Texas-born Eric Paslay may be best known for his songwriting, with hits for the likes of Jake Owen, Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban under his belt, but he’s also an incredibly talented artist in his own right. He released his self-titled debut album back in 2014 – following it up with ‘Nice Guy’ in 2020 – and has been a regular visitor to the UK since, most recently opening for The Shires in 2022. Now, after the release of his latest EP ‘Perfect Stranger’ last week, he’s back on this side of the pond for his latest tour, including a show at London’s Bush Hall last night.
Emerging from the back of Bush Hall with his acoustic guitar – much to the surprise of many audience members – Paslay made his way through the crowd to the stage accompanied by whoops and applause, before launching into his uptempo, playful single ‘Friday Night’. He really lifted the energy in the room from the off and his distinctive, raw vocals really expanded to fill the space and make the room seem ten times bigger. The crowd were singing along in full voice, with plenty of encouragement from Paslay himself, and they rewarded him with cheers and whistles at the end. After quipping “I played a hit, so I’ll play a new one”, he then picked up with ‘Best Damn Days’ from his latest EP. The sun-soaked nostalgic song absolutely soared and his delivery was absolutely effortless throughout, even when he was belting out the big notes.
Over the next hour and a half Paslay took us on a whistle stop tour through his career, whether that was songs he’d written made famous by other artists or his own original work. New song ‘Perfect Stranger’ had a sultry, cheeky feel to it, whilst ‘High Class’ saw him give an animated performance as he rattled off the song’s swaggering quickfire chorus and ‘Song About A Girl’ paired a driving rhythm with flirtatious lyrics and a great depth and richness to his vocal. Meanwhile, the stripped-back ‘Rewind’ showed off his soulful side, ‘Angel Eyes’ painted a warm, sweet portrait of a lover to an anthemic melody, and ‘Wild Hearts’ and ‘Down The Road’ both got the audience clapping and singing along. Paslay could be seen with a huge smile on his face as they sang his words back to him and it’s very clear that he loves playing here – as evidenced by the passionate speech he gave encouraging them to follow their dreams before bursting into a powerful rendition of ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’.
Throughout the show one thing which really stood out to me was Paslay’s sense of humour. He cracked wry jokes about the English weather and his invisible ‘band’, as well as bantering with audience members and showing off his dance moves on the tongue-in-cheek ‘Nice Guy’. I also loved the mix of covers he threw into the set, whether it was combining a string of retro country classics including ‘9 To 5’ and ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman’ (yes really) or mashing up ‘As It Was’, ‘Cruel Summer’ and ‘Take On Me’ – complete with support from audience member Megan! Elsewhere, he teamed up with The Shires’ Ben Earle on their rocking take on ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ and ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’ – throwing in a London reference for good measure as he mixed in a bit of ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night’ which he wrote for Jake Owen – and led a crowd singalong of ‘Happy Birthday’ to his brother John Paul, complete with cake!
For me some of the highlights came when Paslay – in his own words – ‘took things down’. Amarillo Rain was an early standout, with a sparse melody, bittersweet lyrics and a massive note from Paslay towards the end. “I guess I should record that”, he mused, and given the cheer from the crowd in response the feeling definitely seems mutual! I also loved his moving duet with opening act Remember Monday on ‘She Don’t Love You’. Their voices blended together brilliantly to capture the heart-wrenching emotion of the song and I’d be really interested to see what they could do together on a future collaboration.
After pretending to leave the stage – to much amusement from the crowd – Paslay closed the show with ‘Less Than Whole’ from his debut album. The simple arrangement really put the emphasis on his vocals and you could feel every ounce of conviction he poured into his delivery of the song’s warm, hopeful message. It ended the show on such a perfect high and showed off his vocal talents, excellent guitar playing and how well he’s able to turn a phrase in his songwriting.
Overall Eric Paslay delivered a brilliant performance that highlighted just why he’s become so loved by UK audiences. As well as having a great ear for a lyric, he’s a talented musician and a passionate performer with a fantastic voice and amazing ability to connect with a crowd. He’s clearly having the time of his life up on stage and with shows like that – where he managed to make Bush Hall feel like a night in an arena – it shouldn’t be long before he’s playing to even bigger crowds. He promised that he’s going to try and come back in the next six months, and personally I can’t wait until we see him over here again!
Set list: 1. Friday Night 2. Best Damn Days 3. Angel Eyes (made famous by Love & Theft) 4. Amarillo Rain 5. Rewind (made famous by Rascal Flatts) 6. Man! I Feel Like A Woman/Fishin’ In The Dark/9 To 5/Friends In Low Places (Shania Twain/Nitty Gritty Dirt Band/Dolly Parton/Garth Brooks cover) 7. High Class 8. Down The Road (made famous by Charles Esten) 9. Happy Birthday (to brother John Paul) 10. Wild Hearts (made famous by Keith Urban) 11. Perfect Stranger 12. Song About A Girl 13. As It Was/Cruel Summer/Take On Me (Harry Styles/Taylor Swift/A-ha cover) (with audience member Megan) 14. Even If It Breaks Your Heart (made famous by Eli Young Band) 15. She Don’t Love You (with Remember Monday) 16. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For/Barefoot Blue Jean Night/I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) (U2/Jake Owen/The Proclaimers cover) (with Ben Earle) 17. Less Than Whole Performance date: 4th December 2023
See Eric Paslay live in the UK and Ireland on the Perfect Stranger Tour (with Remember Monday) this December:
Tuesday 5 December – Night & Day Cafe, Manchester
Wednesday 6 December – Oran Mor, Glasgow
Thursday 7 December – O2 Institute, Birmingham
Saturday 9 December – The Academy, Dublin
Sunday 10 December – Empire Music Hall, Belfast
