Chris Stapleton is an acclaimed American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, known for his rich blend of country, rock, blues, and soul. His career began as a songwriter in Nashville, where he penned hits for artists like Kenny Chesney, George Strait, and Tim McGraw. He gained widespread recognition with his debut solo album ‘Traveller' (2015), which earned him multiple Grammy Awards and catapulted him to stardom. With his powerful, soulful voice and raw, emotional performances, Stapleton has become a dominant figure in country music, blending traditional and modern influences with authenticity and depth, winning award after award in the process.
Rolling into Birmingham on a cold Autumnal night, Stapleton's current tour is delivered under the moniker, ‘The All American Roadshow.' There's a revival tent feel to both the branding and the visuals which is wholly appropriate for a guy of Stapleton's heft. Despite his massive success, the Kentucky native keeps things simple on stage. The setup is modest and warm, made even more personal with his wife and collaborator, Morgane Stapleton, singing intimately by his side. Backed by a powerhouse five-piece band, he lets the music take centre stage. Legendary pedal steel player, Paul Franklin, is part of Stapleton's band and it his presence, going largely unnoticed, that drives this live behemoth, leaving the main man himself free to sing to his wife and cut free on electric guitar as and when required.
Five minutes of internet research yields a pleasant surprise not often encountered in Country music and is another feather in Stapleton's cap that sets him apart from his peers and contemporaries: he changes his set list around and plays with the running order a little, particularly in the middle section and acoustic part of his show. So Birmingham got a very heartfelt and intimate version of ‘Maggie's Song,' which Stapleton precede with a rare interaction with the crowd. ‘Any dog people in the crowd tonight?' he asked. ‘Scarecrow in the Garden' got a rare airing and Stapleton also chose to follow his signature song ‘Tennessee Whiskey' with a song from his old band, The Steeldrivers, later on at the end of the show. There was a superb five minutes of honky tonking with Marty Stuart too which felt fresh and unique to this performance, which is not always something you can say about the often formulaic nature of Country music shows.
“I'm not gonna do a whole lot of talking tonight,' Stapleton told the crowd after ‘Second One to Know,' “I'm gonna play as much music as I can in the time that I have.” He certainly held true to his promise although the danger with frontmen and artists who take that approach is that they can often appear aloof or disinterested but Stapleton doesn't suffer from this perception at all – everyone in the arena knew what he was there to do and, boy, did he live up to his word. With the stage drenched in warm lights and his wife and band tactically deployed, Stapleton managed to make, what is for all intents and purposes an aircraft hanger, feel like an intimate club show. That takes some doing but his guitar playing, his demeanour and the power of his vocals is a unifying and intense experience. There may not have been a huge amount of visual spectacle to keep the Birmingham crowd distracted but a Chris Stapleton show is not about that, does not need that and everyone in the arena knew that. They were there to sing, to immerse themselves in the music and to feel the emotion coming off that stage during songs like ‘Either Way' and ‘Fire Away.'
Kudos must also go to Stapleton for the pacing of the show, which felt like it has been meticulously planned. Opening with the chunky ‘White Horse' was a ballsy move as that song has been his biggest, most recent hit and current award nomination receiver but it worked. ‘Crosswind' and ‘Hard Livin' kept the riffage and vocal power high whilst ‘Arkansas' picked the pace and volume up nicely after Stapleton's mid-set acoustic double-whammy. The cover of Marty Stuart's ‘Honky Tonking is What I Do Best' and the oomph of ‘Midnight Train to Memphis' also provided some muscle and meat which meant that you never felt like you were watching romantic ballad after romantic ballad. Stapleton deploys those when he needs to, so ‘Joy of My Life' was a delight but the set wasn't overly filled with them.
Similarly, the tone shifted with funkier songs like ‘I Think I'm in Love With You' and ‘You Should Probably Leave.' Both songs elicited excited gasps from the crowd during their introductions and resulted in big communal sing alongs. The biggest sing along, however, came at the end of ‘Fire Away' when Stapleton brought all the house lights down and finished the song, alongside the crowd, lit by just the phone lights in the arena. Spine-tingling stuff all round.
‘Cold' (sounding eerily like a James Bond theme tune to these ears) started with the stage drenched in white lights to mirror the subject nature of the song whilst ‘Think I'm in Love With You,' was all reds and pinks. ‘Millionaire' was delivered against a backdrop of bullion gold and ‘Fire Away' all dark red and shadowy black. The ambiance and effects matched the song being played down to a tee, which again, hints at a level of engagement and meticulousness that is not often seen in Country music below the very higher echelon of A list artists. That's what Stapleton is: he's transcended any kind of genre labelling now and busted out of the confines that the industry place on artists to become his own separate entity.
The home stretch of Chris Stapleton's ‘All American Roadshow' is about the crowd pleasers and fan-favourites. So we got ‘Parachute,' ‘Traveller' and ‘Broken Halos' all thrown into the mix and the crowd lapped them up, singling along with gusto and throwing all kinds of poses and shapes. An elongated ‘Tennessee Whiskey' saw Stapleton singing the introductions to all the members of the band which was quite funny and sweet before launching into his signature song which was undoubtedly recorded on ten thousand mobile phones held aloft by his appreciative congregation.
Congregation would be the right word to describe the crowd in the Utilita arena. There's something deeply communal and almost spiritual about going to a Chris Stapleton concert – Motley Crue this is not! What you are going to get is an intense and emotional performance delivered by a humble and unassuming guy who seems at his happiest when singing these songs of love, loss and everyday life to his wife, just off to his left. That simplicity is overwhelmingly infectious and heartwarming and the power of Stapleton's message and performance is both edifying and mesmerising, meaning he holds you in the palm of his hand for two hours and then bids you goodbye, cleansed and refreshed, ready to step back out into the cold night from which you came as the All American Roadshow packs up it's things and moves on to another town and another set of eager supplicants in need of a soul re-charge.
Setlist: 1. White Horse 2. Nobody to Blame 3. Second One to Know 4. Millionaire 5. Crosswind 6. Hard Livin' 7. Scarecrow in the Garden 8. Honky Tonking is What I Do Best with Marty Stuart 9. What Am I Gonna Do 10. Think I'm in Love With You 11. Maggie's Song 12. Either Way 13. Arkansas 14. Midnight Train to Memphis 15. Starting Over 16. Joy of My Life 17. You Should Probably Leave 18. Cold 19. Parachute 20. Traveller 21. Fire Away 22. Broken Halos 23. Tennessee Whiskey 24. If it Hadn't Been For Love 25. Sometimes I Cry Venue: Birmingham Utilita Arena Date: October 22nd 2024
