Anderson East at Bush Hall, review: Rising star returns to a bigger London crowd

(Matt Spracklen)

Things are heating up for Anderson East in the States - as they are, it seems, in the UK, so it's fitting that his London gig takes place on a humid, stormy evening at Bush Hall.

We've seen a few features about an explosion of interest in country music as of late - (check out the recent, history-making number one album by British duo Ward Thomas) - but East seems to be growing his audience just fine on his own.

Much of the material he and his band play is the same from last time round, although there is a new record on its way - and he throws a decent Bowie cover into the mix.

Bush Hall seems like the ideal London venue for East's music - the simple stage set-up with its red velvet backdrop has a definite old school feel; so many of his tracks are good'n'honest belters about love, lust and the preacher's daughter. All of this, of course, backed up by his stellar live band.

East is wonderful because he puts everything of himself into the music, without inhibitions, and pulls it off. When he sings 'What A Woman Wants To Hear' - arguably his best song to date - you can hear sighs of appreciation from more than one star-struck member of the audience, and crowd pleasers like 'Satisfy Me' and Find 'Em, Fool 'Em and Forget 'Em' go down a treat.

It's good to see him back - no doubt he'll swing by next year to shoot some more whisky and play us some of the new stuff. He's welcome anytime.