Carrie Underwood at the Royal Albert Hall

Last night I attended probably the most anticipated concert of the year: Carrie Underwood at the Royal Albert Hall. If you know me, you’d know that Carrie Underwood is my all-time favorite singer ever and I obsess over everything she does, so you could probably guess how excited I was..

Having just met Carrie the day before, I was still over-hyped about having my picture taken with her; and the fact I got to see perform live the next day just topped it all off! I spent nearly the whole day getting ready trying to look my best for Carrie. I think I spent about 2 hours(!) straightening my hair. Come 6 o’clock, I was just about ready. I made my way to the tube station ready for a half an hour ride to South Kensington. After about 20 minutes on my arrival there looking around and trying to find the venue, I found myself stood in front of the Royal Albert Hall (shamefully, my first thought was: OMG THE SPICE GIRLS HAVE BEEN HERE!!)

Walking by all of the tourists on into the main door, I got increasingly more excited about the fact I was, yet again, in the same building as Carrie Underwood. I walked around the whole of floor 1 before finding the location of my seat in the Grand Tier. By the time I was sat down comfortably in my seat, it was 7:30. The show didn’t start until 8:30. A little girl then sat down in front of me with her mum wearing a Carrie Underwood t-shirt. Moments later I would be seen at the merchandise stall downstairs. I bought a Carrie Underwood t-shirt, a picture, a poster, and a keyring. It all came up to £33! So worth it! I then went into the bathroom to change into my t-shirt, before heading back to my seat.

I then had another 45 minutes to wait before Carrie comes on stage. Time soon flied by and I noticed, whilst tweeting, that the time on my phone was 8:30, yet Carrie wasn’t on stage. Seconds later the waiting music stopped and the room turned dark. I gulped. The next thing I knew Carrie was on stage.

Good Girl
The first song of the night was her current hit single “Good Girl”. I got immediate goosebumps the second she started singing and the music started playing. Throughout the performance she waved to the crowd and smiled. The people sat in the arena were soon on their feet. The middle 8 came and her guitarist came and stood near Carrie ready for his solo. This part of the performance was honestly out-of-this-world.

Flat On The Floor
Carrying on the party mood, Carrie went straight into performing “Flat On The Floor”, one of her most adored songs from “Carnival Ride”, and one of my all-time favorite Carrie songs! Again, a fantastic performance which also got people on their feet dancing!

Wasted
She then went onto singing “Wasted” from her first album. Not one of my favorite Carrie songs - but still a great performance!

 Two Black Cadillacs
“Two Black Cadillacs” was her next song, sounding just as epic and dramatic live as it does on the album! After this performance, Carrie thanked in advance for the wonderful night she’s about to have and for everyone coming. She expressed her excitement for the show and how performing at the Royal Albert Hall was such a massive milestone for her to have accomplished.

So Small
Her speech about how the littlest things in life are what’s important was such a fitting start into her next performance, in which she sung the beautifully written “So Small”, a track  from her 2nd studio album.

Temporary Home
Carrie then deemed her next song to be the most personal song that she’s ever co-written, which is “Temporary Home”. If you own her 3rd album, you have probably heard this song before or seen the video and how important the message behind it is. I knew as soon as she started singing the first verse that I was going to get emotional throughout this song.  It is definitely one of her most vital pieces of music and I’m thrilled that she sang it live for us!

Last Name
Before leading us on into emotional breakdowns, Carrie picked us all up and performed her  2008 smash “Last Name”, which is so big that it was also sung in the first season of Glee! She strutted her way up and down the stage for her fans singing about a very drunken night, indeed!

Just A Dream
The next song of the night was the Grammy-nominated ballad “Just a Dream”. Another emotional performance which received a huge cheer from the audience.

I Told You So
Continuing with her ballads, Carrie went on to singing “I Told You So” from her 2nd album, a song originally sung by one of her biggest idols, Randy Travis. I do feel she over sung the chorus in this song, but still very good!

 Leave Love Alone
Back to her country roots, she performed the very county “Leave Love Alone” from her current newly-released album “Blown Away”. Not one of my favorite performances of the night, the chorus kind of goes on and on for a while..

 Cowboy Casanova
Her next song of the night was one of her biggest hits. “Cowboy Casanova” surely got the crowd onto their feet again.

 Nobody Ever Told You
After bringing an acoustic set onto the stage, Carrie and her band got ready to sing one of my favorite songs from her new album “Nobody Ever Told You”. Such a feel-good song which got the crowd clapping along to the beat.

Quitter
One of the most surprising songs of the night was “Quitter”, which is an unreleased track from her 3rd studio album “Play On”. I love how Carrie in this song managed to turn it from acoustic to still sounding like a big set!

 Do You Think About Me
Another acoustic performance with “Do You Think About Me”, which was beautiful, as always.

 One Way Ticket
Carrie next sang her vacation-themed song “One Way Ticket”, one of my favorites from “Blown Away”. The crowd seemed to thoroughly enjoy this song too, waving their arms about in the arena. Come the middle of the performance, her band seemed to walk away from the set leaving Carrie sat their on her stool carrying on with the song, which then became a big-set song and sounded even better!

Undo It
The next song was probably my least favorite of the night, “Undo It”. Never really been a fan of this song, still, the vocals were great.

 Fix You (Coldplay cover)
She then made a speech about how our “great” British artists are taking over the US, and how she respects them, before singing a sensational cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You”. As you’d expect with Carrie, it was much more beautiful with her singing it.

 Jesus, Take The Wheel / How Great Thou Art
Soon the biggest moment of the night came when she sang “Jesus, Take The Wheel”, mixed with “How Great Thou Art” towards the end of the song. The switch between the songs surprised me greatly, I couldn’t believe she was about to sing one of the most important songs in the world. As a strong-believer of God, I was utterly breath-taken during this performance and will forever be grateful to have experienced this.

Cupid’s Got a Shotgun
“Cupid’s Got a Shotgun” was the next song of the night. Kind of a let down after the previous 2 songs.. got to admit.

 Before He Cheats
20 songs in and she finally sings the biggest song of her career, which, of course, is “Before He Cheats”. The best part of this song was when she let the crowd sing the chorus with her. Great performance!

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 I Know You Won’t
Believing that to be her last performance, I began to put my coat on, but noticed that no-one else was moving. Carrie then came back on stage with her mic and stand. She began to sing the strong ballad “I Know You Won’t” from her 2nd album. Her vocals at the end were extremely powerful and breathtaking.

Blown Away
The last song of the night was “Blown Away”, which is the title track from her new album, as well as her next single release. Thankfully, she didn’t sing it with the acoustic set like she has been doing on recent television appearances. Again, a strong performance with a magnificent vocal.

Overall, the concert was everything I’d hoped for, and I can honestly say that, unlike most singers, Carrie sounds outstandingly better live than on her records (not that I don’t enjoy her records!). Instead of going all Gaga (not that she would, anyway), she stuck to doing the traditional thing with just her, a mic, a band, and an audience. Carrie doesn’t need props in her concerts to put on great show.

The past 2 days have been amazing and I am so grateful to have had the chance to meet and see Carrie live. I hope to meet her again someday, too!

Thank you, Carrie x

[All videos are my own]