Manning Bar at the University of Sydney has been the scene of many a university band as well as some huge acts like Paul Kelly and INXS over the years and this week, it played host to Nashville country music star Cody Pennington. Pennington has an interesting background, having served in the military before undertaking a law degree and beginning work in a commercial job before finding success in the music industry and touring the world performing his music. 

The venue was filled to the brim for Pennington’s set, which spanned over two hours and traversed the country classics as well as his own music. He started with “Nothing on Us” and moved soon after into “Fire” which introduced the audience to Pennington’s pop-tinged country style and created a fantastic atmosphere in the room. 

“Thank you all for coming out,” said Pennington. “I think there were only ten tickets left for this show.”

Pennington has clearly worked to cultivate a radio-friendly country sound, as evidenced by the fact that he has brought in esteemed country music producer Ryan Hadlock (who he repeatedly described as “very expensive”) for some of his latest work. The result was a sound that translated very well to the live stage, with Pennington’s latest hit “Whiskey’s Better” being especially well-received. 

Ultimately, Pennington was at his best in the many covers he performed throughout the show. He delighted the crowd with a cover of “Flame Trees” by Cold Chisel, which he performed extremely well, mustering the necessary grit of Jimmy Barnes for the high notes. 

“I bet you didn’t expect to hear a Cold Chisel song at a country show,” he joked.

He also performed some classics like “The Gambler” and “Ring of Fire” before moving into modern day hits such as “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)”, “Chicken Fried” and “Wagon Wheel”, all of which had the crowd singing along and enjoying themselves. The songs were well chosen and performed very well, with Pennington varying his sound and showing off some superb guitar skills alongside Niran Mistry on bass. 

Pennington also included a great cover of “Walking in Memphis” towards the end of the set (complete with an awesome guitar solo) before closing out the night with John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. By this point, the crowd was getting quite rowdy and at times, Pennington seemed somewhat frustrated however, a part of this was the quite long set time beginning to wear. As well performed as it was, some trimming of the set would have possibly been well-regarded. 

It is clear that Pennington is a star on the rise. He has some fantastic original music and a strong, versatile voice which meant that his covers translated very well to the live stage as did his original music. This might have been his first tour of Australia, but given our nation’s appetite for country music at the moment, it would not be a surprise if Pennington is back very soon. 

Rating: ★★★★

Cody Pennington – Manning Bar, University of Sydney – 30^th May 2025