Canadian brothers Brad and Curtis Rempel – AKA High Valley – have been slowly making a name for themselves ever since the US re-release of their album, Dear Life, in 2016. They’ve already made several trips to the UK, including a sold-out show at Bush Hall last year, and fans have been calling for them to come back since. Yesterday, they did just that, paying the Indigo a visit on their whistle-stop European tour.
High Valley kicked off their set with Dear Life, the title track from their latest album. It’s a stomping uptempo number with singalong lyrics and solid harmonies from the brothers, and they definitely did their best to get the crowd going, encouraging them to sing and clap along. They then moved into a rocky take on Soldier, which showed off the drawl and depth in Brad’s voice.
Throughout the performance the band kept the energy high with songs such as the driving I Be U Be (which got a huge audience reaction), the twangy Young Forever and Roads We’ve Never Taken. They even threw a dance contest to their rock ‘n’ roll-influenced cover of John Michael Montgomery’s Be My Baby Tonight! I was also particularly impressed by Curtis, who seemed to play every instrument on stage at one point; his banjo playing on County Line, which the group combined with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band classic Fishin’ In The Dark, was a highlight.
The band closed their performance with their two biggest hits, She’s With Me and Make You Mine. The guitar-driven She’s With Me had more of a rock vibe than on the album version, with a chance for the duo to show off the blend of their voices together. The folky Make You Mine, meanwhile, got a massive response from the crowd and they were singing, dancing and clapping along. Brad asked the audience to sing the last chorus alone and they delivered at the tops of their voices, drowning out the last nights of the song with thunderous applause
Overall I thought High Valley did a really good job of bringing a party atmosphere to C2C Festival. They looked like they were having an absolute ball on stage and you can tell they were really going for it. Although it took them a little while to get going, they definitely got stronger as they went along and finished the set on a high. Here’s hoping we see them back in the UK very soon.
[brid video=”208323″ player=”531″ title=”High Valley She’ With Me (Official Music Video)”]
Set list: 1. Dear Life 2. Soldier 3. I Be U Be 4. County Line/Fishin’ In The Dark (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band cover) 5. Be My Baby Tonight (John Michael Montgomery cover) 6. Young Forever 7. Roads We’ve Never Taken 8. I’ll Fly Away 9. Love You For A Long Time 10. She’s With Me 11. Make You Mine Performance date: 9th March 2018
