May 8, 2024
The O2, London
Performing her biggest UK headline show date, LeAnn Rimes’ one-night-only gig at The O2 arena spotlighted the US superstar as one of music’s most overlooked vocalists.
Entering the stage barefoot in a dazzling mesh dress, LeAnn stripped things back with an intimate solo piano performance of Remnants. As her powerhouse vocals echoed throughout the room, she dived straight into the classics with her live band, singing fan favourites Life Goes On and Blue, before stripping back the country-infused One Way Ticket (Because I Can).
Known for her famous cameo and appearance on the soundtrack of the 2000 classic ‘Coyote Ugly’, Rimes, surprisingly, performed all four songs for the movie. Screams especially filled the room for Remember When – a ballad she admitted she hadn’t performed at a concert since she was 19 years old – while the No. 1 smash Can’t Fight The Moonlight was an obvious highlight, as well as Written In The Stars, her duet with Elton John at age 14.
Unexpected songs weren’t the only surprise Rimes had up her sleeve; pulling out all the stops, she invited Boyzone vocalist Ronan Keating to perform their 2003 Top 5 hit Last Thing On My Mind, and one of her favourite artists, David Gray, to sing their collaboration Snow In Vegas and his iconic single This Year’s Love, taken from his multiplatinum-selling 1998 LP, ‘White Ladder’.
Performing a nearly two-hour set, Rimes closed her performance with her career-defining ballad How Do I Live and There Will Be A Better Day, the latter taken from her most recent studio album, ‘God’s Work’ (2022).
Unlike most arena shows, Rimes relied only on her voice as opposed to a big production and screens to win the crowd over. Decorating the stage with lit candles, she created an intimate setting for a venue that is so used to being dominated by distractions.
Still the youngest recipient of the Best New Artist award at the Grammys, Rimes’ voice is in the best shape of her three-decade career and the hitmaker delivered a concert that successfully honoured her legacy, leaving the crowd feeling the heart and soul she injected into every song.
Setlist: LeAnn Rimes – The O2, London
1. Remnants
2. Blue
3. Life Goes On
4. Nothing Better To Do
5. One Way Ticket (Because I Can)
6. Awakening
7. But I Do Love You
8. Please Remember
9. Right Kind Of Wrong
10. I Need You
11. The Story
12. Long Live Love
13. Borrowed
14. Written in The Stars
15. Last Thing On My Mind (with Ronan Keating)
16. Can’t Fight The Moonlight
17. Moonlight Jam – I’m Every Woman / 1999 / Sexy Mutha-fucker / R-E-S-P-E-C-T
18. Spaceship
19. Snow In Vegas (with David Gray)
20. This Years Love (with David Gray)
21. God’s Work
22. How Do I Live
23. There Will Be A Better Day
