Chris Stapleton
3Arena
★★★★☆
It takes a serious amount of confidence to hire an act like Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives as your support because they’re so good, there’s a fair chance the show might peak while you’re still in the dressingroom. “Go on, Marty!” one audience member shouted, and the country and Bluegrass veteran and his band, resplendent in their Nudie suit finery, certainly did.
They treated the crowd to great originals such as the Telecaster road song Whole Lotta Highway (With A Million Miles To Go) and Time Don’t Wait, Woody Guthrie and Bill Monroe covers, and some seriously virtuosic musical chops, especially Stuart’s mandolin playing. They had the 3Arena whooping and hollering like a Bakersfield Honky Tonk. If all support bands were even half this good, no one would ever be late to a gig again.
Of course, Chris Stapleton, the multi-award-winning reigning king of country has good reason to be confident given his near-perfect run of albums from Traveller, which made his name in 2015, up to his most recent, Higher, which was one of the best records released last year in any genre. As soon as he walked on with his band, the venue erupted with a staggering noise.
Right from the rocking opener White Horse, the star of the show was that immense voice which is probably close to the sound that God makes when he’s singing in the shower. But even if that incredible instrument of his suffered catastrophic failure, things would have been okay because from about the second song (Nobody To Blame) onwards the audience, packed tighter than a rush hour Luas, sang every single word.
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I have rarely witnessed such unadulterated devotion, although Irish audiences have a long history of clutching country music to their hearts. This may have something to do with the honesty of the music and the adult themes of the songs, and few write them better than Stapleton who’s equally at home crafting the southern rock of Arkansas or the outlaw country of Crosswind with that great octave jump in the chorus vocal. The hats look cool too, although the man flogging them for a tenner on the way in, in the howling wind, had to work hard for his money.
Another important factor is the constant presence of Stapleton’s wife Morgane Stapleton, who acted as both a musical (her harmonies are superb) and visual foil (bell bottoms, a wizard sleeved shirt and tambourine, like she just stepped out of a wormhole from the 1970s). The big man in black with the Grizzly Adams beard and Stetson hat sang to her throughout the evening, with special mention going to his cover of John Fogerty’s Joy Of My Life, melting every heart in the building.
Early on, Stapleton told us, “I’m not going to do a whole lot of talking, I’m going to play as much music as I can in the time that we have”, and he pretty much stuck to that but the musical highlights were many. Husband and wife shared beautiful versions of Millionaire, Starting Over, and a particularly marvellous Traveller (“I want you to sing it so loud that someone you love who’s not with us tonight can hear it”). There was the country soul of You Should Probably Leave, with Steve Cropper-style guitar and Hammond Organ swells, and Think I’m In Love With You. The section where Stapleton “fires the band for a minute” and sang, with only his acoustic guitar for accompaniment, Whiskey And You and a gorgeous What Are You Listening To? earned the Dublin audience, according to the man himself, the award for the crowd who sang every word.
That voice, which sounds as good if not better live than it does on record and could possibly make you cry singing Baby Shark, was probably at its best during Broken Halos. Stapleton’s guitar playing, which doesn’t waste a note, warrants mention too. He channelled BB King during Cold and, appropriately enough, Keith Richards during Might As Well Get Stoned, and his instrumental acumen was matched by his amazing band, especially the high lonesome sound of Paul Franklin’s pedal steel.
[ Chris Stapleton: Higher is his fifth album in an award-laden eight yearsOpens in new window ]
The best country music is really soul music and the main reason that Stapleton is so successful is that there’s a genuine soulfulness to everything he does. He brought that deep feeling to the 3Arena and made it seem intimate, enveloping the adoring faithful with that voice that’s as warming as the Tennessee Whiskey he eulogises. This was a night to remember for a long time.
