This past Friday night Kip Moore's Wild Ones Tour rolled into London, Ontario for a the 1st of 2 Sold Out nights in Canada. Now Kip had already had a very successful western Canadian swing with numerous sold out shows put on by Canada's #1 promoter Invictus Entertainment. Friday was no different. Kip and the boys were set to play to a packed house at the London Music Hall. For those of you that haven't had a chance to take in a show at this outstanding venue be please put it on your "Bucket List". With a killer PA System and room to hold 1500-1800 people along with solid sight lines throughout the venue it's one of those places when you get to see a guy like Kip Moore play it, you go.
I got to the venue earlier on this day to do an interview with the artist that is currently in the direct support spot on the tour Michael Ray. We were lucky enough to also wrangle Michael for a 2 song Mason Jar Session that will be posted in the coming weeks. But I had a chance to scope the place out and was excited to see the room filled with Country music lovin' folks. When the doors opened the capacity crowd filled the room quickly and with Chris Cavanagh opening the show just after 7:30 to a 75% packed room the crowd was glued to the stage as Chris hammered through a short 5 or 6 tunes the thing that caught me off guard for an artist playing the opener slot was his stage presence on an acoustic set. His charisma had the crowd listening to each lyric and really wanting more.
Next up was Eustis, Florida native Michael Ray, you may know Michael for his #1 song Kiss You In The Morning. And when a Florida native hits the stage wearing a Blue Jays jersey (Donaldson for those wondering) you know he is going to be a fan favourite before he even opens his mouth. But when that did happen, I think the 2 ladies beside me became ummm lets just say anxious to meet the singer / song writer after his set. Michael has one of those voices that is a perfect fit for country music. His self titled debut album is full of catchy lyrics and sound that gets away from the "bro" country sound. Songs like Look Like This and Another Girl are well written and Michael performs the shit out of them. I have seen a pile of artists over the last 20 months and getting to see Michael perform was simply put awesome. Huge fan of his voice but he is also just a real good down to earth person. I loved the cover of Dust on the Bottle that he did followed by his current single Real Men Love Jesus . Be sure to head over to iTunes and download this album.
Next up... Universal Music recording artist Kip Moore, for those of you familiar with Kips early stuff like Beer Money and Something About A Truck. As mentioned earlier about Michael the "Bro" Country stuff really isn't Kip's thing.With songs like Comeback Kid and Wild Ones on the album mixed in with songs like Complicated and I'm to Blame this album rocks and lets just say it translates VERY well into a live show.
I had seen Kip about 3 years back at Casinorama and to be honest wasn't overly impressed. Scratch that... re-write the book cause this guy blew me away on Friday night. His stage presence, his singing and just the way the set was put together had a completely new dynamic. Kip defiantly had the crowd into a frenzy on a regular basis throughout the night. Highlight songs were Comeback Kid, Wild Ones and of course the fan favourite Something About A Truck. I can honestly say that there really wasn't a lull that you felt you might have time for a bathroom break. One of the cool moments of the night was when Kip stops when things got a little rough out in the crowd and pretty much made sure things were looked after just shows the personality in such a great performer.
The chance to see an artist like Kip in such an intimate venue was a treat and well worth the drive to London. I had Kip on one of my wish lists for Boots and Hearts 2016 and after seeing that performance on Friday night I would have to say Republic Live would be FOOLISH as hell not to book this guy. I would love to see Kip headline the 2nd stage on Saturday night in August. Love to hear if you were at the show what your favourite moments were! Thanks for reading.
Corey Kelly / @CoreyKelly76
Well if your reading this you must really be bored... So I was born and raised in a small town and have a thirst for good Canadian Whiskey and amazing Country Music.