It's not that difficult to call yourself the biggest country music festival in all of Europe, because there aren't that many of them yet. On the other hand, the C2C (Country2Country) festival, which has been organized since 2013 with a program that takes place in 5 European countries and fills The O2 Arena, the largest event hall in London (and the second largest in Great Britain), with 20,000 visitors for 3 days, is not exactly small either.
After the pandemic-related interruptions, the 2024 festival takes place again in Great Britain (England, Northern Ireland and Scotland) for 3 days each, but also in the Netherlands (Rotterdam) and Germany (Berlin), although there only for 2 days and with a correspondingly different program.
In Great Britain, an effective rotation principle has been installed, with artists alternating between performing one day each in Belfast, Glasgow and London. The venue for the event in the British capital is The O2 in nothern Greenwich.
Built in 1999 as the Millenium Dome with its characteristic tent canvas, the actual event hall inside was added later on and officially opened in 2007 with a concert by Bon Jovi. By then the complex had already been given its new name The O2 two years prior. Today, in addition to the 20,000-capacity arena, it also includes, since 2018, the Icon Outlet Shopping Center with 60 shops and 26 restaurants, as well as a cinema with 11 screens, which is located around the arena in its center.
In addition The O2 houses another small event hall, The Indigo, which can accomodate up to 2,700 visitors.
All of this is now being made good use of by the C2C Festival. It does not only offer the audience plenty of live music on 9 additional stages, but also plenty of restaurants and shopping opportunities. While The Indigo has a fully equipped sound and lighting system, the remaining stages have varying setups. They range from the medium-sized open-air stage in front of the entrance to the complex to club stages in bars and small areas in the aisle of the Icon Shopping Outlet, where artists typically perform with acoustic guitars only.
With around 70 artists from Great Britain and Australia, but mainly from the USA, the program starts at 10 a.m. and ends around 11 p.m. inside of the large O2 arena. In order to keep an overview of this comprehensive music program, there is a dedicated mobile phone app available for free download with which visitors can select their favorite artists and have their performances listed in an individual time schedule.
Due to the fact that only one stage is outdoors, the festival remains pretty much unaffected by the possibility of a typical London weather. Only cool temperatures can be unpleasantly felt, as the Icon Shopping Outlet is only covered by the artificial canvas, which gives The O2 ist unmistakeable look.
The majority of the artists are still little known, but this does not distract from their skills. For them, it is mostly their first contact with an international audience and hence it leaves them astounded at the fact, that people from another country either already know their music or at least want to hear it.
At the same time, it allows the audience to get up close and personal with young artists or even experience a potentially big star of tomorrow already today. The highlight is in any case the daily conclusion of the program in the large O2 Arena, with 4 well-known stars each using everything the arena has to offer in terms of sound and light for between one an 1 1/2 hours each.
Shortly after noon, on Friday, March 8th, 2024, Charlie Worsham and his band entertained the crowd at The Indigo with his music, among it a pulsating version of his 10-year-old title song from the album "Rubberband". He is considered one of Nashville's most respected musicians, even though commercial success has eluded him to this day.
Young Hannah Ellis, whose catchy pop-country album "That Girl" was only recently released (on January 12, 2024) via major label Curb Records, performs next on the Icon Stage in the shivering cool corridor of the Icon Outlet Shopping Center. She is accompanied by a second voice and acoustic guitar and keeps telling little background stories for each song.
British artist Chloe Chadwick follows next with an acoustic guitar only. She presents a well done mix of country rock ('Shoot to Run') and singer-songwriter material ('Your Fire').
Then the shows in the large O2 arena kick off with another acoustic set at 5:20 p.m. by 3 young artists, each singing 3 of their own songs, sitting on bar stools, acoustic guitars in hand. It's the motto Introducing Nashville with Lauren Watkins, Karley Scott Collins and Conner Smith. The latter became known via social media by his song 'I Hate Alabama' and had only recently had his first top 20 hit on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) charts with 'Creek Will Rise'.
Next is Lauren Alaina, who had appeared on the Indigo stage a the C2C festival already in 2016 and who can now be experienced on the main stage for the first time. The newly married artist not only thrills the audience with a fiery performance and stage presence, but also allows for some unintended cleavage peeks. Unfortunately, the sound during her performance is unnecessarily overmodulated.
Shortly before 8 p.m., Carly Pearce takes the stage in a green dress with bright red roses. About a year ago she was considered one of the most promising female country artists. Today everyone is talking about Lainey Wilson. Nevertheless Carly Pearce, who has just announced her new album "Hummingbird" for June 14, 2024, as well as a small tour of England, inspires with a very entertaining show. Eventually she even invites Jackson Dean as a surprise guest on stage to perform her current single 'We Don't Fight Anymore' with her, hence taking over the part of Chris Stapleton.
She does primarily perform quiet country ballads, most of which she writes herself and which come straight from the heart touching the audience, which replies with a standing ovation. Not unexpectedly, her divorce in June 2020 (after just 8 months of marriage to country singer Michael Ray) plays a central role in her topics. Just like in the song 'Truck On Fire', which will be included on the upcoming album and with which she proves that she is indeed also capable of a louder and faster performance.
However, things didn't really get big and loud until the final highlight of the day, when Kane Brown presents his new In the Air Tour 2024 live in front of an audience for the firsts time. "I was always an outsider in country music," the bi-racial artist tells the audience. And emphasizes it with heavy use of pyrotechnics, confetti and laser lights. Yet one can tell that the brand new stage show hasn't quite become second nature to him yet.
But he proves himself to be the most versatile artist at the festival (or maybe in the genre overall) as he seamlessly alternates between country and hip-hop, reggae and pop, rock and country. His nervousness is palpable whe he plays his hit 'I Can Feel It', aware that he is doing it in Phil Collins' homeland. For the hit 'Thank God', which he recorded with his wife, he brings Carly Pearce on stage once more and for 'What If's', as in the original recording, he gets company from his highschool friend Lauren Alaina.
There is no time for boredom and a surprising, acoustic cover version of 'Friends in Low Places' by Garth Brooks is particularly exciting. After almost 90 minutes, Kane Brown brings the first day of the festival to an impressive ending right on time at 11 p.m.
After a personal day-break, the third and final day of the festival (Sunday, March 10, 2024) starts at 10 a.m. in the morning. 21-year-old up-and-coming English country-rock artist Luke Flear performs on the Icon Stage at 11 a.m. Using his acoustic guitar he uses his gravely voice on 'Wanted Dead Or Alive' by Bon Jovi, followed by self-written songs from his first album "Looks Country To Me" (2022).
At 11:30 a.m. young Tanner Adell is on the Indigo stage. She also has a biracial background and fuses hip-hop with country. On Spotify, the title track from her first album for Columbia Records, 2023's "Buckle Bunny", can boast over 4 mio. streams. Here she presents herself and her music without beats, but just an acoustic guitar. And she not only tells the audience about herself, but also about some slang terms used in the lyrics of her songs. Such as the real meaning behing Pink Cadillac in her song 'Throw It Back'.
The Barrelhouse stage is located in the Town Square area in front of the arena complex, where numerous booths are selling western boots, hats, jewelry and clothing. The English duo Gasoline & Matches performs there at 12 noon, with a saxophonist and a drummer playing powerful pop-rock country. They released their first song already in 2018. The latest, the pop ballad 'Could've Been a Love Song' gets a release on March 15, 2024.
Back at the Indigo, former professional motorbike rider and newcomer Blake Redferrin is on stage. As an artist he simply calls himself Redferrin and as a songwriter he has co-written the song 'Lil Bit' for Nelly and Florida Georgia Line, among others. His style is unmistakably anchored there and his vocals are very reminiscent of Morgan Wallen. He is supported by a drummer, while canned music provides guitar and beats.
Redferrin also looks like he is having a hard time believing that his music has brought him across the pond. For lack of better words, he simply kept resorting to "Hell Yeah"! His very catchy and strongly hip-hop influenced songs like 'Lose Her For Nothin'' or 'Champagne In The Morning' come from his newly released first EP "Old No. 7" from February 16, 2024.
On the Wayside stage, Brad Cox from Australia struggles with tuning an acoustic guitar. It is a replacement instrument, as he explains, because his original did not survive the flight from Australia undamaged. The Australian Luke Combs will be remembered primarily for his distinctive voice.
Back on the Barrelhouse stage, Matt Koziol is about to finish his set. Unfortunately there is no band to lean on, just his acoustic guitar. And since he talks a lot with too quiet of a voice, he can hardly be heard from the very back. Time to move on.
Finally the last performances of the event started in the O2 arena at 4:50 p.m. Newcomer Drake Milligan, who cited Elvis and George Strait as his musical heroes, starts his performance with 'Blue Suede Shoes' by Carl Perkins, which is also well known from Elvis. The good-looking young artist from Texas delivers an entertaining and diverse country show with a great stage presence, which rightly gets him big cheers from the audience.
During each new setup for the next artist on the main stage, additional young artists are presented on the so-called Spotlight Stage in the rear audience area, where they are given the chance to play 2 or 3 of their own songs in the big arena.
Elle King, knwon for her worldwide hit 'Ex's & Oh's', takes the main stage at 6 p.m. She looks a bit aloof with her sunglasses and skin-tight dress. The relationship that other artists skillfully build with the audience during their shows is somehow amiss. Nevertheless, technically there is nothing wrong with her rocking performance.
However, the Brothers Osborne, on next, more than successfully demonstrate how she might have done it. For an hour, they not only heat up the audience musically, but also actively involve them in their performance. A performance in which one gets to hear not only a great mix of their own hits and deep cuts, but also 'Won't Back Down' by Tom Petty and a mash-up of Bob Marley's 'Three Little Birds' and their very first hit 'Rum'.
Carried by John Osborne's distinctive, deep voice and his brother TJ's electric guitar, the audience finds it difficult to stay in their seats. Especially when the brothers turn their classic closing number, the wild 'It Ain't My Fault' from 2016 into an almost 15-minute jam session with extended instrumental passages, during which they keep the fans singing along. That's how entertainment works!
The final performance of a divers and highly successful C2C Festival in London 2024 belongs to Old Dominion. Some 90 minutes is just about enough to play all the band's big hits. Plus a cover of JJ Cale's 'Cocaine', for which the band brings Brothers Osborne and Elle King back on stage, who visibly have fun in participating in this special collaboration. However, technical problems cloud the ultimate joy of the performance. Apart from an apparent monitor failure during the band's encore, a large part of the performance is badly disturbed by the humming of an apparently overmodulated bass.
Nevertheless, for both artists and the audience, a successful festival like this does leave only one option, which lead singer Matt Ramsey from Old Dominion put into words at the end of their show: "I promise, we're coming back!"
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