It has been a few years now since The Cadillac Three have graced our shores, mainly due to the pandemic, but it had been four years since they last played a headline show over here.
Well, they have been taking their Hillbilly Hypnotized Tour across the US throughout this year, and this is what they brought over the pond, with eight headline shows and one festival headline slot.
It all started across the border in Glasgow at the end of August and finished at The Roundhouse in London on September 6th. Now The Roundhouse, as the name suggests is in fact round inside and was originally built as a turntable engine shed for the railways around the mid-1800s. Around 2004/2005 it was renovated to pretty much what we see today. It really is a spectacular venue and one worthy of headlining and playing in front of a sold-out crowd. A wonderful way to end your tour after being away for far too long.
On this tour, they are joined by Lindsay Ell. Now Lindsay is from Calgary in Canada and has been touring all over the globe. Her infectious personality and exquisite guitar playing, provided a fabulous opening each night. At every venue, bar none, she made many new fans.
It was just herself with Kyle May on drums and keys, but between them, they put on a great show night after night. She had a good forty minutes to show what she can do, and she took every second of that time. Her sound is country but with a blues rock vibe that comes out certainly in songs like the opener ‘Wildfire’ from the album ‘The Project’. We are given some beautiful heartfelt tunes like ‘Want Me Back’ with its addictive sing-a-long chorus, and ‘Get Over You’. We are also treated to the number one hit song ‘What Happens In A Small Town’ which was a duet with Brantley Gilbert a few years ago. We also get a couple of covers with No Doubt’s ‘Just A Girl’ and Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ mashed up for good measure.
The final song of the set ‘Criminal’, finds Lindsay on her knees with her top half laying back playing a wonderful solo on the edge of the stage. A mighty impressive display of flexibility and guitar playing indeed.
Lindsay’s stage presence and bubbly personality shone throughout her set and paved the way beautifully for the main event to come.
Setlist:– ‘Wildfire’, ‘Want Me Back’, ‘Right On Time’, ‘Hits Me’, ‘Get Over You’, ‘Medley’, ‘What Happens In A Small Town’, ‘I Don’t Love You’, and ‘Criminal’.
www.LindsayEll.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
Quarter past nine saw the lights dim and The Cadillac Three’s walk-on music play. The electricity from an excited crowd was there to be felt and when the boys took to the stage, the whole place erupted. You could see on the guy’s faces how much they appreciated this support and welcome from their second home. Jaren dropped to his knees and just held his hat aloft, soaking up the atmosphere and support from this side of the pond.
They kicked off the show with a few tracks from their ‘Country Fuzz’ album with ‘Hard Out Here For A Country Boy’, followed by ‘Blue El Camino’, ‘Crackin’ Cold Ones With The Boys’, and ‘The Jam’. This album was released at the start of the pandemic and wasn’t toured until they got back out on the road last year, so it was a pleasure hearing these songs live for the first time.
Now with five studio albums under their belts, there is plenty of material to choose from, so next were some classic and steadfast tracks that have graced their sets for a few years now. These included ‘Peace Love & Dixie’, ‘Slide’, ‘Soundtrack To A Six Pack’, and ‘Bury Me In My Boots’. All these are crowd favourites and are all sung back to the band with gusto.
Back in 2012, they released their first ‘Self-Titled’ album, and that is still right up there as my favourite album because this was what originally got me into this band, so the next few songs are always welcome in my book, and bring back so many happy memories. ‘Tennessee Mojo’, and my personal favourite ‘Back It Up’, were just wonderful to hear again after four years.
We are given a couple more tunes before their latest release, the ‘Tabasco & Sweet Tea’ album is given an outing. This album was released during lockdown, and was a nice surprise as it was unexpected, and the style of the album was funky as hell, and totally different from the more country orientated tracks that we are used to.
I was excited to see some of these played live as it also involved Kelby coming out from behind his lap steel and picking up a normal bass guitar, which was also an unusual sight. They played three tracks and were joined on stage for the duration by Lindsay Ell who fitted right in with the boys, and it was a wonderful ten minutes or so of some really funky shit on that stage. It was great to see and hear how flexible the guys can be with their music and still produce amazingly awesome tunes. It was great to hear ‘Head Over Wheels’, ‘Tabasco & Sweet Tea’, and ‘Sweet Southern Spirit’ live.
We are treated to some classic TC3 for the last few songs, again with crowd favourites including ‘I’m Southern’, ‘Whiskey Soaked Redemption’, with an amazing solo by Kelby, ‘White Lightning’, and the finale which will always be a crowd participation track, ‘The South’.
Now throughout the show, Jaren thanks the audience for always coming out to support them whenever they come over, and kept saying that this is their second home, and if we keep coming back then they will keep coming back.
At one point he looked out from the stage and recollected the last time they were in that building, which was back in 2014 when they were there for the Classic Rock Awards, sat there watching Rival Sons play on the stage, thinking to themselves one day. They were then awarded the BEST NEW BAND award. Jaren pointed to the area where they were sat. It was a wonderful memory. It is so good to see just how far they have come now, and be headlining such an iconic venue in front of a sold out crowd.
This was the end of this current UK tour, but with every show being virtually sold out, and with their first festival headline slot at the Long Road Festival, hopefully it won’t be too long before they are able to grace these shores again, as we sure have missed these three long haired Nashville natives known collectively as The Cadillac Three….
Set list:– ‘Hard Out Here For A Country Boy’, ‘Blue El
Camino’, ‘Crackin’ Cold Ones With The Boys’, ‘The Jam’, ‘Peace Love & Dixie’, ‘Slide’, ‘Soundtrack To A Six Pack’, ‘Bury Me In My Boots’, ‘Tennessee Mojo’, ‘Back It Up’, ‘Hank & Jesus’, ‘American Slang’, ‘Running Red Lights’, ‘Take Me To The Bottom’, ‘Head Over Wheels’, ‘Tabasco & Sweet Tea’, ‘Sweet Southern Spirit’, ‘I’m Southern’, ‘Whiskey Soaked Redemption’, ‘White Lightning’, and ‘The South’.
Review & Photography: Will Carter