GEORGIA WEBSTER

W/ MEG MCREE

Thursday July 20, 2023

27Live! @ L27 Rooftop at the Westin in Nashville, TN

(Review By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Nashville’s a town full of live music being played day in and day out on stages inside every bar, cramped into the corners of restaurants, busking on the street corners, and in every unexpected nook and cranny where you’d least expect to find it.

That said, there’s a million different options for the several thousand tourists who flood Music City to find their fix of live music.

However, the ability to create an atmosphere of comfort for the locals, which not only carries a feel of “if you know you know,” but that also presents the strongest emerging talent of today’s country music scene is a distinction owned by only one music series in town: 27Live!

High atop the Westin Hotel, the monthly showcase transforms the swanky L27 Rooftop Lounge and its pool cabana setting into the hottest place to be. The lineup for the series this year has already welcomed such talent as Caylee Hammack, Catie Offerman, Tyler Rich, and now, Georgia Webster.

“Tell Your Mom,” “Push & Pull,” and “First Goodbye,” all pumped the initial excitement for the Sony Nashville recording artists First Goodbye EP, immediately pushing the singer-songwriter into the spotlight throughout 2021, earning her several tags as one to watch and a supporting slot on Ingrid Andress’ ‘International Feeling Things Tour.’

2022 then saw the hot rising starlet taking monumental steps ahead on her path, enticing crowds in her direct support role on Kelsea Ballerini’s ‘HEARTFIRST TOUR’ while releasing Chapter 1: Things Were Not Saying, her latest EP which contains buzzworthy singles “X’s” and “I Hate Phone Calls (Long Distance Sucks).”

As the sun began its final descend over the skyline of Nashville, buzzed about talent Meg McRee hit the stage with a full band performance that set the tone of the night, pulling in the crowd one note at a time and hyping their excitement in the way that a direct support act should.

Opening with her ultra-popular song “Tried and True” immediately allowed McRee to highlight her built in swagger as the groove laden song had several in the very receptive crowd singing along with her as they swayed side to side with its insatiably melody while she commanded the stage with a laid-back aura that stood strongly on the foundations of confident authority.

Just as she opened with one of her ultra-popular songs, she would later close with another when she dipped into the sweet spot of her 70’s vibed aura on “Mary Jane and Chardonnay,” leaving everyone in the crowd feeling good as she slid her vocal over the layers of the melody, expertly floating her voice atop the instrumentation while the crowd popped their hips in rhythm.

Using the space between her two breakout songs to deliver a spotlight shining showcase that defined who she is as an all-around artist and songwriter, her very attractive 70’s kissed vibe stayed well on display.

While she bopped her way through a backbeat, which although never fully crossing the genre line flared closely to a disco tilt on “You Can’t Say I Didn’t Try,” she’d put a unique twist on The Beatles “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” allowing the deeper cut from their Abbey Road album to become a highlight that showed off her wide range of yesteryear influences.

While her entire set absolutely drew in the crowd and solidified her status within the indie rock/country scene, by starting “Stardust” off acoustically she intriguingly swerved the norm to first make room for the pure passion of her voice to inject the lyric with its proper feeling as the band then kicked in and hit the drive of the softer paced song, creating a 3-minute highlight reel that center-pieced her set.

Wrapping her softer tone through the opening lines of “I Hate Phone Calls (Long Distance Sucks),” allowed Georgia Webster to initially entice the crowd with her incredible vocal prowess before slapping into the songs pop induced melody as she bounced across the stage, eliciting excited cheers while providing an instant sing along moment as she kicked off her high-octane show.

Keeping the upbeat energy rolling, Georgia skipped in time with the melody while breathing playfulness into the flirtatious lyric of “Not Sayin’,” holding the crowd tightly in the palm of her hand as she spun across the stage, continuing to pop the tempo through the gentle, breakup hit “Push & Pull,” which kept everyone singing along.  

“I wrote this song about being under 21 in Nashville,” Georgia said as she grabbed her guitar for the first time of the night, fine tuning it as she continued. “It’s hard! I went through this breakup and really wanted the bar,” she exclaimed as she blasted into “X’s,” instantly igniting the crowd as she smashed together her pop infused edge and rock induced influences, impressively tilting her voice into its higher register to trap the power of the emotional chorus, before then stunning the crowd with a brand-new song, “Two Truths and a Lie.”

“Well, I’m gonna play a cover now…and if you know it sing along!” she encouraged as she slid out of her natural pop and country comfort zones, and into a unique twist on Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag,” adding a softer, nearly folksy feel to the otherwise edgy alternative rocker, which masterfully allowed her vocal  to hush the crowd and sit perfectly within the strikes of the melody.

With a breathiness embedded into “Tattoos,” Webster allowed the spotlight to shine again on her signature, softer toned touches before driving through the uber vibey rhythm and slapping her voice into the frustrating moments of what could have been while lifting it into the elation of being better off without him.

“Attention,” another new song which Georgia introduced as being “about doing crazy S**T to get someone’s attention,” dragged us through several different outlandish scenarios such as crashing her car just to get him to look her way, before she’d then use the second half of her set to continue showcasing several pieces of her next chapter with “Delusional,” “Jupiter,” and “This Ain’t A Breakup,” a song influenced by the modern era idea of not being in a relationship, but being part of a situationship.

With a stage platform quite literally sitting atop the infinity pool, it was only a matter of time before one of the artists playing the stage would want to get the full rush of the water flowing over their toes! Georgia Webster became that artist when she sat on the front of the stage, reached her toes down into the edge of the cold water, and offered an intimate performance of “Town Talks,” trekking through the emotions of the he said/she said rumors that fly around a small-town in the aftermath of a tough breakup.

Capturing the very truthful emotions that arrive when you find yourself finally in a good relationship, “99%” saw Webster whispering her vocal over an acoustic strum as she not only listed moments that have shown her with certainty that it’s absolutely right and how it should be, but also transparently wearing her anxiety on her sleeve as she allowed the 1% of her unsureness to creep into her heart process as so many of us do.

Just two simple notes into “Tell Your Mom,” and the crowd immediately showered Georgia with every lyric of the song as several females who lined the front row bounced along with her as they pumped an arm alongside the anthem while Webster strummed her guitar, wearing a huge smile across her face as she closed an incredible set that skillfully satisfied her long-time fans with her biggest hits while also keeping one foot firmly planted on her next chapter, providing a healthy offering as to why she's one of country music’s most endearing young artists to watch.

FULL SET LIST
1) I Hate phone Calls (Long Distance Sucks)
2) Not Sayin'
3) Push & Pull
4) X’s
5) Two Truths and a Lie
6) Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus cover)
7) Tattoos
8) Attention
9) Delusional
10) Jupiter
11) This Ain't a Breakup
12) Town Talks
13) 99%
14) Tell Your Mom

Upcoming 27Live! dates at the Westin Nashville’s L27 Rooftop:

August 25, 2023 - King Calaway with Ben Chapman

September 7, 2023 - Kassi Ashton with Abbey Cone

September 21, 2023 - David Morris

• Prev
• Next