Will Varley and Stephen Kellogg – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham – 30th March’25
Tonight marks the middle point of Will Varley’s current UK tour with bandmates The Southern Rust. Having opened for Stephen Kellogg in the US earlier this year, the pair have traded places, with Kellogg providing all early attendees with a delightful set full of beautiful songs and great humour. Kicking off with the a cappella ‘toast’ Right There With You, Kellogg’s poignant vocals fill the room, while the lyrics to love song Diamond gives him the ammo to show off his comedy chops. Singing ‘I hope we die the same night when we’re 99’, Kellogg jokes about ‘that Ed Sheeran song that’s always played at weddings’, ‘I’ll love you until we’re 70? That’s not even the life expectancy of a human!’
On a more solemn note, Crosses is dedicated to a fan who expressed how much it meant to them via email after their dad had died. All the lights in the venue are turned off, so the crowd can just listen and sit with thoughts of their own loved ones. Whipping the good times back up, Stephen jokes ‘I’m not saying you should buy merch…I’m just saying it’s heavy and I have four kids’. He ends the set in the middle of the audience, sans mic, belting out Last Man Standing. The mostly unfamiliar crowd take the opportunity and join in, ending the set with a bang.
Next up, the main event, Will Varley and The Southern Rust take to the stage. Opening with Send My Love To the System, the band gel perfectly with Varley’s acoustic guitar and folky voice. This is even more evident with the powerful rendition of We Don’t Believe You – probably more relevant now than ever before – the whole audience joining in with the hook. For the next hour and a half Varley sends us on a journey, through old songs and new. Home Before the World Ends is attributed to Varley’s son wanting a more ‘upbeat’ song, while Until the Grass Gets Greener is dedicated to his wife, home with the kids on this Mothering Sunday. The latter starting off with just Will and his guitar, before building with the rest of the band joining in to crescendo.
During As For My Soul – a song not often played live, but requested – Varley spends as much time googling the lyrics ‘It’s a good job other people put my lyrics on the internet, I don’t, but other people do. This is a little less subtle than sticking ‘em to the top of the fucking guitar’, backtracking and getting audience members to shout out the next line as he does singing the song. This is a beautifully chaotic interaction, culminating in Varley almost knocking over a symbol to round it off.
We are treated to a mixture of full band and acoustic solo songs, while in between them, Varley is just as humorous as fellow musician Kellogg. Everyone in the room, whether on stage or off, has had a blast. This is definitely one to remember. Not bad for a Sunday night, eh?
Words and Photos by Carrie-Anne Pollard
