Brothers Osborne, the dynamic country duo of siblings TJ and John Osborne, have carved out a unique space in modern country music with their signature blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country. Known for their rich harmonies, masterful guitar work, and fearless authenticity, the duo broke through with hits like ‘Stay a Little Longer,' ‘It Ain’t My Fault' and ‘Younger Me.'
Their critically acclaimed albums and electrifying live performances have earned them multiple CMA and ACM Awards, as well as a Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. With their bold storytelling and genre-pushing sound, Brothers Osborne continue to redefine what country music can be so any night that you can spend watching them do their thing live is a good one and Birmingham at the O2 Academy was no exception.
Rolling into the heart of the UK on the ‘Might As Well Be Me' tour, Brothers Osborne brought the very talented Tyler Braden with them as tour support. We interviewed Tyler just before the tour and you can read that interview right here. Braden played a confident, engaging set full of rock-leaning Country that was both tight and focused. Opening with new songs like ‘Me or the Dawn' and ‘More Than a Prayer,' Braden's grungy, rock infused influences were on display for all to see. He has a powerful, raw voice live which resonated with Brothers Osborne's crowd really well. Opening the very heartfelt ‘Call Me First' with a snippet of The Fray's ‘How to Save a Life' was a nice touch and a callback to the song that influenced that write and the singalong to The Proclaimers ‘500 Miles' was, similarly, astute: providing the crowd the chance to singalong to a familiar and well loved song.
Braden's mum could be seen down the front of the show, taking photos of her son and also holding her phone up on what looked like a Facetime or video call back home too, at one point, which was very sweet. Closing the set with his biggest song to date, ‘Devil You Know,' Tyler Braden won more than his fair share of hearts and minds in Birmingham and he proved to be a fantastic opener for Brothers Osborne's rock-leaning Country crowd.
John and TJ Osborne are, alongside artists like Kip Moore and Ashley McBryde, part of a select and revered group of Country artists that broke through to UK fans in that pre-pandemic Country boom that happened around the advent of the Nashville TV show and C2C festival in London, Glasgow and Belfast / Dublin. They've worked hard to nurture and expand their fanbase here and that means that now, consequently, they can tour decent sized rooms and sell out shows on just name and reputation alone.
‘Might As Well Be Me,' proved to be a suitable and bombastic opener to what was another scintillating and endearing show to add to the many we have seen from them over the years. The duo's USP is centred around John's exceptional guitar playing and TJ's rich, warm baritone vocals and chest-thumping energy and we saw plenty of both in Birmingham last night! An elongated ‘Shoot Me Straight' proved to be an early set highlight with John standing front and centre, guitar in hands, leading the charge. My wife commented that she's rarely seen a guitar player whose instrument seems so malleable, so much just an extension of their own body and being as John's and he plays that thing like a guy possessed!
‘Shoot Me Straight' segued into the very funky and hypnotic ‘Skeletons' after which TJ spoke to the crowd for the first time, asking them if they were ‘ready to fucking party?' Whether it's from behind his guitar or stalking the stage from side to side, TJ Osborne is a born leader, a frontman who commands attention and respect with his mix of bombastic bravado and heartfelt emotion. He led a much needed and well received call for unity through the power of music during the cover of Bob Marley's ‘Three Little Birds' and there were pauses to convey meaning from him in songs like the cover of Tom Petty's ‘I Won't Back Down' and the duo's own ‘I'm Not For Everyone,' particularly during the ‘some people are just like me
I hope y'all forgive 'em,' lines.
‘Stay A Little Longer' brought the first half of the set to an intense and breathless crescendo and the double whammy hit of ‘Burning Man,' the song they guested on with Dierks Bentley, and their own anthem, ‘It Ain't My Fault' closed down the main set with some style. A slick drum solo and searing Hammond organ segment were a feature of both those aforementioned songs, highlighting the depth and quality of the band and the players that Brothers Osborne had up on stage with them. ‘It Ain't My Fault' saw John taking centre stage during the song's elongated progression as he introduced the band and made the crowd laugh explaining that he had got a new tattoo in town earlier that ‘hurt like hell.' He also did a better job of pronouncing ‘Birmingham' in the correct way and not the ‘Alabama' way than many of his fellow American compatriots do, so kudos there too!
An encore of the Beatles ‘Blackbird' followed by '21 Summer' and ‘Heart Shaped Locket' was what we were expecting but a late set change saw the latter replaced by ‘Pushin' Up Daisies' in honour of a couple down the front of the crowd celebrating 25 years together. Needing to finish on a high the duo pulled out the ferocious ‘Dead Man's Curve' for the finale, a fitting and highly appropriate way to finish what was a searing and bombastic set punctuated only by the very bluesy ‘Weed, Whiskey and Willie' and the double hit of ‘Three Little Birds' and ‘Rum' as the only palette cleansers and pauses for breath throughout.
Brothers Osborne are unicorns within Country music. Too rocky for radio, they've built a career on their albums and live shows and both never disappoint. In John they have, quite simply, the best guitarist in the genre and I lost count of the times I lost myself in his playing and his solos last night: the guy is an effortless purveyor of the craft, like some sort of musical snake charmer, beguiling the crowd in front of him with his art. In TJ they have one of the most likeable, warm and engaging frontmen around – someone who can have you thumping your chest with your fists one moment and putting your arms around the shoulders of a complete stranger the next as he brings a room full of disparate people together with a profound or moving sermon on the nature of the world and the humans in it.
Brothers Osborne came to Birmingham, in the heart of the UK and brought a whole bunch of heart along with them – they came, they saw, one of them got a tattoo and they conquered.
Setlist: 1. Might As Well Be Me 2. Nobody's Nobody 3. Shoot Me Straight 4. Skeletons 5. Break Mine 6. Weed, Whiskey & Willie 7. I Won't Back Down 8. Not For Everyone 9. Stay a Little Longer 10. Three Little Birds 11. Rum 12. Burning Man 13. It Ain't My Fault 14. Blackbird 15. 21 Summer 16. Pushin' Up Daisies 17. Dead Man's Curve Venue: Birmingham O2 Academy Date: January 28th 2025
