Old Dominion Bring Out Brothers Osborne and Elle King During C2C Festival 2024 Performance

It takes a lot to ruffle the feathers of easygoing five-piece, Old Dominion, with the band establishing themselves as modern flag-bearers of the sun-soaked, Buffettian Surf Rock sound.

They showcased how each member of the band personifies the mentality behind serene, shrug-of-the-shoulders staples such as ‘No Hard Feelings’ and ‘Save It for a Rainy Day’ during the encore, when technical difficulties threatened to hamper the set.

Rather than panic at the prospect of a stellar evening concluding on a sour note, Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Brad Tursi, Geoff Sprung and Whit Sellers laughed it off and turned the problem into one of the most spell-binding moments of the evening.

Huddled around one microphone, due to the sound disappearing from their in-ear monitors, Old Dominion switched up the setlist and delivered an enchanting acoustic rendition of their fan-favourite, ‘Nowhere Fast’, instead of the originally planned slow-burner, ‘Hawaii’.

Once the issues had suddenly been resolved, Old Dominion hurriedly capitalised by performing the grand finale, a galvanising, celebratory take on their tongue-in-cheek anthem, ‘I Was On A Boat That Day’. It finds the group channeling the mood of a carefree, nautical-themed break-up song from the previous night's headline set, Brad Paisley's ‘I'm Gonna Miss Her’.

As well as bringing a relaxed, summery ambience to the O2 Arena stage, Old Dominion laced their set with the band's trademark ‘carpe diem‘ cri-de-coeur, with the six-time CMA Group of the Year victors encouraging the jubilant crowd to live every day to its fullest through the likes of ‘Make It Sweet’ and ‘No Such Thing as a Broken Heart’.

Old Dominion ensured their headline performance was a communal affair by bringing out Brothers Osborne and Elle King, with the collective teaming up for a dramatic, stormy cover of J.J. Cale's ‘Cocaine’. Following the blockbuster track, Matt Ramsey, the Old Dominion frontman, made a quip about how sharing the stage with TJ and John Osborne reminded him how much “bigger” they are. Another undoubted highlight was Old Dominion's breezy performance of Kenny Chesney's ‘Save It for a Rainy Day’, co-written by Ramsey and Tursi alongside the late Andrew Dorff.

Old Dominion closed out their main set with a stunning a cappella version of ‘My Heart Is a Bar’, with the vocalists reminding the audience that their frivolous demeanour should not obscure the serious musical prowess that underpins their music.

For more on C2C Festival 2024, see below:

Brothers Osborne

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Old Dominion

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Elle King

Artist