Concert: Thomas Rhett, Life Changes Tour
Artists: Danielle Bradbery, Devin Dawson, Thomas Rhett
Date: 7pm on Saturday 17th November 2018
Location: HMV Hammersmith Apollo

Review:

Thomas Rhett always puts on a top show and for this one off gig in London he bought with him some amazing support acts. The concert was not sold out but must have been close to full capacity and they were certainly loud during Thomas Rhett’s set.

First up at 7:15pm was Danielle Bradbery with 3 musicians for a 30 minute set performing 7 songs, 5 of which are from her current Album ‘I Don’t Believe We’ve Met’. Danielle opened her set with ‘Can’t Stay Mad’ with her powerful voice. Her next song was ‘What Are We Doing’ followed by ‘Messy’.

‘Sway’ was next which had the crowd singing and swaying along.
Before breaking into ‘The Heart Of Dixie’ Danielle explained that this was the song that kicked off her career.

Danielle then started singing her current single ‘Goodbye Summer’ which features the main man Thomas Rhett himself, and sure enough half way through the set Thomas walked on stage to a loud applause as he sung along with Danielle.

Danielle closed her set with ‘Worth It’ before leaving the stage to a loud round of applause.

There was a 15 minute break before Devin Dawson took to the stage at 8pm. The one thing I didn’t quite get was the DJ’s choice of music in-between the Acts, I don’t think they got the mix right for this crowd, there was a lot of mainstream hip hop, I know it was a Saturday night but I thought I was in a nightclub.

Devin Dawson had a full band with him, 4 musicians. Devin performed for almost 50 minutes and performed 9 songs from his debut Album ‘Dark Horse’.

Devin has got a lot of energy and he showed that on stage from the start and opened his set with ‘War Paint’. Devin then performed ‘Dip’, and then ’Symptoms’ followed by ‘Prison’.

Devin really turned up the temperature with ‘Placebo’ and got the crowd jumping. Having turned up the heat Devin slowed down the set with one of my favourites from his album ‘Asking for a Friend’.

Devin explained that the one time he broke off a relationship first, it still hurt and that inspired him to write ‘Secondhand Hurt’ which he  sung with passion. Devin then performed his single ‘All on Me’ which has been a huge hit and got the crowd singing along. Devin finished his set with what he calls his autobiography ‘Dark Horse’ before leaving the stage to a round of applause.

I felt as though there was a mixed feeling in the crowd for Devin; Some people were surprised he got a longer set than Danielle, however having listened to his album before I could understand why he had a long set. He got mixed reviews on social media afterwards too. Everyone has their own tastes and are entitled to their own opinion but I found the first half of his set a bit too heavy and I don’t think the sound was right for him and it was difficult to hear him over the band. However from ‘Asking for a Friend’ onwards I thought it was a very good set. I would encourage people to listen to the album though as it is a great album.

The DJ was back in full swing for almost 30 minutes before Thomas came on.

Thomas Rhett came on stage at 9:20pm to perform for almost 90 minutes covering 18 songs with a mixture of songs form his 3 Albums, including a new song. Thomas instantly turned up the heat and got the crowd captivated.

Thomas always makes good use of the whole stage when he performs to ensure all his fans get a decent view of him and his high energy rubs off on the crowd.

Thomas opened his set with ‘Leave Right Now’ to a loud round of applause. ‘T-Shirt’ was next followed by ‘Renegades’ and ‘Get Me Some of That’. When Thomas sang ‘Country Gold’ he jumped off the stage in between the safety barrier to meet some of the fans in the front row and even took one fans phone to take a selfie with them. He then made his way back on stage for ‘Make Me Wanna’ followed by ‘Craving You’

It seemed every song he sung was popular amongst the crowd as he went on to perform ‘Star of the Show’ and then ‘Life Changes’. At the end of that song he noticed a member of staff handing out cups of water to the front rows and he said ‘ Is that drinking water? We don’t get that back home, can I have one please?’

Thomas said he wanted to perform a new song that the band had only practiced 4 1/2 hours earlier. The song was inspired by his children aged 1 & 3 and was a stripped back version of ‘Remember You Young’. It was such a beautiful song, I instantly fell in love with it.

Thomas and his band performed ‘Beer with Jesus’ . After that he sat down at the keyboard for one song and sung ‘Marry Me’.

‘It Goes Like This’, ‘Sixteen’ and then ‘Unforgettable’ were next followed by a little drumming session before breaking into ‘Vacation’ which got the whole crowd partying like they were on vacation and Thomas attempting a one hand version of the Floss whilst still singing.

Thomas then introduced the band:
Travis Vance on Bass Guitar
Josh Reedy play everything and sings backing vocals.
Chris Kimmerer on Drums
Frank Houston on Saxophone
Eric Borash on Lead Guitar.

When Thomas sang ‘Die a Happy Man’ a couple in the crowd got engaged. This was bought to Thomas’s attention and showing utter kindness Thomas invited the couple on stage to dance and he performed a softer shorter version of the song.

Thomas finished his set with ‘Crash and Burn’ and left to a standing ovation.

Thomas Rhett cleary has a massive fan base here and people travelled from all over for just his one UK stop. Hopefully next time he will play across more cities. Danielle made her UK debut in March this year during C2C Festival and has now played here three times in one year including The Long Road Festival. Devin has gone from playing in front of a crowd of less than a hundred to Hammersmith Apollo and will return in January 2019 to support Dan + Shay.

Review By: Lee Abrahall
Twitter: @Official_LeeA @ownnashville