Since the release of his debut album ‘If I Know Me’ in 2018, Morgan Wallen’s rise has been nothing short of stratospheric. Racking up 11 number ones on the Billboard country charts and with a further two albums – most recently ‘One Thing At A Time’ which he released earlier this year – he’s become arguably the biggest star in the genre. Now, after his planned trip to London was cancelled due to the pandemic, he finally made his UK debut as his One Night At A Time tour rolled into a sold-out O2 Arena.
After a video showing him walking to the stage backed by ‘Broadway Girls’, his collaboration with Lil Durk, and him and his band being announced sportscaster-style, Wallen opened the show with his breakthrough hit (and first number one) ‘Up Down’. The acapella intro gave the song a different twist and its catchy, raucous energy soon had the whole audience singing along, with encouragement from Wallen himself – although they didn’t need much help to be fair! You could tell he was having a whale of a time on stage as he paced back and forth, crouching down before pulling himself up with a shake of his head and whipping up the crowd energy, and his distinctive drawling vocals filled the space brilliantly as he delivered the rapid-paced lyrics whilst jets of fire and smoke burst out from the stage behind him. The audience roared their approval at the end as the final wave of pyrotechnics burst alight and it set the template for the next two hours of music.
What followed was a 25-song trip through – in the words of Wallen himself – “old stuff, new stuff and everything in between”. The vast majority of the set tended towards the newer end, with no less than 13 songs from ‘One Thing At A Time’ understandably included. From the mellow celebration of small-town life ‘I Wrote The Book’, with its sepia-tinged outdoorsy backdrop, to the upbeat 80s vibe of ‘One Thing At A Time’ and the twangy, tongue-in-cheek ‘Everything I Love’, the performance really showed off Wallen’s versatility as an artist and the sheer range of sounds and influences in his music. Elsewhere, ‘Ain’t That Some’ mixed in hip-hop elements with Wallen almost rapping the vivid, detailed lyrics, whilst ‘Sunrise’ had a laid-back, slightly sultry feel that contrasted its wistful sentiment and the sparse, bittersweet ‘You Proof’ had the audience singing along to the smooth, anthemic chorus.
What pulled the whole thing together though was Wallen’s raw, gravelly vocals. Whether that was on the regret-tinged ‘Whiskey Friends’, the biting, swaggering ‘Thinkin’ ‘Bout Me’ or ‘Cowgirls’ with its cautionary tale layered over a playful, sunny melody, he poured every ounce of his feeling into his delivery and made every lyric utterly believable. You definitely feel his emotion coming through in his performance and the crowd was really engaging with it, whooping and hollering throughout and loudly singing along as he fed off their energy. It’s very special to see an artist who has that kind of relationship with their audience and definitely elevated the performance level from a lot of others I’ve seen this year.
That said, there was still room for plenty of Wallen’s earlier work too. ‘7 Summers’ showed off the slightly poppier side of his style as he looked back on a teenage relationship, and ‘Chasin’ You’ – which he introduced by talking about how he got his start in Nashville and writing songs – had a soft, yearning quality that provided a nice change of pace from the high energy of the first half of the show. Meanwhile, ‘Wasted On You’ featured a ‘Friends In Low Places’-esque intro before bursting into life with its clever chorus twist, the driving, lively ‘This Bar’ rolled along with tons of storytelling and a huge soaring chorus, and ‘More Than My Hometown’ had an uptempo feel that was balanced out by its frank, mature lyrics about letting go of a lover to pursue individual dreams.
For me some of the strongest sections were when Wallen paused for breath with his acoustic guitar. ”98 Braves’ was an early highlight, which he introduced by talking about his lifelong love of baseball, and had a nice softness about it as he compared his team’s near-miss to a relationship that didn’t quite work out, whilst ‘Thought You Should Know’ (which he encouraged the crowd to ‘sing pretty’ for his mum in the audience) was full of warmth and affection. He also showed off an impressive vocal run on ‘Cover Me Up’ – with the audience lighting up the arena with their phones as he did so – and his piano-playing skills on ‘Sand In My Boots’. I was very pleasantly surprised by the soulfulness in his vocal and the sincerity with which he spoke about his story, and it was nice to see that different side of him. You can really tell he has a genuine passion for his craft and it’s definitely something I’d be interested to see him explore further in future (maybe an acoustic album?). I also really enjoyed his teaming up with opening acts Larry Fleet for ‘Where I Find God’ – which he introduced as ‘one of my favourite songs’ – and Bailey Zimmerman on ‘I Deserve A Drink’, both of which featured some great harmonies and a really nice blend of vocals.
After a rowdy version of ‘The Way I Talk’ – with plenty of audience participation – Wallen briefly left the stage to don an England football top in place of the paisley shirt he’d worn throughout his main set, whilst the crowd loudly demanded “one more song!”. He kicked off his three-song encore with ‘Heartless’, which had more of a rocky vibe than the Diplo version and a growl to his vocal as he belted out the chorus, before going into his monster hit ‘Last Night’ amid huge cheers and top-volume singing from the crowd. He closed the show with ‘Whiskey Glasses’, which for me summed up his whole performance – clever wordplay in his lyrics, quickfire delivery, just enough edge in his vocal to stop the song becoming maudlin, and a big singalong chorus. The crowd roared their approval as he finished the song with a flourish (and yet more fireworks!), and judging from the chatter around me as we left everyone was sent on their way absolutely buzzing, whilst he lingered on stage momentarily to sign Tennessee Volunteers shirts handed to him by audience members.
Overall Morgan Wallen showed why he’s become such a huge star in such a relatively short space of time. He’s got a real sense of showmanship about him that brings his songs to life when they’re performed live, along with great energy on stage and an undeniable connection with the audience, and I also enjoyed that he wasn’t afraid to show off different sides of his sound and influences. If I had one small – and it is very, very small – criticism, it would be that the use of the stage effects, particularly towards the end of the show, feels a little bit much for me and slightly diminishes their effectiveness. But as debut performances go, this was an absolute triumph for Wallen (and a far cry from The Garage where he was originally supposed to perform back in 2020!). Ironically, it’s also likely to be his smallest show here – if you can consider 20,000 people small – but given the speed at which he sold it out, I think he’ll definitely come back soon. And in that case, make sure you snap up tickets whilst you can when he does!
Set list: 1. Up Down 2. I Wrote The Book 3. One Thing At A Time 4. Everything I Love 5. ’98 Braves 6. You Proof 7. Ain’t That Some 8. Sunrise 9. 7 Summers 10. Chasin’ You 11. Cover Me Up (Jason Isbell cover) 12. Thought You Should Know 13. Where I Find God (with Larry Fleet) 14. I Deserve A Drink (with Bailey Zimmerman) 15. Sand In My Boots 16. Thinkin’ ‘Bout Me 17. Cowgirls 18. Whiskey Friends 19. This Bar 20. Wasted On You 21. More Than My Hometown 22. The Way I Talk Encore: 23. Heartless 24. Last Night 25. Whiskey Glasses Performance date: 3rd December 2023
