He may be best known to most as a guitarist in rock bands like Foo Fighter, No Use For A Name and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, but in recent years Chris Shiflett has been carving out a career for himself as a country artist. He released his debut solo album, ‘West Coast Town’, in 2017 and has since followed it up with two more – most recently 2023’s ‘Lost At Sea’ – as well as working alongside the likes of HARDY and Morgan Wallen in recent years. Now, following the release of new EP ‘Starry Nights & Campfire Lights’, he’s been out touring in the UK this week, culminating in a show last night at the legendary Electric Ballroom in Camden.
Accompanied by his two-piece band, Shiflett arrived on stage to a swinging Western-style intro and delivered a rock and roll guitar riff before launching into ‘Dead And Gone’, the opening track from ‘Lost At Sea’. The twangy melody belied the melancholy lyrics and it very much set the template for the rest of the night, with Shiflett breaking off to jam out with his bandmates and holding his hand in the air as the song came to an end.
Unsurprisingly the bulk of the set was taken from the ‘Lost At Sea’ album. ‘Carrie Midnight Texas Queen’ was a bouncy two-step number straight out of a red dirt honky-tonk which saw Shiflett deliver an impressively big note towards the end, whilst “middle-aged love song” ‘Overboard’ had a sun-soaked classic rock vibe alongside its sultry, slinky lyrics. Elsewhere, the dark, driving ‘Black Top White Lines’ had a heavy, Brothers Osborne-style feel with its stomping drums and fuzzy guitar riffs, and the mellow, beachy ‘Damage Control’ felt like a surfier version of a 90s Oasis song. However, the standout was ‘Weigh You Down’, which Shiflett introduced with a fiery speech rallying against getting older and an extended wailing guitar riff that included cosmic, slide whistle-style effects I didn’t think it was possible to get out of an instrument.
That said, there was still plenty of room for Shiflett’s older songs too. ‘Liar’s Word’, from 2019’s ‘Hard Lessons’, provided one of the night’s first singalong moments with its anthemic chorus and crunchy, sparse guitars, and the chugging ‘Sticks And Stones’ felt like a countryfied version of Reef’s classic ‘Place Your Hands’. Meanwhile, ‘Welcome To Little Rock’ – which Shiflett dedicated to opening acts Willy Cobb and Kezia Gill – was a rollicking tribute to life on the road that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a later Beatles album, and ‘Long, Long Year’ had a sharp, punchy quality and a big chorus that kept its breakup-themed lyrics just the right side of downbeat.
For me some of Shiflett’s strongest moments in the show came when he indulged his softer side. ‘Welcome To Your First Heartache’, which he dedicated to the parents in the room, provided a touching narrative alongside its soaring, fists-in-the-air chorus, whilst ‘I Don’t Trust My Memories Anymore’ had a wistful feel that complemented its delicate, stripped-back arrangement. I also loved the harmonies on ‘Blow Out The Candles’, an oddly sweet, vulnerable love song with a sting in the tail, and the blend of bittersweet lyrics and a swaying barroom melody on ‘Room 102’.
One thing which particularly stood out to me was how much humour Shiflett brought to the performance. Whether it was cracking jokes about his love of Greggs sausage rolls – a recurring theme of the night as evidenced by the ‘Shifty’ banner in Greggs logo font at the back of stage – or bantering with rowdy audience members to tell them “we’re not taking requests just yet sir”, he had a charm about him that made him very easy to connect with. It’s clear he loves UK audiences, as evidenced by his stories about his trip over here last year and reminiscing on his early days as an artist, and the feeling was very much mutual based on their willingness to clap, dance and sing along (not that they needed much encouragement!)
After closing the main show with the lonesome yet tongue-in-cheek ‘I’m Still Drunk’, Shiflett and his band briefly left the stage before the crowd’s stamps and claps drew them back for a two-song encore. Opening with a cover of ‘Cowboy Song’ – preceded by a tale of trying and almost failing to find a Thin Lizzy T-shirt in nearby Camden Market – Shiflett delivered an acapella intro before bursting into a bluesy, rattling riff and showing off the gravellier edge to his vocals whilst encouraging the crowd to sing and howl along. He wrapped things up with the defiant, classic country-infused ‘West Coast Town’, and as the crowd roared their approval at the end he and his band could be seen taking their bows before tossing guitar picks and drumsticks into the audience.
Overall Chris Shiflett delivered a playful, high-energy performance that was full of joy and thoroughly entertaining. He’s got a great connection with the audience and really knows how to lift the spirits of a crowd, as well as some mean guitar playing skills and a wicked sense of humour that makes his live show absolutely irresistible to watch. It all added up to a really fun and lively evening and showed he’s a stellar performer in his own right as much as he is when he’s part of a band. At the end of the show, he told the crowd “we don’t know when we’ll be back, but we’ll
Set list: 1. Dead And Gone 2. Liar’s Word 3. Sticks And Stones 4. Carrie Midnight Texas Queen 5. Room 102 6. Goodnight Little Rock 7. Black Top White Lines 8. Damage Control 9. Blow Out The Candles 10. Weigh You Down 11. Long Long Year 12. Happy Birthday (to drummer Robert) 13. Welcome To Your First Heartache 14. I Don’t Trust My Memories Anymore 15. Overboard 16. I’m Still Drunk Encore: 17. Cowboy Song (Thin Lizzy cover) 18. West Coast Town Performance date: 27th March 2024
Chris Shiflett’s latest EP, ‘Starry Nights & Campfire Lights’, is out now on Snakefarm Records.
