time, to get up and let the
late-comers back in, thereby blocking the view of others.
According to press, it was the first visit to Europe for Jackson Dean.
The just 22-year old singer and songwriter from the US east cost (Maryland),
got his breakthrough last year with his song 'Don't Come Lookin''. A stomping southern rocker, which got him on the soundrack for the success
series Yellowstone and subsequently all the way to number 3 on the
radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart.
Being his biggest hit so far, it was also of closing number of his likewise 30-minute set.
Before that he proved his entertainment skills with a diverse repertoire,
coming from his debut album, and respectively from his first live projekt
("Live at the Ryman"). Well-versed, he switched tempo with the
atmospheric ballad 'Wings' and the unreleased song 'Big Blue', before he had the sound system turn up a few notches for his current
single 'Fearless' as well as the pounding 'Trailer Park'. The
enthusiasm could not be hidden, neither by the audience, nor by the young
singer with the striking voice.
At 8pm sharp, the setup for the next artist was ready: lamp shades and chairs, bathed in blue light, conveying relaxed living room atmosphere. The reason for this was Morgan Wade, who had brought her Crossing State Lines (And Oceans!) Acoustic Tour to the UK for 5 shows. A little late and with an acoustic guitar, she took a chair on the stage, next to her guitarist Clint Well.
While the first half of her performance (including the presentation of the
title song to her newly announced second album "Psychopath") was
missing the sparks, the second part of her roughly 40-minute set got more
exciting. No later than the minute, when her melancholic ballade 'Mend' was touched up by a dramatic guitar-solo (not on the recorded version) from
Cling Wells, we got to realize again, what can make live performances so exciting.
Eventually Morgan Wade got the audience singing the chorus to her biggest commercial
hit so far, 'Wilder Days', before finishing her set.
This concluded the pre-shows of the evening before the main act. In many respects
one would have wished for longer performances, although all artists were
willing to present a good cross section of their mostly still young careers.
But in the end it was a compromise between not enough music and still not long
enough food breaks (with the announced southern food quite missing anyways).
Two goals, difficult to align. Same has to be said about the supporting
program. While there was only a very limited number of tickets available (to
be purchased on top!) for the songwriters' round in the afternoon, I
assume that the ones for 'Country for Kids' were probably not so high
in demand. In general the average age of the evening's audience was all over
the place.
Only minutes after 9pm Kip Moore finally started his engines and with powerful drum beats to the title cut of his new album 'Damn Love' he received a big roar from the audience. Finally everyone was on their feet and remained there for the remaining 23 songs and 90 minutes of the night, becoming an integral part of the show.
There were no video walls or special effects. That was never the intention. Instead the show focused on music, carried by a mighty tight band and the distinctive voice of the evening's headliner. Visuals were provided by perfectly timed lights and fog. Anyone hoping for intimate ballads, was not making a find that evening. But a real acoustic show, like Kip Moore has successfully done it in the past, was not the intent. Instead it was meant to be a rowdy uptempo show, like the one he entertained 30.000 people with at the stadium in Pretoria, South Africa recently.
His show spread almost equally over his previous 5 studio albums, with a light
emphasis on the more recent projects. As confirmed by the South Africa
experience, it does not have to be the official hit singles that get the
audience singing. Sometimes it's the catchy deep cuts such as 'Plead the Fifth', the outstanding 'The Bull' or the made-for-singing-back 'Heart's Desire'. When Kip Moore paid tribute to the hosting country towards the end
of the show by singing the Robbie Williams hit 'Angels', it fit
right in, because obviously the audience also knew the words to that song.
It took until the very end of the show, for some quieter moments to happen. They were provided by the tales of broken dreams in the wonderful 'Micky's Bar' from the current album and by the second encore with 'Guitar Man'. The latter a slight personal disappointment, as I was hoping for the epic 'Guitar Slinger', also from the current album, which was the standard closing-number on the current tour. Even if the theme of 'Guitar Man' about life dedicated to music with all its ups and downs is akin to that of 'Guitar Slinger', I feel it fits much better onto a pure acoustic show.
Just before 11pm, an evening full of exciting performances in a legendary venue
eventually had to come to a much too early close. An evening that was not only shaped by a noticably upbeat Kip Moore, but also by an audience, which got to prove, that British
capacity for enthusiasm is not exclusiv to the stands of soccer stadiums, when
cheering their favorite teams.
What a journey. 11 years of making records with UMG. I’m thankful for every single moment, every opportunity to create, every show, every musician that help create these records, every writer, every fan for sticking with us through the highs and lows, every promo rep for fighting on our behalf, every PD that believed in the music, management, CAA, & every single person behind the scenes fighting for and with us. I’m grateful for the journey so far. Cheers to you guys and record #5. Now go stream this damn thing. (28. April 2023 / Instagram)
20 May 1867 Laying the Foundation Stone
7,000 people gathered under a purpose-built marquee to watch HM Queen Victoria lay the Hall’s red Aberdeen granite foundation stone, which today can be found underneath K stalls, row 11, seat 87 in the main auditorium.
Queen Victoria had rarely been seen in public since Prince Albert’s death in 1861, and was still dressed entirely in black. The Queen was handed gold and silver coins and an inscription by the Prime Minister and placed them in a glass vessel given to her by the Lord President of the Council, which was put in a cavity beneath the foundation stone and lowered.
The Queen announced that “”, as a 21 gun salute was heard from Hyde Park and a trumpet fanfare from HM Life Guards sounded.
Almost three months later, on 25 February 1871, the Hall’s first concert was held to an audience for 7,000 people comprising the workmen and their families, various officials and the invited public. Amateur orchestra, The Wandering Minstrels, played to test the acoustics from all areas of the auditorium.
29 March 1871 Official Opening of the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences
HRH The Prince of Wales declared the Hall officially open on behalf of his mother HM Queen Victoria, who was present but too overcome with emotion to speak as she was reminded of her late husband, Prince Albert, who had died a decade earlier, never having seen the Hall named in his honour.
https://holler.country/reviews/highways-festival-2023
https://entertainment-focus.com/2023/05/21/highways-festival-2023-our-top-5-highlights/
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