What It’s Like Going to a Country Music Festival As a Hip-Hop Fan

Since its inception in 2013, C2C has been held annually in London, UK, but in 2019 it also visited other European countries, including Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia.

Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood and Kacey Musgraves are headlining the festival.

This year, the festival was split between London, Dublin and Glasgow, with one show in each city, rotating each day.

When I say I’m a hip-hop fan, I listen to all kinds of music, from rap to R&B, house to heavy metal.

But country is a genre I’ve always struggled to get into. I never hate it. I love Chris Stapleton’s music and consider Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline musical icons. But in general, I find it difficult to associate country lyrics and sounds the way hip-hop does.

Singing about fried chicken, cold beer, and the American flag doesn’t resonate with you. Excuse me, Zak Brown Band.

That said, I thought I’d try C2C in London this year and see if the festival would change me for the country.

A versatile indoor entertainment complex in North Greenwich, the O2 Arena is one of the world’s busiest music venues.

The day I attended C2C, Lindsey L, Mitchell Tenpenny, The Old Crow Medicine Show and The Zac Brown Band performed on the 20,000 capacity main stage.

Various artists performed on the venue’s other stages, including Kezia Gill and Kameron Marlowe.

When you think of music festivals, you think of muddy fields, tents, filthy toilets, beer stands, food trucks, pop-up stages, DJs, vendors, and people in outrageous costumes.

C2C London had it all, except for the muddy fields, tents and dirty toilets, which was great.

Besides the main stage, there was the London Spotlight stage (which was just a miniature stage in the same room) and the London BBC Radio 2 stages (Indigo, Barrelhouse, Saloon, Big Entrance stage and Wayside). .

Each stage had its own set-up and, as you’d expect from any other festival, featured a variety of acts throughout the day.

The Barrelhouse, just outside the entrance to The O2, was a giant pop-up tent designed to recreate the quintessential American saloon. The previous “America’s Got Talent” contestant was Willie Jones, who was the headlining act the day I went.

Around The Barrelhouse were numerous tents where you could purchase cowboy hats, boots, necklaces, rings, jackets, records from various independent vendors, as well as food and drink.

Unlike The Barrelhouse, The Saloon didn’t look like a saloon. Instead it was just the top floor of a chain restaurant with a stage in front.

But it was still the best stage I’ve been to so it didn’t matter. It was worth the wait to get intimate performances from some of the.

A highlight for me was Keziah Gill, an up-and-coming country star from England.

As you’d expect at any festival, the smaller venues (in this case the Big Entrance Stage and The Wayside) were reasonably quiet throughout the day and were hosted by up-and-comers rather than household names. rice field.

But what was surprising about C2C London was that even the superstars seemed unable to inspire the crowd.

Willie Jones’ headlining set at The Barrelhouse was busy, but many chose to sit at a table in the suburbs. At Indigo, Amanda Shires nodded at her singing voice, but here too the crowd mostly stood still.

First let me say that the two acts I saw on the main stage at O2 were amazing: The Old Crow Medicine Show and The Zac Brown Band.

Zak Brown’s powerful voice penetrated O2 like a cave echo.

Again, the audience was mouse-quiet for most of the performance. Few people stood and sang or clapped. Then the person behind me told me to sit down because it was in the way.

Only when The Old Crow Medicine Show and The Zac Brown Band performed their biggest hits, “Wagon Wheel” and “Chicken Fried,” respectively, did the audience seem to perk up.

There may have been various reasons for the calm atmosphere.

First, C2C, for example, is definitely a more family-friendly festival than wireless. Secondly, while O2 is a unique and interesting festival venue, it does not encourage the chaotic, carefree enjoyment found at Parklife, for example. Third, C2C had significantly older attendees than most hip-hop and R&B festivals.

But what struck me most was the fact that many in attendance, especially the younger crowd, seemed to care more about looks than music. , 10-gallon hats and checked shirts in one place.

People were taking pictures at every turn while enjoying the opportunity to cowboy over the weekend.

At one point, I thought the costume was mandatory, but I missed the memo.

As a hip-hop and R&B lover, I’ve attended numerous festivals over the years to see my favorite acts. We’ve seen Kendrick Lamar in Birmingham, Frank Ocean in London, Tyler the Creator in Reading, to name a few.

Each time, thousands of attendees, myself included, were there to sing and rap all the lyrics, both smash hits and B-sides, and it was a blast. People fidget to get one step closer to the action, pushing, crowd surfing him, yelling for an encore when the act ended.

I didn’t expect people to flock to surf, especially given that The O2’s main arena is a seated venue, but the lack of enthusiasm from the crowd throughout the day at C2C London was disappointing.

I could eat, drink, talk to new people and of course listen to live music.Hearing new sounds and artists is a never-ending no I feel joy in

But did my experience with C2C put me in hiding?