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Brother’s Osbourne Headline Gig at The O2 Ritz

By Katie-Louise Ingram

How did you spend last Saturday night? One thing’s for sure the people of Manchester were treated and witnesses to what is sure going to go down as a highlight of 2018 for me and anyone who got to attend the sold out headline gig where Brother’s Osbourne raised the roof and dazzled a sold out crowd at the O2 Ritz in Manchester!

Kicking off the night was someone personally I had never heard of when I entered the building Kendell Marvel, however his set was sure to change that. Born and raised in Southern Illinois, he kicked off his opening set with “Untangle my mind” from his debut album “Lowdown and Lonesome”. After playing another song from his debut album called “Hurting Gets Hard” I learnt as he introduced himself and told the audience he had wrote hits for the likes of Jake Owen, George Strait and Chris Stapleton and he wanted to play a song he wrote for the audience tonight choosing to cover Chris Stapleton “Either Way”. Now this cover had to be the highlight of his set for me not only did it give him the chance to showcase his talented song-writing skills but I find usually at concerts some people don’t pay that much attention to the support act but it was evident once the opening bars of this cover came on and Kendell began strumming his guitar he managed to captivate the audience by putting his own spin on the popular song and produced a mesmerising performance that had the whole of the audience fixated on him with most of the crowd singing along to each word of the chorus of the song. I had never seen anything like it from a support act! Wow! Finishing his 8 song set on his new single “Lowdown and Lonesome” and confirming to the audience he will be back its clear after a set like that Manchester was left wanting more and will gladly welcome him back as soon as possible and after a performance like that I predict he will be in the running for the line-up of C2C next year too. After a perfect opening set Brother’s Osbourne had to be sure to bring their “A” Game if they were going to top that.  

Photo: Two Finger Media

After discovering Brother’s Osbourne myself at C2C 2017 and witnessing their performance I instantly became a fan of TJ and John. Having also seen them as the support act for The Cadillac Three last year it was clear a headline tour was long overdue so I was really excited to see their full set performance. Storming on the stage to the perfect opener “Shoot Me Straight”, the lead single from new album Port Saint Joe to roars and cheers from the audience holding their beers in the air it was clear that the whole of Manchester had the party vibe and was ready to party along with the brothers. Continuing the set with a few more up-tempo tracks with a mix of tracks taken from their new album and “Pawn Shop” showcasing their incredible chemistry and stage presence it was clear their aim was to keep the party atmosphere alive for as long as possible and they did exactly that as it was evident they knew exactly how to work the crowd.

A highlight of the set for me was when the boys slowed the set down for a trio of songs and sang one of my personal favourite songs which also got the crowd singing along beautifully too, “21 Summer”. Then “I Don’t Remember Me (Before You)” and “Weeds Whiskey and Willie” gave the boys the chance to slow down their set a little and showcase their vocal talents and softer side.

Ending their main set with their singles “Stay A Little Longer” and “It Ain’t My Fault” the audience were stomping and clapping and singing along to each and every single word. Ending the set with “It Ain’t My Fault” was another highlight as this was where John showed off the incredible guitar skills he possessed by blowing the audience away with the longest guitar solo the audience had ever witnessed. As the boys ended the performance the crowd was electric and showed the boys just how much they were left wanting more the only way us Mancunians knew how by turning the ending of “It Aint My Fault” into a football chant that went on and on until TJ and John came back on stage for an encore.

The crowd were still buzzing and on a high so much so that we were treated to a 4 song encore including a mix of both albums with two audience favourites “Tequila Again” and “Pawn Shop”. For the ending to the whole set their song choice couldn’t have been a more perfect way to end an absolutely extraordinary night of live music choosing to end with a classic country cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” in which the whole audience sang along gracefully to every single word proving to the brother’s they were still with them. It was clear that Brother’s Osbourne put their heart and soul into what was a stand-out performance and absolutely smashed their set at The O2 Ritz in Manchester and am sure having announced another UK tour in November everyone will be counting the days till they get to see these superstars play again. This is definitely going down as a highlight of 2018 for me!

 

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Annette Gibbons
Hi, I’m Annette, I have been a huge country music fan since the early 90s those were the days we were lucky enough to have CMT in the UK. I enjoy nothing more than listening to country music whilst having a cold beer (or a moonshine) with friends. I try to as many gigs as I can here in the UK and in the USA; I think of Nashville as my second home and I am lucky to have made some amazing friends in Tennessee. Think Country is something I am very proud of, I just want to share my love and passion of all things country music related with you all.
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