Simon RushworthThe Cadillac Three @Newcastle NX, May 9 2024
It was hardly Nostradamus-esque in terms of seeing the future.
But hey, we said it anyway.
In reference to three hairy young bucks feeling their way across the UK in January 2016 we boldly predicted: “Surely their days playing the UK club circuit are numbered.”
That band was The Cadillac Three.
And they’d just blown away a tightly packed, utterly transfixed crowd crammed into Newcastle University’s basement.
Eight years down the line and, sure enough, Jaren Johnston, Neil Mason and Kelby Ray have long since outgrown poky college campuses.
Last time out on Tyneside they played the vacuous O2 City Hall.
But on the hottest night of the year, NX was the right venue at the right time for a trio still blazing a trail for country music as the broadest of churches.
Sporting a Pantera tee and looking like a latter-day Kurt Cobain, it seemed Johnston was on a mission to cement TC3’s harder edge.
Sure enough, elements of garage rock, grunge and punk paced a furious set, only occasionally punctuated by mellower trad country.
And Nashville’s finest read the room a treat.
Dim lighting, an aggressive back line and everything turned up to 10 fitted a feisty crowd to a tee.
In truth, The Cadillac Three aren’t too different from the fiercely ambitious three-piece that swapped Nashville for Newcastle in 2016.
More rock, less country? Maybe.
But what’s never changed is a dependence on substance over style and a reliance on authentic songwriting over lame posturing.
The Cadillac Three have never been trendy, cool or country’s next big thing.
They’ve always been prolific grafters with a knack for songs that speak to the people.
And perhaps that’s why they’ll always find a home in the North East of England — where heartfelt anthems Bury Me In My Boots and Peace, Love & Dixie resonate with working class punters proud of their roots.
For The South and I’m Southern swap The North and I’m Northern. You get the idea.
Think Sam Fender transplanted to Tennessee.
Sonically this show was an eye-opener.
Johnston got full value from his array of swoonsome guitars while Ray’s lap steel was luscious in its scope.
Mason, meanwhile, is an underrated master of his craft: one part Willie Ackerman and one part Taylor Hawkins, his instinctive drummer’s touch covers all bases.
Young & Hungry, from latest long player The Years Go Fast, goes against Johnston’s off-the-cuff insistence that he writes his best songs for other folk.
Sure he’s served up hits for Keith Urban, Steven Tyler, Tim McGraw and more but TC3’s frontman was at his authoritative best belting out one of the standout tunes of the night.
The meandering Tennessee Mojo and fuzz rocker White Lightning were typically wonderful examples of a band that’s always dealt in realism done right.
And there’s something to be said for finishing on a high and celebrating a job well done — no trite encore to see here.
Earlier fast-rising, dungarees-wearing, darling of Nashville’s alt rock scene, Willy Cobb, warmed up the fast-filling NX with a juiced-up set that dared to be different.
And main support Stephen Wilson maintained the momentum: beating the life out of his semi-acoustic and smashing any preconceptions in the process.
Yes, The Years Go Fast. But why slow down when country rock’s suddenly caught fire thanks to the sound of Cobb, Wilson and The Cadillac Three.
Images by Gordon Armstrong: G’s Gig Shots