March 18, 2025
Live Gig Review: Gabor Kleinbloesem
Photos: Charles Batenburg
The festival C2C (Country To Country) is the biggest European countryrock festival and it takes place in various cities each year. In 2024 we attended the festival for the first time and after seeing the line-up of the 2025 edition I was quite excited to check out the new edition of this wonderful festival in Rotterdam. It was a good opportunity to catch up once again with a bunch of the latest new sensations from the USA, and we were surprised by a lot of the acts that seem to rock harder than last year’s edition.
Country music is for the European readers among us a music genre associated with old-school slow (or hyper-bluegrass fast!) jangle howdy acts in a very cliché tingled performance where people start to do a line-dance, but if you visit C2C it is a completely different adventure that will definitely brings you in a really good mood, and as already mentioned there are some serious rocking acts performing on stage, especially NATE SMITH and CORY MARKS, both of whom would go down well among the rockers. Later this year we will attend a concert of the biggest rocker in the modern country world, KIP MOORE, who is basically one of the greatest solo rockers at the moment (imagine musically speaking a mix between BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and early GOTTHARD!). The festival also offers enough talent that doesn’t need a full rocking band backing them up, but instead shows them on a smaller stage with just an acoustic guitar and a microphone. I guess you can easily call those performances singer/songwriter orientated. Basically everyone starts from a country point of view, but eventually each act throws in influences from all the music genres that dominated the American music world the past 50 years, so you can also hear traces of singer/songwriter, Americana, Heartland Rock, 80s AOR/Melodic Rock, 70s rock and roll, 90s alternative rock, soul, blues and other music genre influence every now and then if you listen closely enough to the songs. Especially the fact that many of the acts originate from the USA is a guarantee that all these influences pass by, while also the performances leave enough room open for entertainment, because that is what Americans can do best!
Anyway, C2C 2025 has 26 acts in total, performing on 3 different stages in 2 different halls, and I have to admit that it worked better than last year because you could now easier catch all the performing acts and there were also plenty of possibilities to sit-down and watch a performance. Off course when crowd pleasers like DASHA and NATE SMITH are performing, you have to stand up and rock along with them, while closing band MIDLAND for example is a perfect band to watch while sitting down on one of the seated chairs. The festival started with the female trio of THE CASTELLOWS, a great act from Georgetown, Georgia that combined classic traditional country with a touch of THE CORRSish folkie melodic poprock. The lead-and harmonyvocals were upfront and the songs were rather catchy, so this was a great opener of the festival. The main stage was perhaps a bit too big for them at the moment, but they did a great job and before the next big act would turn up, we could check out on the smaller stages more laid-back singer/songwriter country/pop/rock performances by LANIE GARDNER (a great singer with a wonderful raspy voice) and TYLER HALVERSON (we sadly only saw a few minutes of his performance due to overlap of Sophia’s show).
WYATT FLORES has a great voice and his music is actually quite diverse thanks to a superb rocking band backing him up. The drummer, Hammond organ player and guitarist were killing it big time, and they gave Wyatt the back-up for a fantastic rocking show! GRAHAM BARHAM was the next act on the spotlight stage, and he had a rather nice melodic southern hard rocking sound actually, although he sadly missed a drummer and bassist to fully give a high quality performance. Perhaps next time he has a full band and rocks out in a LYNYRD SKYNYRD/38 SPECIAL/VAN ZANT kinda direction. Speaking of… after seeing only a few minutes of CALEB LEE HUTCHINSON (which was not bad at all!) due to the overlap with Graham, the next major stage performance was done by 49 WINCHESTER.
49 WINCHESTER from Castlewood, Virginia is a band I saw live at Paradiso, Amsterdam in 2024, and we also reviewed their wonderful new album Leavin’ This Holler recently, so we already knew what to expect, and actually they even improved even further. They are a superb soulful southern rockband that is dangerously close to BLACKBERRY SMOKE, VOLTAGE and LYNYRD SKYNYRD. The band has a lead singer/guitarist (ISAAC GIBSON) with an incredible voice range, and he is perhaps the greatest southern rock singer at the moment. There were moments during the set his voice broke all the rules and I think everyone in the crowd was impressed by the talent of this musician/singer. His band also has this lovely southern rock vibe, and so without a doubt, the 49 WINCHESTER show was rocking the way it was meant to be, really feeling like you’re somewhere down south in the USA. Fans of aforementioned bands absolutely need to check out this excellent band. A few of the songs have country rock up front, but overall it has the southern soulful swamping rocksound like we know it from LYNYRD SKYNYRD. It offers the best of both worlds and shows there is actually no border between country and southern rock!
The next 2 smaller stage acts were KASSI ASHTON (great raspy voice I would like to hear in a rockier setting) and ZACH MEADOWS, both of them delivering nice acoustic tingled singer/songwriter kinda performances, but we were basically waiting for the biggest act on the bill for us rockers, because NATE SMITH was up next on the main stage. There was clearly something going on here, because after a rather long introduction about the recent fires in and around Los Angeles, Nate seemed to be the hero in the end. Despite he lost everything during the fires, his new song World On Fire became the anthem song for the people whom experienced this tragedy. Loud and proud NATE SMITH entered the stage with his rocking band, and he basically set the venue on fire, because this was true rock and roll the American way. Of course he is labeled as a country rocker, but throughout the set he seemed to rock harder than the average rockband, and even threw in a FOO FIGHTERS cover, while he also did a walk through the audience during one of the songs. His music is loaded with 80s melodic rock influences, with references to DEF LEPPARD Hysteria, BRYAN ADAMS and also DAUGHTRY here and there. However, he also did a step back with a calmer song here and there (acoustically and a power rock ballad), and basically this was the kinda rockshow that had all the ingredients you need! Towards the end Nate even started crying and saying that he was living his dream and loved every moment of such performances as tonight on C2C. Concluded, it was clear that Nate set the bar very high, and probably none of the other acts would best him, but on the other hand I have to say that every act we saw (and the ones we hardly saw) sounded really good.
AVERY ANNA was one of the big surprises, because she is a fantastic singer with an excellent rocking sound, especially during the superb midtempo catchy Make It Look Easy. Along with a great rocking band, this was a very entertaining show. Avery also plays keys and without a doubt we are going to hear much more of this talented singer/songwriter who is quite far removed from country actually, and is perhaps closer to a rocking version of ADELE. BAYKER BLANKENSHIP was on the other stage, but due to the incredible performance of Avery, we sadly missed it.
Closing Day 1 was LAINEY WILSON, who is one of the big names at the moment in the USA, which is not that strange if you hear her music. It’s the closest thing to country music on this first day, because here we can witness a young DOLLY PARTON, yet with the modern take of early TAYLOR SWIFT. It’s not that strange she is a big name in the USA, because she has that great classic female country voice and her music is fun upbeat country pop/rock crossover orientated with a focus on catchy little tunes with the help of traditional instruments, while she walks around the stage constantly to make contact with the audience. It doesn’t get any better than this, and even if you’re not a country music fan, there is something happening here that should put a smile on your face! The rockers among us however had their biggest smile when witnessing NATE SMITH perform one of the greatest rockshows I have seen lately!
Day 2 was another sunny spring day outside, but inside it was clearly much warmer with another nice collection of (mostly) American acts that travelled all the way from (mostly) the southern states of the USA to Rotterdam to perform on one of the 3 stages at the Ahoy venue in Rotterdam. Opener on day 2 was the BEYONCE lookalike TANNER ADELL, who sounded quite strong and had actually a full blown’ rocking set for us. I think that due to the fact that it was day 2 and the weather outside was absolutely stunning, a lot of people decided to arrive later on the day, so the venue was half empty when Tanner performed, which is a pity, because this was definitely a high class performance. Tanner was accompanied by a female drummer and a female guitarist, so actually this was a 3-piece all-female band.
SOPHIA SCOTT was up next on the smaller stage, and she had a superb bluesy tone in her voice, sounding quite raw and with a typical southern US kinda vibe. She was joined by an acoustic guitarist, but I can imagine that with a full blown rockband backing her up, Sophia could put on a performance close to a band such as LARKIN POE. On the other hand, we now could enjoy a real honest performance without any other instruments, back-up or stage show, which is a nice contrast to most of the main stage acts.
Anyway, on the 3rd stage we saw a piece of the performance of TYLER HALVERSON, who is a singer/songwriter troubadour a la JAKE BUGG/BOB DYLAN. He was all alone on the stage, with just an acoustic guitar and a harmonica, so another real unplugged performance, but he did quite a strong job.
CHASE MATTHEW was the next big act on the main stage, and basically we have another rocker here. The show opens with a big time midtempo heavy rocker that is actually quite far removed from country music, and perhaps closer to AEROSMITH or BLACKBERRY SMOKE. Chase has a strong band backing him up, including a superb hard rockin’ guitarist from Toronto, Canada and a great tight drummer. Although musically speaking it is not far removed from other hotshots like KIP MOORE or NATE SMITH, Chase adds a few electronic and modern pop/rock influences to his sound, while his vocals are a bit less stronger than the 2 aforementioned singer/songwriters. Actually he takes a bit of old-school rap here and there (in a way also DEF LEPPARD and WARRANT did in the late 1980s) and he even reminds me of BRETT MICHAELS here and there, so this sets him apart from the rest for sure. Chase did put on an exciting show that brought him close to the audience during the full performance, because his interaction was picture perfect.
Things slowed down during the next 2 smaller stage performances, which included TAYLOR HOLDER and GARETH. Taylor was accompanied by an acoustic guitarist, who happens to be an even better lead singer, because he showed his vocal skills during 2 wonderful covers. That was quite funny, but the 2 of them together were a very nice act to watch, but we also had to take a glimpse of the performance of GARETH. He will in a few months join KIP MOORE as a support act, so this was a great sneak preview of things to come. GARETH has a fantastic voice and brings some beautiful melodies with his vocals, so I am looking forward to his upcoming show in May.
TUCKER WETMORE is the next big act on the main stage, and despite we have here another rock orientated show here, Tucker also digs from all kinds of other music influences, such as modern pop/rock, some pieces of electronic music and while doing a short solo on the piano/keyboard he even makes it possible that people start singing along with him to a QUEEN classic he plays (Bohemian Rhapsody). He further played a nice cover of the JERRY LEE LEWIS classic Great Balls Of Fire and THE COMMODORES/FAITH NO MORE classic Easy, while he totally rocked out during the cover of KINGS OF LEON’s Use Somebody. Tucker is a real showman/performer and he is one of the big new hotshots in modern country crossover pop/rock, and along with a superb drummer and a rocking guitarist besides his own musical talent, he is definitely one to check out live. I personally really enjoyed his uptempo 80s AOR/poprocker Break First from his new album, but the enormous diversity of his show should appeal to a lot of people outside the country music world.
HARPER O’NEILL is one of the best female singers I have seen on the smaller spotlight stage, because her voice has got that raspy old school feeling I miss so much in most of the singers today. Her music is also close to classic singer-songwriter 1970s style, so it was a joy to see her performance. I only saw a very short part of DREW BALDRIDGE due to the overlap time with Harper. I did notice that Drew had an old school country sound for sure, and that was during this edition actually quite rare.
Anyway, DASHA was up next and she is one of the biggest newcomers of the past few years. She is already compared to early TAYLOR SWIFT and I can easily inform you that her performance shows that we are dealing with someone who is going to become much bigger in the near future. Her music is country crossover poprock orientated (actually close to a SHANIA TWAIN), yet there is a mix of all kinds of music styles here, including 80s AOR/Melodic Rock, Bluegrass, 90s singer/songwriter, Bluesy Rock (Here For The Party) and modern pop. It’s just all there and Dasha is doing a really good job on both the vocal department and as an entertainer, while her band is giving it both a rock and a classic country/folk back-up. During her major breakthrough hitsong Austin everything fits together perfectly, as she goes into the crowd for a little walk and you can really feel the energy of her great exciting performance. Of course time will tell, but writing your own songs and deliver high quality shows is something you need to keep doing to built up a big name inside and outside of the country scene. Tonight’s performance of Dasha is definitely ticking all the boxes for now.
Things slow down once again during the spotlight stage performance of MAX MCNOWN, who is a wonderful singer, and here he is helped by 2 acoustic guitarists who also provide backing vocals. All together they bring us beautiful melodic songs in a calm but authentic performance, which is not heard a lot these days. Especially the harmonyvocals are exceptionally well done and quite close to THE EAGLES and VENICE. Max himself has a great laid-back tone in his voice, and it seems a lot of people were quite excited to see him perform. Along with the earlier spotlight stage show of Harper, they were one of the best on the smaller C2C stages overall this weekend.
I was right on time to still catch a portion of the heaviest performance of the whole C2C festival, which was the 3rd stage show by CORY MARKS. He gave a true classic rock/heavy metal ish show that still had some connections with country, but on the other hand he could also easily fit a spot on a festival like WACKEN OPEN AIR. The energy of this superb rockshow was very attractive to watch until the end, because this is rock and roll the way it needs to sound for sure. Although nicely done, the BRYAN ADAMS cover Somebody was quite unexpected and not the best song on the set of Cory, because his own songs are much stronger. However, it was nice to see the crowd singing along to the this 80s anthem! Cory is definitely someone you need to check out when he’s in town!
The festival finished with the most authentic and most traditional country show of the whole event, because the American band MIDLAND is one of those bands that is active in the classic style of bands like ALABAMA, POCO, DIAMOND RIO, OAK RIDGE BOYS, LONESTAR, BLACKHAWK, etc. etc. Ever since the early 70s there have been countless American bands playing this genre, and in those 55+ years nothing has changed, because newcomers MIDLAND might as well have been active since 1971! THE EAGLES could also be mentioned as comparison here, because MIDLAND is very keen on the harmonyvocals, and the fact they create their own songs gives them an own identity within the genre. This is traditional classic country the way it was meant to be, and perhaps they were the perfect fit to close day 2 of another wonderful C2C edition!
Concluded, this 2nd edition of the C2C festival in Rotterdam was another fantastic event that showed that country music is extremely diverse if you listen closely to each and every act that was on the line-up this weekend. NATE SMITH was definitely the best act, and I can guarantee you that this rocker will become huge in the future. AOR/Hardrockfans should check out this singer/songwriter as soon as possible. As for C2C, we already look forward to next year’s edition!
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