NEWCASTLE sure loves a hometown hero story.
Take a look at the Knights bandwagon, which has been gathering more and more momentum over the past six weeks to the point that 21,000 tickets were snapped up on Monday for their NRL finals clash with the Canberra Raiders.
If you've been to McDonald Jones Stadium in recent weeks you've no doubt heard the dulcet tones of Morgan Evans singing Long Live The Newcastle Knights over the PA in celebration of another victory for the red and the blue.
On Monday night Novocastrians had the opportunity to celebrate another hometown success story, that of Evans himself.
The Tingira Heights-raised 38-year-old is arguably the hottest commodity in Australian country music, outside of Keith Urban, and his national Life Upside Down Tour is likely to be the exclamation point.
Two shows at the Sydney Opera House is impressive on anybody's resume.
But it was clear on Monday night that playing the first of three shows at Newcastle's Civic Theatre (the remaining two on Tuesday and Saturday are sold out) was more special for Evans.
"Ever since I started playing music 20 years ago, just down the road from here in Lake Macquarie, I dreamed of playing here," Evans told the audience.
The evening began with Wingham's rapidly-rising pop-country star, James Johnston, who won won two Golden Guitars earlier this year, including for best new talent.
The 32-year-old is a slick showman, no doubt schooled in stage craft through his previous appearances on Australian Idol in 2009 and X Factor in 2014.
Johnston worked hard to get the Monday night crowd hyped, and he mostly succeeded. A large contingent of fans from Wingham guaranteed that there was plenty of love in the room.
But at times, it felt overly generic. One, or maybe three, country cliches too many.
In some respects Evans kicks against country cliches. But he also embraces many of the more modern Nashville ones.
Walking onto stage bare-footed with his shaggy mop of hair, Evans looked more the surf-folk troubadour, exuding bonhomie.
Musically, Evans' all-American band of Gideon Boley (guitar), Pete Wilson (drums) and Andrew Brown (bass) didn't sound too country either.
The opener, Young Again, was an anthemic slice of pop-rock, with only Evans' vocal twang providing the taste of Nashville.
Over the next 17 songs it became apparent that Evans likes to sing about drinking. A lot.
And while it might have been a Monday night, plenty of fans were getting loose. Several female fans danced their way down the aisle, with one even completing a worm.
When Evans wasn't singing about shots of whiskey or a "cold one on a coaster" he opened up about about the bitter collapse of his marriage to US country star Kelsea Ballerini.
Those emotional moments offered the highlights of the show.
In introducing Over For You Evans told the audience: "At the time I wrote this song it sounded like the saddest song in the world and sometimes it still does. But it feels better when you sing along."
Evans also unveiled a new song What Does That Say About You? which was "dedicated to anyone who has an ex who won't stop talking shit about them."
It was a terrific burn and an even better song.
Another touching moment was Things That We Drink To, dedicated to his late manager Rob Potts, who first took Evans to the US.
Port Macquarie indie-pop singer-songwriter Kita Alexander joined Evans on stage to perform their duet Date Night, but not before taking off her knee-high boots after someone from the crowd yelled "take them off."
Johnston also returned to join Evans on All Right Here.
By the time the show reached the final song of the main set, Day Drunk, the audience were on their feet finally and Evans was back singing about drinking.
Throughout it all Evans wore a beaming smile. He might have top-10 hits in America, Golden Guitars and an ARIA Award, but hometown success is obviously important to Evans.
And doesn't Newcastle love a hometown success story.
SET LIST
- Young Again
- Country Outta My Girl
- Kiss Somebody
- I Do
- Waltzing Matilda
- Love Is Real
- Over For You
- What Does That Say About You?
- Date Night (with Kita Alexander)
- All Right Here (with James Johnston)
- Things That We Drink To
- Sing Along Drink Along
- Hey Little Mama
- Day Drunk
Encore
- I Still Call Australia Home
- On My Own Again
