Powerful, Inspirational, UNFORGETTABLE...Amanda Marshall stuns in return to Ottawa's National Arts Centre

Although Amanda has popped up on the Ottawa festival circuit a couple of times over the year the current “25 & Counting: The Heavy Lifting Tour” is her first official tour in about 2 decades.

Sophia Fracassi performs at the National Arts Centre. Photo: Renée Doiron

Newcomer Sophia Fracassi opened the show and quickly drew the crowd in with her storytelling and incredibly infectious personality. Her short 7 song set followed the golden rule of “keep it simple”. Fracassi made her mark with just her voice and personality with a bit of help from her piano at center stage. Kicking off her set with her current single “Dance With Myself” Fracassi took us on a soul healing journey and capped her set off with the anthemic “I Wanna Get Better Now”. Her music is so full of lessons learned and inspiration you’d almost forget she’s just 19 years old. There’s no question she made her mark on the crowd in Ottawa and with only 6 out of 15 shows with Amanda Marshall completed something tells me she’ll be well on her way to becoming a household name by the time this tour wraps up in Victoria July 4. I for one can’t wait to hear more and look forward to catching her live again soon. If you can’t catch her on tour with Amanda Marshall checkout her website and make sure to catch her next time she’s in your neighbourhood, I know we will be. https://www.sophiafracassi.com/

We’ve been blessed to have covered Amanda a number of times over the last several years but I personally haven’t had a fix of the Marshall Mix in about 20(ish) years. I believe the last time I saw Amanda live would’ve been at the North Bay Heritage Festival in the early 2000s. Needless to say as a huge fan I was excited for the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane.

Amanda Marshall performs at the National Arts Centre. Photo: Renée Doiron

Amanda and I are close to the same age…as I’ve gotten older my lung capacity and level of energy have both diminished from when I was in my 30s. For some reason Amanda’s either hasn’t changed of has increased..it’s as if she has gained some extra power. Not to mention the fact that she hasn’t really changed much over the years either. Amanda kicked off her set with the iconic “Let it Rain” and so began an evening of laughter, tears and inspiration that would lead to not just 1 but 5 standing ovations throughout the night. The National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall was packed, if I were to venture a guess I’d call it a sellout. What’s amazing about the Southam Hall is that even though it has a max capacity of just over 2000 people it’s still capable of allowing an artist to deliver an intimate show…and that’s just what Amanda did.

At one point in the show she dismissed the band and sat down on a chair at center stage and told the audience a story of one of her first ever performances in Ottawa. It was Canada Day many years ago and she had been asked to back Jeff Healey and Randy Bachman on a televised performance. A special guest, that year, was Queen Elizabeth II. As the story went on Amanda explained that the night before she came to Ottawa she had been performing at a fair in the Toronto area and after her performance opted to take advantage of the culinary options the fair had to offer. Needless to say it ended up with Amanda getting food poisoning but the show must go on so off to Ottawa she went. Upon arriving in Ottawa she realized that she had not learned the verse she was supposed to be performing so she wrote the words on her hand and went into the CBC studios and performed her heart out. After the performance ended and after seeking some medical treatment for her food poisoning Jeff Healey called her down to the hotel bar where she was met with all the other performers who gave her a round of applause…Jeff took her aside and said “welcome to showbiz kid, at least you didn’t throw up on the Queen”. The band returned to the stage and Amanda performed a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “Too Long at the Fair”.

Amanda Marshall performs at the National Arts Centre. Photo: Renée Doiron

This show was as close to perfection as you can get and has easily climbed into one of the top 10 shows I’ve ever seen. Amanda and Sophia were spectacularly matched. Both with equally powerful and inspirational sets that kept the audience engaged and wanting more. My ONLY complaint is that it had to end.

Amanda from a lifelong fan, it’s great to have you back and I truly hope you stick around!

The 25 & Counting: The Heavy Lifting Tour continues its march across Canada with plenty of shows left. If you can find one that isn’t sold out yet do yourself a favour and get a ticket. For a full list of dates visit https://www.amandamarshall.com/tour-dates. Amanda’s first album in over 20 years “Heavy Lifting” is out now wherever you stream or purchase your music.