Gig Review - Chris Young at Eventim Apollo Hammersmith

Francesca caught the final night of the Losing Sleep tour at the Eventim Apollo in London last week.

Canadian born Lindsay Ell opened the show, bringing the glitz and glamour - check out the trousers, although I feel a belt would have been beneficial.

                       

Usually seen performing solo, Lindsay brought a band with her: Luks on bass; Dave on guitar and Steve on drums (yes that’s Chris Young’s bass player) giving her an extra boost of energy. Her energetic and passionate performance allowed her to move across the stage, with several hair flicks and getting down on her knees to rock out her guitar.

The band was dismissed so that she could so that she could perform new track Not Another Me, a song she wrote for a friend who had been dumped she explained, and it highlighted her gritty vocals.

The rest of the set included: Wildfire; Mint/Ain’t No Mountain High Enough; Waiting On You; Good; Not Another Me; Castle; Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Stevie Wonder cover); Space; and ended with her biggest hit to date - Criminal.

A couple of times she checked that the crowd was ready for Chris Young, she was a great opening act bringing the enthusiasm,

Chris opened the night with Hangin On, promising the audience that he was taking the show right up to the curfew, playing longer than any other night. His set list which apparently went off script included songs from across his career including Gettin’ You Home, Raised On Country, Hold My Beer, requests from the audience and covers from Prince and Garth Brooks.

The audience was engaged from the first moment he stepped on stage, Chris frequently had to wait for the screaming to die down, in fact after the 4th song he joked that the audience should "calm down".

His parents were in the audience and he dedicated a cover of Doug Stone’s “I Thought It Was You” to his mum for Mother’s Day.

Whilst Chris is described as having a silky yet husky voice, I personally struggle with the thickness of his accent when he gives some of his explanations/introductions, something he jokes about.

Chris called Lindsay Ell back onto the stage for so that the audience could thank her and in return she asked the audience to give Chris Young a round of applause too.

Chris is now touring the US with his Raised On Country tour, so it appears he really is losing sleep!