The last time I saw The Cadillac Three at their own show was at the now closed venue The Oobleck in Birmingham. That was three years ago and I remarked that they wouldn’t be playing venues that size again. I didn’t know quite how right I would be though. 3 years and 2 albums later and the trio have moved to the main room at the Academy and sold 7 times more tickets this time around. The hard work they’ve put, like flying in to play Download Festival using Black Stone Cherry’s instruments, has 100% paid off.
In tow on this tour was Brothers Osborne out of Nashville, Tennessee. When you’re from the city nicknamed ‘Music City’ it would seem easy to feel the pressure to live up to the legends that have come out of the area. Brothers Osborne seemed so at home on the stage it belies the short time these guys have been doing this. Since 2013 the duo, with a few touring friends, have been a bit of a force in the Country scene and TC3 bringing them to the UK was a stroke of genius. We tend to shy away from Country over here so the crowd took a while to get into the set but being given 45 minutes to show what they can do meant they won everyone round by the end of the set. They’re back next year…go and see them!
Get to know Brothers Osborne here: www.facebook.com/pg/BrothersOsborne/
By the time The Cadillac Three hit the stage the crowd was getting restless and kicking off with ‘Peace, Love & Dixie’ enabled them to harness that energy and give it back to the crowd to the tune of some good old fashioned styled Southern Rock. Over the next 105 minutes the trio from Nashville took the 1800 strong crowd on a tour of the band’s three albums and various singles.
What keeps people coming back to see TC3 is their ability to entertain. That seems like a throwaway phrase but it’s deeper than that. Jaren Johnston’s ability to drink copious amounts and weave a yarn that keeps everyone engaged and the way some of the songs are changed when played live gives them a dimension that some bands just don’t have. When they play ‘Tennessee Mojo’ and turn the tempo down to about a quarter of the normal speed it grabs people’s attention. It isn’t just playing a track like it’s been heard hundred of times before, it’s new, it’s interesting and it’s fun. Everything that a band needs to be to keep people coming back.
When some bands these days are putting in as little effort as possible, charging more than TC3 and playing for sometimes half the set, it’s a little embarrassing how much these three do. Across an hour and a quarter they play 21 songs, interact with the crowd and drink like they were born to. It’s reassuring that where bands are putting in the hardwork there is a reward. If you missed them on this run they promised ‘2 or 3’ trips to the UK in 2018. To me this suggest a headline tour, a support tour and a festival slot. Ensure you’re there whatever it is though, you deserve and so do TC3.