Country fans from near and far gathered to witness the first headlining country act from a Canadian at the Budweiser stage recently. The beautiful songstress Carly Pearce was the only exception to the Canuck factor. Born in the USA, she holds her own as the only female included in the top ten of the american charts. Her stats are equally impressive in the Canadian market, charting top 30 in our great country.
Carly performed a solid set, full of soul and enthusiasm. Her set was relatively short, yet left the crowd wanting more. She performed the classic Dolly Parton song “Working 9 to 5” at a slightly slower pace than the original, yet it worked and had the crowd engaged. Overall Carly’s performance was a great addition to the line up that evening.
Tim Hicks performance brought a little bit more to the table. Filled with pyro and huge beach balls, he filled his set with some decent entertainment. At one point he was tossing out tee shirts and baseball caps. I actually felt like out of the three main performers, he had a bit more to offer.Tim explained how playing at the Budweiser stage was a bucket list venue for him coming to fruition. He was in fact my personal preference performance for the evening.
Now don’t get me wrong… Dean Brody had a great set, filled with many surprised guests. The crowd certainly loved him. The people surrounding me where singing at the top of their lungs and doing drunk line dancing, I was actually quite amused by how much fun the crowd were having. I supposed for me personally his style of country was a bit to “twangy” for my personal preference. I also felt like it was hard to understand what he was saying between songs.
Guest appearance throughout Deans set where Madeline Merlo and Aaron Pritchett, who were performing earlier at the CNE bandshell. East coaster Shevy Price brought a bit of a hip hop vibe to her performance during the song Beautiful Freakshow, and the crowds favorite guest for the evening was none other then Alan Doyle. He performed his hit Ordinary Day.
Dean acknowledged that when he write songs, it’s not for him but rather his fans. Adding that he loves his country Canada.
Overall it was a fun night. All the talent performed with enthusiasm and the crowd certainly enjoyed themselves. Congrats to our Canadian talent Dean Brody and Tim Hicks! You certainly make Canada proud!
