Lady Antebellum at Shepherd's Bush Empire - review

Nashville's Lady Antebellum offered a straightforward package of tight harmonies and grade-A playing but they haven't got the monster tunes, writes Caroline Sullivan

The gulf between UK and US musical tastes is epitomised by Nashville's Lady Antebellum. Back home, the trio's emollient country-pop – which, to British ears, sounds like Fleetwood Mac with Tennessee vowels – has struck such a chord that they have sold more albums in the US than anyone else this year. Over here, despite selling out this debut British show, they are likely to remain a niche interest, like contemporaries Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts.

What Lady Antebellum offered at the Empire was a straightforward package of tight harmonies, mainly sung by Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott (third member Dave Haywood primarily stuck to guitar and piano), and grade-A playing by a backing band assembled from all over the American south. Kelley and Scott illustrated how far country has moved on, sartorially at least: she wore Louboutin heels and a Beyoncé-style bustier, and his jeans were indie-skinny. They also proved themselves in touch with music outside Nashville by covering High and Dry, transforming Radiohead's scathing song into a boy/girl heartbreak duet.

To curry favour with the locals, they threw in a tune by "a man we know y'all are so proud of". Paul McCartney will be pleased to know that Hey Jude works nicely as an uptempo country singalong, but the bulk of the set was from their hit second album, Need You Tonight. And there was the reason they probably won't replicate their US success here: they have the musical chops and, in Kelley and Scott, an attractive pair who are the safe side of sexy, but they haven't got the monster tunes. Of the album's feelgood rockers and sentimental ballads, only the title track, a future karaoke classic that warns of the danger of late-night drunk-dialling, really stood out. Otherwise, Lady Antebellum could have been any of a thousand bar bands.

Contributor

Caroline Sullivan

The GuardianTramp

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