Gig Review: Lukas Nelson & POTR

Following his stellar performance at C2C 2018, Lukas Nelson returned to the UK with his band Promise of the Real, and a few of us were lucky enough to bare witness to his incredible show at The Garage in London on July 10th.

In my experience, the mention of Lukas Nelson to people over here in the UK is normally followed up with, “he’s Willie Nelson’s son”, and while he makes no secret of the fact, it is certainly not what defines him musically. Lukas Nelson is a rare talent, one of the few people on this earth who are musical down to their soul. This is evident on their self-titled album, released last year which features 12 songs each different to one another but each so so good.

The band opened with ‘Entirely Different Stars’, a new song which imagines life in outer space and has the best guitar riff. They then went on to perform ‘Die Alone’, ‘Fool Me Once’ and ‘Runnin’ Shine’ before killing it with crowd favourite ‘Carolina’. There’s something

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Gig Review: Maddie and Tae

Maddie and Tae are up there as one of my favourite artists to see live. I’ve seen them three times now and they never disappoint. I was at their Manchester gig at the O2 Ritz, and while at first I thought that it was a shame that the venue was smaller than last year at the O2 Academy, it became quickly obvious that it made no difference to the energy in the room. They walked on stage to Brothers Osborne ‘It Ain’t My Fault’ playing while the whole crowd sang along, and opened with the upbeat ‘Your Side of Town’.

I’ve been waiting for new Maddie and Tae music to be released since that performance of ‘Water In His Wine Glass’ in Manchester last October. From this perspective, their set couldn’t have been better with an even split of old and new songs which a few covers thrown in. I’m a huge fan of Right Here, Right Now and the harmonies on ‘No Place Like You’ and the empowering sentiments behind ‘Girl in a Country Song’ and ‘Sierra’ never get old. It’s for exactly those reasons, the harmonies and storytelling, that I need new Maddie and Tae music in my life ASAP.

Kris Kristofferson’s Glastonbury Debut

At 81 years old, Kris Kristofferson just played Glastonbury Festival for the first time. Appearing on the Pyramid Stage on Friday night, Kristofferson opened with my second personal favourite (the first being ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’), ‘Me and Bobby McGee’.

Despite his age showing through each melancholy verse, each song was performed with such mournful delight and it was truly a pleasure to watch.

He changed the lyrics of ‘Help Me Make It Through the Night’ to sing ‘help me make it through tonight‘, as he had also done months ago at a show in Kansas. This bittersweet moment was one of many throughout his performance. Kristofferson repeatedly ended his songs with ‘I think it finishes there’ or words to that effect, showing that time takes its toll, sparing no one, not even the greats. Kristofferson delivered, though through a fading voice, a devastatingly wonderful set.

If you took nothing from his set today other than an old man in front of a under-appreciative crowd, take this: Kristofferson is the perfect example of why you should never stop striving, and should always do what you love.