Carly Pearce’s sold-out show at Albert Hall in Manchester was a unique night for her UK fans. After posting that she’d “never been this sick” on social media, it was unclear whether the show would go ahead. But, with her love of the UK, two days of rest and a complete key change for her set list, Pearce delivered a signature performance that, although a little different to her normal high energy show, was a night full of hits and Pearce’s sparkly personality.

Against a backdrop of Albert Hall’s grand organ and surrounded by the listed building’s stained-glass windows, Wade Bowen opened up the show with his Texas drawl and cowboy hat. “Y’all have no idea how much they love country music over there,” he regaled as he spoke of conversations with friends back home about the UK’s love of country.

Opening the show with ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ and ‘Next Girl’, Pearce indirectly shows fans that The Hummingbird Tour is about the next chapter for her. She’s taken the scissors to her divorce and left her warnings for the ‘next girl’.

“The fact I’m even up here vs. what I was like yesterday is a freaking miracle,” Pearce tells fans as she talks about how the show will look a little different, but she was determined to give them everything she’d got. “If the songs sound a little lower than normal,” she says in between a few quiet coughs, “that’s ‘cos they are…you’re getting Carl Pearce tonight.”

“I did what most singers do and thought…Chris Stapleton would sound good on this,” she says as she works her way into the heartbreakingly relatable ‘We Don’t Even Fight Anymore’.

It’s no secret that Pearce has a huge fanbase in the UK – let’s take a moment to remember her rapturous applause and arena-wide adoration at C2C in 2023 – but Pearce took the time to let the crowd know the feeling is 100% mutual. “I feel the most understood in Europe,” she says, “especially the UK.” Pearce talks about the irony of falling ill during this run of shows which she called ‘some of the biggest shows in her career’, but thanked fans for their kindness and patience.

“This is my favourite song I’ve ever written. It always will be,” Pearce shares as she warms up for next number. “Through this song, I’ve heard countless stories that you’ve been vulnerable enough to share with me. I didn’t ask for it to be part of my story but I’m glad that it is.

“If you’re here and you’re going through it, look at my story and just know it might be bad might it’s going to get better. Trust the process. If that’s the only thing you hear tonight, that’s all I care about.” Her stage is floodlit pink, and Pearce moves the entire Albert Hall with ‘29’.

Peppered with other fan favourites like ‘Every Little Thing’ and ‘My Place’ – a song she credits as being the most difficult to write during a recent interview with Holler – Pearce offers the mic out to her audience at regular intervals and is always greeted with a word-perfect response.

“I wrote this as a prayer for myself but also for anybody who’s waiting on their sun to shine,” she says as she introduces her newest song, ‘No Rain’. The song had only been released for four days and yet everyone knew the words – that is how much her UK fans love her.

Wrapping up her show with Oklahoma, a fan hollers from the balcony. “What I heard was blah blah blah UK,” she laughs as the crowd goes silent to give him another go. “If you don’t feel okay in OK, come the UK!” He shouts and is met with a raucous applause. “You guys were the crowd I needed tonight…thank you for being so kind and not disappointed with a show that’s a little different,” she responds before going into her final song and number one fan favourite, ‘What He Didn’t Do’.

Often critiqued for being ‘not nice’, Pearce shared in a recent interview with Smooth Country that she is “just painfully shy and timid”. However, showing up for her fans in the way that she did was above and beyond anything that could have been asked of her that night.

Pearce is the ultimate girls’ girl. She is kind, she is genuine, and she loves the UK. She had been bed bound for two days and still made time for her fans. Her divorce is a big part of who is she and what she’s written about but she’s owning it. The stories in her songs are a beacon of hope for her fans, and that’s not something that she takes lightly.

With ‘hummingbird: no rain, no showers (deluxe)’ on its way and a new album that is “already half way done,” (Smooth Country) fans won’t be short of new Carly Pearce music to get their hands on this year alongside a promise from Pearce that she would be back soon.