I confess I was largely unaware of his music when I bought the tickets to this show. I knew it was vaguely country, it would appeal to my wife and it was something to look forward to during my week off work.
The night didn't begin well at the venue as security was a shambles. Entering via the main door of the City Halls, there were tables on either side with a security person on each one but they were only conducting bag searches. We were then directed to another table on the left for ticket checking and hand stamping. Then we were guided around a couple of corners back to the entrance and told to join the queue which had now stretched up the stairs. The system would have been fine except some people didn't use the main door - some used the side door. They didn't get a bag search. They didn't know about the hand stamps and stood anywhere they liked, defeating the purpose of the queue. Despite my grumbles though, we still got a viewing position near the front so it wasn't all bad.
The support act Twinnie was excellent. A Yorkshire lass, she gives good country with great songs and a strong voice. She's got the whole package: looks, talent and a sense of humour. I look forward to hearing her debut album when it comes out next year.
Kiefer, on the other hand, may write songs that he's proud of but tonight he was a letdown. His gruff voice does not lend itself to singing live. For the first few tracks, his vocals were lost in the mix and the audience complained they couldn't hear him. It only seemed to affect his singing as between the songs he remembered his mic voice.
Kiefer takes his music seriously. He told some interesting tales about the tunes but it felt like he was playing a sketchily-written part. He wore the clothes and recited his lines but he didn't own the stage. The band looked like they were letting the Emperor play his tunes, remaining po-faced, giving each other side glances, occasionally breaking into a smirk as some in-joke presented itself. They are talented musicians and played well but didn't feel invested. It got better towards the end as they showed what they could do but Kiefer was only along for the ride.
He'll get better with experience and a lot of his fans did enjoy themselves. Me, not so much.
Still, it was a night out.
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