Sound of Nashville time again. Right after I returned from a brief trip through the Nordics, Semmel Concerts and their country music label invited lovers of the genre to a very special show in Cologne. On 14th May 2023, the Western German city hosted Kip Moore, supported by Jillian Jacqueline. Glad that I have been able to join this one.
This posting comes with 272 major size pictures as part of the concert gallery.
Die Kantine – About The Venue
Die Kantine (“The Canteen”) is a rather new venue in Cologne. For concerts, the total capacity is about 1,000 – however, there is also a smaller venue, the Yard Club on the same ground. Even though the public transport situation is not that ideal (the next tram station is not too far away, though), the venue located in a former train maintenance shed is very close to the Northern Cologne autobahn orbit, A1.
Kip Moore – About The Artists
Kipling Christian Moore was born on 2nd April 1980 in Tifton, Georgia, in the United States. After college, he first lived in Hawaii, before he moved to nashville in 2004. It took him about eight years to sign a record deal. His father died right in the same month Moore released his second single. Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck was his only release so far, which topped the US Country Charts (and the Canadian ones as well). This also boosted his finally platinum-selling debut album Up All Night (April 2012). All of his first five albums made it to the Top 5 of the US Country Charts. The most recent one, the April 2023 Damn Love, struggles so far a bit, though.
It’s in fact not the first time I report from a Jillian Jacqueline show in Cologne. In September 2019, I already covered a show of her at the YUCA Club. The full name of the 1989-born artist is Jillian Jacqueline Arciero Brown, by the way. In 2022, Jacqueline released her debut album Honestly. She is originally from Chester Springs, West of Philadelphia. Her highest chart entry is still a song she recorded at the age of twelve with Billy Dean and Suzy Boggus. Her most successful solo release is the 2018 song Reasons. However, she also had very successful collaborations, e.g. with TJ Osborne or Keith Urban.
Kip Moore & Jillian Jacqueline – The Show
Jillian Jacqueline stepped on stage right on time at 19:00. The atmosphere was already heated up at the beginning of the show – which was also due to rather passive ventilation in the venue. While the crowd did not respond too much on Jillian starting her set initially, the Cologne fans more and more sang along with her and enjoyed her song. Her show felt very honest ad intimate including funny moments like at Sugar and Salt, which she had to re-start after a few tunes, recognizing she started way too high. I loved listening to the stories behind the songs, as Jillian took quite a lot of time for it. For example, she did so before Hurt Somebody Else. The nice some 25 to 30 minute set closed with God Bless This Mess.
Kip Moore Show
Kip Moore stepped on stage a few minutes after 20:00, when the show was thought to start. Even though his fans partied from the very first moment, it took a few songs until Moore and his band got the party fully started. Two of his classics, Plead the Fifth and Reckless (Still Growin’ Up) felt to kick-off the Cologne crowd to lift the party to the next level – and so did Kip Moore and his band. Especially songs from his 2012 album Up All Night like Beer Money or his top hit Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck left no doubt about that Germany can be some sort of country music country as well. The last song before the encore was the rather slow and intimate Micky’s Bar from the latest Damn Love album – which was rather remarkable as the song before, Last Shot, had set the Cologne crowd on fire and even the last rows of the venue rocked with the US country star.
Kip Moore and his band played a two song encore, consisting of two songs of the Damn Love album, Silver and Gold and the iconic six minute track The Guitar Slinger. After that and after a total of about two hours, Kip Moore left the stage at the Die Kantine with a smile – and had lead to a lot of smiling faces from his German fans as well.
Kip Moore – The Gallery
Here are 272 major size pictures of the show. They are located in the concert gallery:
Kip Moore – My View
Die Kantine hosted two great artists that evening. I can’t deny that I have been a bit of tired when I drove to venue that evening – but these guys blew it away. Kip Moore demonstrated that he is an excellent artist on stage and you could see and feel how much the guys enjoyed the night in Cologne, together with an almost sold out crowd in the venue. The German country fans were gifted to have an outstanding rocking country show this Sunday night – which was luckily not limited by a curfew as Kip Moore faced the day before in Hamburg.
Flyctory.com Country Music Concert Coverage
Here is a list of all concerts I covered, limited to Country Music:
Travel – Cologne Region Top Pick!s
Here are all travel postings of the region around Cologne, which received a Top Pick! rating: