It’s hard to believe that Nashville is currently airing its final run of episodes. The long-running Country music drama has had a rollercoaster ride but the one thing that has never faltered is the fantastic music that has been a part of it since the very beginning. Thanks to the show’s success across the globe, some of the Nashville cast have had the opportunity to tour around the world singing songs fans know and love, as well as playing their own original material too. Earlier this year Charles Esten, Clare Bowen, Sam Palladio, Chris Carmack and Jonathan Jackson embarked on Nashville’s Farewell UK tour and Eagle Vision marked the occasion by releasing a DVD of the 2017 Nashville in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall performance.
Anyone who has been along to the Nashville tours knows that the cast give their all. This performance captures all 28 songs from the lengthy performance. Each of the show’s stars takes it in turns to perform songs with plenty of collaborations along the way. Charles Esten opens things up with Buckle Up and from that point on each of the cast members performs a couple of songs each and so the cycle continues until they all come together for the final three songs.
One of the things that’s so fantastic about the Nashville concerts is the variety of music. Each member of the cast has a completely different sound. Esten is more of your traditional Country with a bit of rock ‘n’ roll, Bowen is on the poppier side of the singer-songwriter spectrum, Palladio is closer to folk, Carmack is a blend of contemporary rock and soul, and Jackson delivers edgier rock with a cinematic feel. Having all of that in one concert is pretty special.
Highlights across the performance include Carmack’s rousing What If I Was Willing, Palladio’s sensitive I Will Fall, Bowen’s emotional piano ballad Black Roses, and Esten’s rocky He Ain’t Me. The biggest surprise comes from Jackson who performs a stunning and refreshing version of The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody. Who knew he could sing like that?
Other moments that stand out include Esten and Bowen’s upbeat crowd interaction moment Hand to Hold and the cast’s final song A Life That’s Good, a song that has become somewhat of a signature tune for the show.
The DVD boasts a couple of extra features two in the shape of behind-the-scenes documentary Nashville in London and featurette The Songs of Nashville in Concert. They are wonderful additions that fans will lap up.
Nashville in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall is sure to leave some fans a little misty-eyed. These performances were such good fun and so special to experience, that the thought of the cast never touring together again is a sad one. Nashville created a special community here in the UK, and in other places across the world, and this performance is one to be treasured and looked back on fondly. No show is likely to be able to pull something like this off again and if they do, they’ll have a very high bar to reach thanks to the cast of Nashville.
[brid video=”256656″ player=”531″ title=”Sam Palladio & Clare Bowen “Fade Into You” Live at the Grand Ole Opry Opry”]
Set list: 1. Buckle Up (Charles Esten) 2. What If I Was Willing (Chris Carmack) 3. Spinning Revolver (Chris Carmack) 4. Keep Asking Why (Jonathan Jackson) 5. Love Rescue Me (Jonathan Jackson) 6. I Will Fall (Sam Palladio) 7. Headed For The Fire (Sam Palladio) 8. Borrow My Heart (Clare Bowen, Jonathan Jackson, Sam Palladio) 9. Longer (Clare Bowen) 10. Little By Little (Clare Bowen) 11. Hand To Hold (Clare Bowen & Charles Esten) 12. Simple As That (Charles Esten) 13. Stand Up (Clare Bowen & Chris Carmack with Sam Palladio on drums) 14. If It’s Love (Chris Carmack & Sam Palladio) 15. Texas Flood (Chris Carmack) 16. The Killing Moon (Jonathan Jackson) 17. Unchained Melody (Jonathan Jackson) 18. Hello Heartbreak Blues (Sam Palladio) 19. Wake Me Up In Nashville (Sam Palladio) 20. Fade Into You (Clare Bowen & Sam Palladio) 21. Let It Rain (Clare Bowen) 22. Black Roses (Clare Bowen) 23. True Love Ways (Charles Esten) 24. I Climb The Walls (Charles Esten) 25. He Ain’t Me (Charles Esten) 26. Heroes (Charles Esten, Clare Bowen, Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson & Chris Carmack on saxophone) 27. And Then We’re Gone (Charles Esten, Clare Bowen, Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, Chris Carmack) 28. A Life That’s Good (Charles Esten, Clare Bowen, Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, Chris Carmack) Released by: Eagle Vision Release date: 27th April 2018
