By Georgette Brookes

On Monday 29th April, Charles Esten packed out The Lyric Theatre at The Lowry, Manchester.

Taking us on a journey of his new album, Love Ain’t Pretty, Esten serenaded his crowd like they were old friends.

Already on a high from opening artist Charlie Greene from Betcha, the crowd settled as Esten’s pianist, Andy Lucas, began his intro. Esten’s guitar was heard offstage, and the crowd was overjoyed as he played the album’s title track, ‘Love Ain’t Pretty’.

Instantly transported to the Grand Ole Opry, Esten cultivated an intimate atmosphere that was reminiscent of the iconic venue – no surprise as he is about to play there for the 172nd time.

“God bless y’all for showing up,” he announced as he finished his opening song with his harmonica. For a Monday night, the seats were full.

“If I lived in the UK, this would have been called in a pub somewhere,” Esten follows on for his next number, the crowd whooping as they know what’s coming next. A song he wrote while in quarantine for filming for Outerbanks during Covid, Esten plays ‘In a Bar Somewhere’ and even changes the final line for his British audience – we’re still in a pub somewhere.

Heading to the front of the stage, Esten takes a moment to appreciate his crowd. His face is kind, and his eyes genuinely sparkle as he smiles out at the room. He is gracious and humble and adored by all. He starts ‘One Good Move’, exploring the whole stage just him and the piano, bringing in his electric guitar for the first time ready for the second verse.

Before he plays his fourth song of the night, ‘Make You Happy’, he tells us that he wrote it for his wife, Patty Hanson: “when I was a kid I swore I would be married to one of the girls in the [music] videos…well now I am.” The crowd start clapping as he plays the opening riffs, “if y’all start clapping you’re gonna start singing this one,” he jokes with his fans.

He takes his jacket off and someone heckles him, “now the shirt!” and he laughs, “we’ll see how good you are”. He’s been doing this a long time, and he knows how to look after his crowd.

Esten’s whole performance is littered with his idiosyncrasies and that’s what makes his shows so special to be part of. Whether it’s a confession about adding in an extra song, jokes about minimal rehearsal time or genuine interaction with fans, he makes everyone feel like they really get a taste of what it’s like to spend an evening with him.

He moves into ‘When Love Ain’t Love’ and when he finishes, he rolls up his sleeves for the next song, ‘I Ain’t’. “There’s a lot going on guitar wise,” he says, warming up his guitar, “I don’t play the guitar, but I played one on TV”. This is Esten’s first nod to his time on hit TV show Nashville as Deacon Claybourne.

He picks up his whiskey to take a sip and looks out to the crowd, “you’re worried ‘cos I’m Deacon and I’m drinking, but here’s the thing – he was an alcoholic so he couldn’t but I’m not so I can”. He’s met with loud laughs and cheers.

Esten jokes with fans about the weather – a favourite topic of conversation for Brits – as it has rained since he arrived. “When I come here, I don’t expect to be in Cancun, I expect to be in England,” – hopefully that means he’s packed his waterproof and wellies!

Firmly in the second half of the show, Esten moves on to another one off his album, ‘A Little Right Now’, fully demonstrating how his voice is both smooth and rugged – a juxtaposition of terms but a sound that Esten has been working his entire career.

“I love the music that comes out of Manchester,” says Esten and introduces us to his first cover, ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by Joy Division. There was a small delay while Esten and Lucas got into the right timings but, again, Esten’s personality shone through, and he was open and honest with fans about springing this on Lucas and having minimal rehearsal time. A Manchester crowd is always going to love a Manchester cover and the theatre was full of people singing along.

Bringing Greene back to the stage, the audience learns that he is Esten’s soon to be son-in-law and the pair perform a rustic version of Simon and Garfunkel’s, ‘The Sound of Silence’. Esten’s daughter was adamant that if they were going to do a male duet, it had to be that one. The pair finished with some impressive harmonies out towards the front of the stage, away from their mics. A beautifully personal moment for both them and the crowd.

“I wasn’t planning on doing this one,” Esten announces as he picks his guitar back up, “it’s a Nashville one, is that alright?” His fans are more than happy to be indulged with a song that he performed as Deacon, with one fan shouting, “go on Deacon! We love you!” He laughs and responds, “thanks mom!” He performs the ever delicate, ‘Sanctuary’ that he shares with Lennon and Maisie. “Let’s get closer for this one,” he says as he comes to the front of the stage, making his audience feel more involved.

He continued the show with hits off his album such as ‘A Little Right Now’ and ‘Candlelight’ – another song for his wife, telling fans that “if you haven’t found your candlelight yet, don’t worry, you will”. The room is lit up with phone lights – adding to Esten’s authenticity as he doesn’t request it, it’s just a natural progression as fans show they’re sharing in the song’s emotion, joining in to sing together as the song finishes.

He introduces his next song as one that he wrote with Jon Nite, putting it last on the album as he didn’t know how to follow it. ‘Somewhere in the Sunshine’ is dedicated to the loved ones that we’ve lost. “It’s their letter to us. It’s ‘don’t worry you’ll be just fine’,” he says as his crowd falls silent, ready to take in the poignant number.

Esten moves on to his penultimate number from the album, ‘Maybe I’m Alright’, moving around the stage to address all his audience members. As he finishes, he says to fans, “let’s bring it home” and we’re suddenly acutely aware that this show does have to end eventually.

Giving us more insight into his personality, Esten tells us how Deacon kicked the door of the Opry open for him and will be playing there soon for the 172nd time. He cracks a joke about Deacon playing for Rayna and gives us a moody imitation of him lingering at the back of the stage. The crowd loves it. This takes us into ‘Good Rain Or Jesus’ from Nashville – his passion for his music reverberating around the entire theatre.

For his final album track, he gives us an intro with a slight Freudian slip: “seeing the lips of my album on your…I mean the words of my album on your lips. My album doesn’t have lips”. He makes a joke about putting lips on his vinyl and how it worked for The Rolling Stones. “That deserves more than that, it was very local and topical,” he laughs when the crowd doesn’t totally erupt over his joke. “We don’t know when we will see you down the road, but we know we will,” he says as he begins ‘Down The Road’ as a duet with Greene that has everyone on their feet and singing along.

Riding the energy from his last track, Esten and Greene give a crowd-pleasing rendition of ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis – a staple it seems in country covers lately.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Charles Esten gig if he didn’t perform everyone’s favourite Nashville song. As Greene and Esten depart the stage and the lights come up – not fully, but they’re bright – many sit and wonder if it really is over.

Just as he did at the start, Esten starts his guitar offstage, playing the unmistakable opening riff of ‘Life That’s Good’. Just him and his guitar, Esten’s performance was personal and tender. “Ah, just listen at y’all,” he says to his fans that have joined in on the first line. A memory that most will hold dear for a long time.

Charles Esten has a way of making his audience feel part of something so intimate. The Lyric theatre holds over 1700 and yet somehow, Esten makes them all feel like the performance is just for them. The way he smiles through his songs, pauses to acknowledge the poignance and works the whole stage addressing the audience from top to bottom – he makes you feel it all. Whether it’s the weight of the lyrics or the joy of the melody, Esten knows how to make his audience feel that each word was not only written for them, but that they share in the passion that they were written with.