Once a year some of the biggest acts in country music leave Nashville behind and cross the pond to Europe. Taking to the stage’s in Dublin, Glasgow and London brings their music to fans who aren’t normally able to access it. This year the headline acts of the festival saw Brad Paisley, The Zac Brown Band and finally country music legend Reba Mcentire.

Once a year some of the biggest acts in country music leave Nashville behind and cross the pond to Europe. Taking to the stage’s in Dublin, Glasgow and London brings their music to fans who aren’t normally able to access it. This year the headline acts of the festival saw Brad Paisley, The Zac Brown Band and finally country music legend Reba Mcentire.

When Reba was announced as a headliner in November the reaction from a lot of fans was anger. The majority of people on social media just didn’t seem that interested in seeing her performance, myself included. I personally took the view that she is a legend and this is possible a once in a lifetime chance to see her live. It’s a shame other people didn’t take that view. As her headlining performance started in the O2 arena, that same Arena quickly emptied.

The O2 arena can hold twenty thousand people, Darius Rucker was on stage before Reba and the place was nearly sold out. By the end of Reba’s act the arena was more than half empty and a lot closer to a quarter. The fans decided to vote with their feet. So the question is why didn’t fans want to see her?

The reason why I believe so many people walked out is simply they didn’t know Reba’s music. Reba was a nostalgia act that the majority of fans in this country aren’t nostalgic about. Listening to Country Music in England over the past decade hasn’t been the easiest thing. Back in the 90’s we had CMT. Its thru this channel I discovered country music. I was introduced to acts such as Reba and grew up listening to her. Unfortunately in britain we lost this channel and for over a decade there was no country music channel on british television. Country music wasn’t very accessible.

Technology has created a new generation of country music fans in the United Kingdom. You can easily find a music video on youtube or stream a whole album via Itunes or Spotify. Country music is getting more airtime on the radio. Acts like The Shires and Ward Thomas have come along, the country music scene is blossoming. Reba like a lot of other older artists just fell threw the generation gap in this country.

The sad thing about this is I can’t image Reba will ever want to come back to this country again. I understand why people left and at a music festival you are going to get acts you don’t like. I remember last year everyone was moaning about Dwight Yoakam. At the end of the day it was disrespectful but I don’t think it’s the fans fault. The blame at least part of it has to lie with the event organisers. They booked the wrong headliner for the show. Hopefully there is a lesson to be learned here when they book future events.