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Lainey Wilson Dazzles at C2C Festival 2023

By Maxim Mower

March 11, 2023 2:48 pm GMT

Last Edited July 26, 2023 4:38 pm GMT

Delivering one of the most anticipated sets of C2C weekend, it's safe to say Lainey Wilson lived up to the hype on Friday night.

The set was a blend of highlights from Lainey's widely celebrated recent album, Bell Bottom Country, and hits found a little deeper in her discography.

She kicked off the proceedings with a high-octane rendition of ‘LA’, a heartwarming ode to her home-state of Louisiana, accompanied by the thunderous guitars of her backing band.

Despite struggling with a cold, having lost her voice only a couple of days prior, Lainey still roared the anthemic hooks to ‘Hold My Halo’ and ‘What's Up?’ without any sign of trouble.

Before she took the stage, BRELAND introduced Lainey with a tongue-in-cheek reference to her penchant for truck-related songs.

Fittingly, one of the most iconic moments of the set came when Lainey sang the dark, haunting hook of her HARDY collaboration, ‘wait in the truck’, before seamlessly transitioning into ‘Heart Like A Truck’, which continues to surge up the charts.

During one of the rare moments she had to catch her breath, Lainey Wilson told the crowd that she describes her sound as ‘Country with a flare’.

She went on to encourage every member of the crowd to stay true to themselves, a message Lainey imparted most powerfully on the raucous ‘Smell Like Smoke’.

The set's finale, ‘Things A Man Oughta Know’, showcased Lainey's ever-stellar vocals, and invoked a moving, O2-wide sing-a-long.

Since being booked for C2C last year, Lainey has enjoyed a meteoric rise, and is tipped by many to become one of the biggest stars in country in the next few months.

Off the back of her C2C 2023 performance, this seems less of a prediction, and more of a simple inevitability.