Iconic stages don’t come much more legendary than Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium—the “Mother Church of Country Music.” But London’s Royal Albert Hall isn’t far behind. With a capacity of 5,272, the Albert Hall is more than twice the size of the Ryman, and British country fans filled every seat on Friday night as the Grand Ole Opry made its international debut, 100 years into its existence. The broadcast-taped Oct. 4 BBC2 special featured Opry members Marty Stuart, Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce, and Darius Rucker, joined by UK guests Breabach and Mumford & Sons.
Inside the storied hall, the energy was electric: pockets of fans in snappy Western shirts and others in bold cowboy hats—think goth-meets-my‑Chemical Romance at a Halloween show. Back in Nashville, they’d be tourists; here, they were craving a piece of Americana they’d waited a century to hear. Ten minutes before showtime, the venue rang with a singalong to “Take Me Home, Country Roads” blasting through the PA. Then, with a roar, Darius Rucker kicked things off with a blazing version of “Wagon Wheel”—a moment that felt fit for a thousand Nashville bachelorette parties and more.
