By Georgette Brookes

The Manchester O2 Apollo was literally bouncing on Saturday as country music fans gathered to watch Darius Rucker perform on the opening night of his UK leg of his ‘Starting Fires’ tour.

Rucker was last in the UK to headline Country to Country festival (C2C) in 2022 and is back in 2024 with a string of nine mostly sold-out shows.

Opening with a double header – ‘Have a Good Time’ followed by ‘Beers and Sunshine’ – the energy from the stage spilled over into the crowd. There’s a reason that Beers and Sunshine has been streamed over 90 million times on Spotify – yes, 90 million – it’s the perfect feel-good song. Although seated – for now – he had everyone dancing in their chairs with their beers and arms in the air.

Rucker wore his staple jeans, t-shirt and cap, commanding the entire stage in his cowboy boots. As he asked, “are you ready to have some fun tonight?” his band took to the front of the stage for the unmistakable opening of, ‘For The First Time’. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand, sharing a moment as he stripped it back to just his voice, enjoying everyone singing back to him.

The stage was flooded red as he switched up the mood and introduced his first hit, ‘Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It’. With a more emotional atmosphere, it was him and his guitar at a fixed mic stand, yet he still captured the entire venue. The passion in his voice was palpable and you couldn’t not be transfixed on his performance. For the OG Darius Rucker fans, this song was likely to have been their first introduction to him and for some, their first introduction to country music. A beautifully poignant moment in the show that holds more weight for UK country fans than Rucker probably realises.

Inviting support act, Tyler Booth, back out on to the stage, the pair performed the iconic Folsom Prison Blues (an apt cover as a new Johnny Cash album was released this week).

Darius Rucker’s latest album, ‘Carolyn’s boy,’ was released in October last year but Rucker only showcased a few of the album tracks. At 57 years old, he has a vast back catalogue of music spanning sixteen years since he released his first country album. Not forgetting his hits as frontman of Hootie and the Blowfish. Fans were not disheartened that the album wasn’t featured heavily, perhaps happier, in fact, that they got to experience the music from right back in the beginning.

Sharing a personal insight, he told fans that he’d had a text from his daughter before the show that had made him laugh, and that that was the ‘worst thing about being on the road’. He dedicated his next song to his kids, ‘It Won’t Be Like This For Long’. A song that everyone can relate to and hits you right in the feels – whether you’re listening from a parent’s perspective or a child’s, it’s possibly one of Rucker’s most emotive records.

Nine songs in and Rucker gave his audience the first of three Hootie and the Blowfish numbers. Under the spotlight in the middle of the stage with his guitar, Rucker started ‘Let Her Cry’ acoustically, gently bringing in the keys and eventually full band for the first chorus.

Taking us back to the 90s, Rucker switched gears and performed a medley of covers: ‘I Like It, I Love It’ by Tim McGraw, ‘Waterfalls’ by TLC and ‘Poison’ by Bell Biv DeVoe, bringing his guitarist to the front to join in on those harmonies for the latter.

Rucker continued to captivate his audience through his well-known hits, ‘Come Back Song’, ‘True Believers’ and ‘If I Told You’ – it was clear that Rucker’s fans really will love him anyway.

Moving over to his pianist, Rucker sang ‘History In The Making’ under a an illuminated piano, demonstrating his true vocal talent. He poured his velvet voice out onto the stage, with his gravelly undertones decorating the track like popping candy – a true joy to be part of.

Closing his show with ‘Homegrown Honey’, Rucker thanked his crowd and disappeared off stage. Confident that he wouldn’t leave them hanging without his most famous number, the entire venue was cheering and waiting on tenterhooks.

Reappearing, Rucker and his band treated the Apollo to two more covers, ‘Valerie’ by The Zutons and ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis – a number that’s always going to go down well in Manchester, and it might have been nice to acknowledge a bit of the local history of that one. (But we won’t hold that against him.)

Rucker’s newest single, ‘Never Been Over’ was received well, even without Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles, who performs on the track as Rucker’s duet partner.

Finally, as the concert came to a close, Rucker and his band raised the roof with ‘Wagon Wheel’. Although originally by Old Crow Medicine Show, there is no denying that it has been made famous by Darius Rucker, with most country music fans attributing the song’s success to him. There was not one person left in their seats for this number – from front row to the back row of the upper circle. Every. Single. Person. Young, old, cowboy hats and trucker caps, the entire venue was getting down to the distinctive southern sounds: guitar, banjo and fiddle topped with Rucker’s smooth vocals. The floor of the circle was literally bouncing as the crowd danced their way through the song. It was certainly history in the making for some of his fans that were seeing him for the first time.

Darius Rucker has a loyal fanbase over here in the UK and he will always be very much welcome. Rucker even took the time to sign his cap and give it to a young concertgoer, with his drummer passing his drumsticks to another child in the crowd. Rucker and his band worked the whole stage, from corner to corner, putting on a show that fans will remember for a long time