Originally formed when they were students at the University of North Texas, Eli Young Band – Mike, James, Jon and Chris – released their self-titled debut album back in 2002. Since then they’ve had four US Country Airplay number one hits (including ‘Crazy Girl’, which was the top country song of 2011 on Billboard’s year-end chart) and released a further six studio albums, most recently 2022’s ‘Love Talking’. Now, after making their UK live debut at The Long Road festival last weekend, they’ve brought their Break Up In A Bar tour to the UK, including a stop at London’s Islington Assembly Hall last night.
After a rocky intro with flashing spotlights, the band arrived on stage to huge cheers from the audience before launching into Break Up In A Bar. It’s a fun, playful song with a big catchy chorus, and made for a great start to the show. Right from the off I was particularly struck by Mike Eli’s performance – he absolutely commanded the stage and oozed charisma throughout, standing wide-legged centre stage, wheeling his arms and tossing his microphone, particularly in ‘Drunk Last Night’ with its rollicking chorus that contrasted the wistful lyrics. He could also be spotted leaping off steps during the punchy, driving ‘Dust’ and twirling his hands in a mesmerising fashion in ‘Love Ain’t’, one of many moments where he encouraged the crowd to join in, which they did with great gusto.
Early on Mike promised ‘some of the old stuff, some of the new stuff and everything in between’, and that’s exactly what we got, with the set running the gamut across the band’s records and including everything from ‘Where Were You’ with its soaring chorus (and a namecheck for the UK!) to ‘Highways And Broken Hearts’ with its bluesy, downbeat feel and introspective lyrics, and the warmth and nostalgia of ‘Small Town Kid’. Unsurprisingly, there was also plenty of material from ‘Love Talking’, including the affectionate ‘Lucky For Me’ and ‘Chances Are’, which provided a mellow moment and highlighted the drawl in Mike’s vocals.
One of my favourite moments came during the anthemic ‘Saltwater Gospel’, which Mike dedicated to John Hands. The band took full advantage of Islington Assembly Hall’s disco ball and set it spinning around, lighting up the room and creating a truly magical moment. Elsewhere, the bittersweet ‘Always The Love Songs’ featured an impressive guitar riff from James, whilst ‘Oklahoma Girl’ had a grungy feel and allowed Mike to show off the belt and power in his vocals and ‘Skin And Bones’ was sweet and romantic.
I also really loved watching the four band members interacting on stage, particularly James and Jon frequently jamming out together, as well as the banter between them (including James and Chris missing a high five) and Mike cracking jokes about messing up the setlist and struggling to pack for British weather before launching into ‘When It Rains’, which featured an impressive drum solo from Chris and James dancing his way across the stage. It’s clear that as well as being bandmates, they really are genuinely good friends, and it was really nice to see them bouncing off each other. They also spoke very warmly about their experience in the UK, with Mike frequently breaking off to thank the crowd as he, James and Jon tossed their guitar picks into the pit.
After closing the main portion of their set with a powerful performance of ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’, which featured a guest appearance from opening act Alana Springsteen and mixed in a rendition of Tom Petty’s classic ‘Learning To Fly’, the band teased the audience by dragging out the final line before leaving the stage. After the crowd loudly demanded more, they returned for a three-song encore, beginning with ‘Guinevere’, a tender, acoustic portrait with a huge chorus that harked back to 00s rock bands like Three Doors Down, before following it with ‘Crazy Girl’. After slowing down the intro, Mike demanded the crowd “sing it loud” which they happily did, and he could be seen dropping to his knees in awe of their response. To round things off, they pulled out a cover of ‘Shut Up And Dance’ by Walk The Moon, which saw Mike jumping around the stage and encouraging the crowd to clap along, and provided the perfect uplifting moment to finish on.
Overall Eli Young Band delivered a great set which showed off their brilliant musicianship and close-knit relationship, as well as fantastic energy throughout and a mesmerising frontman performance from Mike Eli. They showed why they’ve been in this business for 20 years and it was an ideal way to clear the post-Long Road cobwebs. Mike described their UK trip as “brilliantly lovely” – which I think it’s safe to say was a mutual feeling from the audience – and promised “we’re gonna come back”. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long before they’re over in the UK again!
Set list: 1. Break Up In A Bar 2. Dust 3. Where Were You 4. Saltwater Gospel 5. Always The Love Songs 6. Love Talking 7. Chances Are 8. Lucky For Me 9. Love Ain’t 10. Skin And Bones 11. When It Rains 12. Highways And Broken Hearts 13. 10,000 Towns 14. Small Town Kid 15. Drunk Last Night 16. Oklahoma Girl 17. Even If It Breaks Your Heart (with Alana Springsteen)/Learning To Fly (Tom Petty cover) Encore: 18. Guinevere 19. Crazy Girl 20. Shut Up And Dance (Walk The Moon cover) Performance date: 29th August 2023
Eli Young Band’s latest album, ‘Love Talking’, is out now on Big Machine Label Group/Valory Music Co.
See the group on tour in the UK this August:
Wednesday 30 August – Oran Mor, Glasgow
