I have to start with an admission, I was really dubious about this years C2C.  I was really happy with all three headliners, but when Zoe Ball announced the line up with Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2, I said ‘who?’ to about 90% of the underlying acts!  Off I went to Spotify, created a couple of playlists and started some homework.  I really struggled though, often skipping tracks and frequently asking Alexa who was singing the current song!  So, I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy this years show.  In addition, C2C last year for me, was one of the best ever, so how was it going to compare?  I needn’t have worried, the C2C team know their onions and had put together some mighty fine artists!!

Wyatt Flores opened the main stage on Friday night.  I was a bit worried about him as when he played Long Road in the summer he was, by all accounts, incredibly nervous and apparently it showed.  The O2 arena is a much bigger stage the Long Road main stage!  Again I worried unnecessarily!!  If he was nervous he didn’t show it!  

The joy on his face was really heart-warming and by the end of his set I was well and truly in love and wanted to adopt him and take him home with me!!  He was slightly over awed and said it was the biggest stage and biggest audience he had played to!!

This was a sentiment shared by Tucker Wetmore!  He told us it was his first ever visit to the UK and the biggest stage he had ever played, as he thanked us for showing up he got a little emotional and shed a tear or two!  This was something we were going to hear a few times over the weekend!  For many of the acts it was their first visit to the UK for some it was their first time even leaving the States.  I loved that so many of them were here for the first time and were feeling the love we have here in the UK for Country music!

Another first timer was Niko Moon.  He played on Saturday and was an absolute delight to watch.  Think the most memorable thing about him though was that he was in bare feet!!  He did take us to the beach though and what do you do at the beach?  You kick off your footwear and walk bare footed in the sand, so to me it made sense!  He reminded me very much of Jake Owen, who was an absolute highlight last year!

Staying with the first timers, sister group The Castellows were a real joy!  So very beautiful, lovely personalities and stunning harmonies.  The lead singer, Lily, was skipping and twirling round the stage, she was also captivated at seeing herself on the big screen and kept looking at herself, which I thought really cute!  Felt really sorry for them though as they had mislaid their luggage, as a result they were wearing their own merchandise!  They were going home on the Monday, wonder if their luggage caught them up?

With regard to the headliners, Lainey on the Friday was just magnificent!  She has been a favourite of mine since I started listening to her properly in preparation for when she played C2C in 2023. She opened the show on the Friday night that year, just 2 years later she was closing the show on the same night!  You can see why she is CMA Entertainer of the Year!

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy Cody very much, which was a real shame as I was really looking forward to him.  There were reports just before he came on that he hadn’t been at all well all day, but from his performance you wouldn’t have known he was poorly!  I think for me, the problem was he was the final headliner, I think if he had been Friday headliner I would have felt different!

Absolute star of the whole C2C though was Dierks Bentley and his band! The show they put on was worth the ticket price for the whole weekend!  It was just fabulous.  In fact I would go as far as to say it was the best show I have ever seen!  High praise indeed!  

As Dierks and his band came on we quickly saw a C2C favourite in the band – Charlie Worlsham.  It soon became very obvious that the guys all got on really well and worked well together.  

Dierks sang his hits for an hour, playing guitar for some but working the whole stage when not.  They then all left the stage.  That was really rather odd as he had half an hour to go yet!  They came back on with Dierks wearing a captains uniform and sang ‘Drunk On A Plane’, which got a very enthusiastic response!  Then they left the stage again.  Again people were looking at their watches and scratching their heads as there was still just over twenty minutes of his set left.  

The next bit is a bit difficult to describe if you weren’t there!  The screen at the back of the stage suddenly sprung into life and you could see Dierks and the band boarding a bus, it was a Back to the Future skit and we “time travelled” back to the ‘90s.  A big flash and a bang and the band came running back on stage dressed in silly ‘90s outfits and wigs.  The best part of the show then started … ladies and gentlemen Hot Country Knights were on stage and in control!  

They sang (and played) a medley of ‘90s hits and cut some pretty sharp shapes on the dance floor!  Towards the end a big bunch of roses appeared, which Dierks threw out to the audience, some through his legs, some backwards some forwards, some over his head … I think you get the gist of it!!

I ended up my face hurt from laughing!  I wished I had recorded it, but then I wouldn’t have enjoyed it so much.  I know a few people didn’t enjoy it, they thought the boys were clowning around & performing slap stick comedy, but I loved every single second of it!