BORN TO RUN
Kip Moore wants us to “feel like we’re all in his front room”. The 39-year-old Deep South native has swapped the arenas he frequently inhabits for a more intimate setting, with acoustic gear in place of his regular electric set-up. He’s generally labelled a country star, but tonight’s mix of raspy heartland odes and vignettes feels more akin to those of a 21st century Bruce Springsteen or Tom Petty.
Still, with a capacity of almost 1,000, Chelsea’s Cadogan Hall is a big front room. Every seat is filled, and everyone seems to know every word. Moore moves seamlessly from stirring tales of his father, who died of cancer in 2011, to suggestions that he should!” one beaming woman shouts. At one point he adjusts his shirt to reveal the abs of a Greek statue. The crowd’s whoops shoot up a key or two.
