Country 2 Country 2025 Review

London

The 2025 Country 2 Country (C2C) Festival, held over 14th – 16th March was one to be remembered. C2C25

After such a great 2024 line up everyone wondered what the festival organisers would come up with and if it was going to be a bit of a let down. Was it going to be a filler year? were the acts going to be repeats of years gone by?

Well, I’m pleased to say NO!

The O2 Arena line up was simply brilliant, high end, top quality and 100% worth seeing.

So lets delve into the festival a little deeper.

Overall Impressions Of Country 2 Country 2025

On arrival I was pleased to see the return of the C2C poster showing the headline acts. This was something missing last year and one thing festival goers were not happy about, so its return was welcomed and very well used for the inaugural photo shoot.

A new addition as you entered the O2 via the main doors was a massive inflatable brown cowboy hat with a bright red C2C band, just hanging from the supporting pillars a very nice touch and one that told you, “I’ve arrived and I’m back home”.

Another great opportunity to get a great photo taken.

Image By: Luke Dyson

The security and advisory staff were brilliant as always and the venue was spotless.

I feel that having so many stages inside businesses such as All Bar One, The Wayside and The Indigo, greatly reduced the number of people who could see the acts.

This could be resolved by moving the Wayside back outside in to walkway and potentially putting another stage by the entrance or up the far end of the O2.

The quality of acts both inside and outside the arena were top quality, with great variation in styles. This meant that everyone had someone to see they liked.

It was, as always a voyage of discovery, with so many new and potentially unknown artists and bands. I, for one, have a lot of new acts to follow up on after the event.

As is always the case with Country 2 Country, the lack of seating outside of the Arena was an issue. This causes great problems for some who cant stand for long periods and really is something that needs addressing for future events.

The Line-Up

The line-up this year was brilliant! some acts may have looked like a bit of a risks but wow did they deliver!

The first act that I was able to see was one I had been waiting many years to see. It was the incredible Meghan Patrick on the BBC

Image by: Luke Dyson

Radio 2 stage in The Indigo. She certainly didn’t disappoint, putting on a fantastic show. It’s a shame she wasn’t with a full band but still a great start to my C2C.

Alyssa Bonagura was also on around the same time packing the Country Line Stage in the Town Square to capacity. It was wall to wall and the security staff had to limit entry for safety reasons.

This was the theme for the whole weekend on most of the venues; leading me back to my earlier comment about more outside stages for larger audience attendance.

Dom Ellis had to feature in our Country 2 Country 2025 Review. He a young man that we discovered last year, was back again, this time he was given more shows with one on the Jack Daniels Big Entrance stage. In the last year Dom’s performance and audience engagement has definitely grown, as well as his confidence.

This was evident in his laughing and joking with the crowd and his clear enjoyment with his performance despite having a slight vocal issue due to the weather.

We were lucky enough to have a chat with Dom over the weekend, which will be aired live on the Chad J Country radio show, as well as being added to the website shortly.

The Main Stage

The Main Stage had its surprises, too. The biggest for me was Shaboozey, who was either going to be a complete flop or a roaring success. I’m pleased to say, he was a total and complete success, lifting the roof off the O2.

Shaboozey may be new to the mainstream country family, but you would have thought he had been there for years. His performance was energetic, well set and he really played to the crowd.

He was humble and thankful to the audience for getting him to the festival and for all the sup[port they have offered him.

Image By: Luke Dyson

Lainey Wilson was the first headliner of the weekend and she didn’t disappoint. Lainey had us all singing at the top of our lungs, setting the mood and the feeling for the whole weekend.

She covered all of the favourite’s, as well as some lesser well known tracks, all put together perfectly, culminating in a brilliant show.

Her set was well augmented, very well executed and highly entertaining.

The highlight for me was with out a doubt Dierks Bentley.

Sure, we all expected a good show from Dierks, but the show he put on was not just full of great tunes making it a great concert, it was also full of antics, hilarity and plain old foolishness.

He had us all in stitches with the last segment of his set.

First he came on dressed as a pilot for Drunk On A Plane, which had the arena singing its heart out and with energy at max. Then the whole band came on stage with a Back To The Future style video in 1980’s getups and wigs.

The following few songs were not only great musically but hilarious with the theatre that accompanied it.

He ended us all on a real high and the talk was “that’s the best show I have ever seen at C2C”.

The final act of the weekend was the brilliant Cody Johnson.

Image By: Luke Dyson

The show that Cody put on was well polished, very professional and a real concert. It didn’t contain the theatrics of Dierks Bentley but was a fantastic finish to the weekend.

He had us all singing, dancing and all in all forgetting the rest of the world. He did himself proud and was welcomed to the O2 with enthusiasm and love.

Hopefully he will be back again.

Value For Money

As we have come to expect from Country 2 Country, the value you get is extraordinary.

It is incredible that you can see so many top tier artists at such a low price.

For me the best value seats are at the back in the gods.

It may seem like a bit of an odd thing to say, but you get a full view of the whole arena, you can still see the stage, plus the huge screens and the smaller screen which shows the artist on stage.

Added to this, you get the full atmosphere and light show is incredible when seen from here.

If you are someone who doesn’t like heights, then this isn’t for you. The view down to the standing areas can be daunting.

Without a main arena ticket, you still have what is effectively a free festival as you can see many of the performances.

There are a whole host of acts that can be seen outside the arena with stages including the Jack Daniels Big Entrance and the Roundup. If you are not too flush and still want to attend a festival, then this is your answer.