Ryan Laird at Copps Coliseum – 04/21/12

Written by Darlene Altmann Photographs by Ray Williams

Ryan Laird was first to hit the stage in Hamilton, opening up for Alan Jackson.  Laird’s voice, along with his R2D2 (Foot sound board) carried the set and it's not a reach to call Ryan a brilliant Canadian country act. He sang all his familiar songs such as, “Two Weeks In, “ “Sommer’s Love,” and of course new huge hit "­­­Girl Crazy," which got a standing ovation from the audience. Ryan talked about some history behind some of his songs.  Two weeks in is about his friend  that got married after dating for only two weeks, he then asked the audience if its romance or crazy?  Most of the audience agreed with Ryan with crazy! He sang “Tennessee Waltz,” a song dedicated to his Grandpa.

Being so close to home, Ryan’s sister and grandma made the trip to Hamilton. It was nice when Ryan talked about when his grandparents used to take him to south western jamboree’s, at that time, some of the fans yelled “Havelock.” Havelock’s known for being the biggest country jamboree in southern Ontario.

Leah Daniels, a young new Canadian Country artist from Scarborough, Ontario, came onstage to sing a duet with Ryan called “Where do I go?” Ryan finished his seven song set with his first ever single "I’m Your Man.”   Afterwards, Ryan had a meet and great/ autograph session for anyone that wanted to see, talk or just get a photo with our Canadian star. And what made this more special for Ryan’s fans was that they were able to purchase his new EP album that won’t be available in stores for the general public until June 5 2012.