Last in the UK in March 2019, Chase Rice returned to the UK for his ‘Pint of Anything’ Tour, accompanied by support slot Madison Kozak. We review his performance.
Chase Rice has been a perennially popular force in the UK, having dedicated himself to his UK fanbase on a regular basis – his last visit at C2C 2019, less than a year ago. I, for one, was not completely overawed by this performance. However, at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Saturday night, my view of Rice was transformed. Buoyed up by the strength of Kozak’s performance in the opening slot, the audience greeted Rice’s standard ‘Lions’ intro with a frenzy of excitement. He is the kind of performer built for a Saturday night performance, breathing energy into the crowd with his first track and encouraging them to be similarly rowdy. He gave a performance that felt relatably humble, connecting with his audience and asking them to give as much to him as he was to them – and boy did he give a lot.
The audience seemed particularly clued in for ‘Jack Daniel’s Showed Up,’ lifting their glasses to toast their serenader, and it was clear that Rice was having just as much fun with his audience as they were with him. Frontloading the set with big tracks like this did the trick of amping up the energy that carried Rice through to the end of the set. Arguably, at points, Rice’s vocal was not as strong as Kozak’s in her support slot, however, this is not why you go to a Rice concert. He is a born performer and made to be on a stage, exhuming energy in every lyric, and the combination of Kozak and Rice on stage for ‘Unforgettable,’ was hugely powerful. Hopefully, that performance showed Kozak just how enraptured the UK audience can be, and why she should keep coming back.
You often forget just how many big hits Rice has, including ‘Eyes on You’ and ‘Three Chords & The Truth’ that were two raucous numbers, the audience singing along to every word. The most special moments, personally, though were the ones when Rice sat alone on the stage and performed acoustically. You managed to get a sense here of Rice the person, not just Chase Rice the star – telling the story of his back-catalogue of songs, including Florida Georgia Line’s unforgettable hit ‘Cruise’ and personal favourite ‘Carolina Can.’
More excitingly, Rice also played a number of his new forthcoming tracks – if the tracks are anything to be believed, these tracks are bound to raise Rice’s profile up a level, and even just a small taster was enough to excite even the most borderline fans to his cause.
Ending the night with one of his biggest tracks ‘Ready Set Roll,’ we were left as amped as Rice must have been as he left the stage. Perhaps he will not win vocalist of the year any time soon, but Rice should win Entertainer of the Year ten times over, he’s a born performer and delivers time and time again.
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Setlist:
Lions
Jack Daniel’s Showed Up
Take It To The City
Beautiful Blur
Gonna Wanna Tonight
On Tonight
Unforgettable (with Madison Kozak)
Lonely If You Are
Three Chords and the Truth
Ride
Carolina Can
Best Night Ever
Jack Daniel’s & Jesus
Eyes on You
Cruise
All The Small Things / Sweet Home Alabama / Sweet Carolina
Ready Set Roll
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