Following on from Walker County the previous night was never going to be easy, however the late night All Bar One stage just seems to being out the best in people and so it was for tonight for Canadian Tim Hicks. Flanked by a guitarist and banjo player his set would provide laughs, singalongs and just about everything required for a post Main Stage event.
The signs were good from early on that we were in the right place with a sizable number of folk leaving Darius Rucker early so that they could nab a prime spot .
Things would get off to a great with "Slow" from Tim's new EP with the three part harmonies on the chorus "Let her good times roll - slow", on a song propelled by the banjo and finishing with a burst of harmonica. Tim's sense of humour okayed a great part in the success of the evening and his "No Truck Song" which followed was a great testament to that. He opened the 3rd song boasting that he was going to "get you all singing" and true to his word with a few mnutes All Bar One was in unison shouting "(I I I I I I )Got a Feeling". Tim chose his covers well on the night, the first being a sotorming version of The Rolling Stones take on country musc "Dead Flowers".
The triple harmonies once again came to the fore on the excellent "Whiskey Does" which was a five star gem of a performance. His next song "Stronger Beer", humourously noting the differences between Canadians and Americans would have undoubtedly been a success anyway but throwing in a hastily written, Camden Town pub fuelled additional UK verse and having it held up by an audience member made us love it even more.
In an inspired move Tim threw in an unlikely cover of Babybird's "You/re Gorgeous" which sent the audience into something of a frenzied singalong, and then took it to another level entirely - the O2 had recently suffered some roof damage during a recent storm and how it stayed on at All Bar One as Tim burst into "Don't Look Back In Anger" we'll never know.
There was no way Tim was going to be leave with the demand crying "one more song" and sure enough, by request "Stomping Ground" with a big banjo line running through seemed as though it would be it, before Tim bowed to pressure for "What a Song Should Do" with its "Hell Yeah Me Too" chorus reverberating around All Bar One - a great night!!
