Jordan Davis brought a Damn Good Time to Kingston’s Slush Puppie Place on Saturday night

Hard to think of a better way to spend a Saturday in early October than with a sold out crowd at Kingston’s Slush Puppie Place and three of the hottest country artists on the radio today. Ashley Cooke and Mitchell Tenpenny supported Jordan Davis on his Damn Good Time Tour.

Newcomer Ashley Cooke kicked off the night. It’s been nearly a year since Cooke was the recipient of iHeartMedia’s ‘On The Verge’ program and she wasted no time showing the sold out crowd in Kingston what attracted them to her. Ashley effortlessly set the tempo for the night ahead with her 8 song set which featured some of her best known singles do date including “your place”, the single that was chosen for the ‘On The Verge’ program as well as a 4 song hits mashup midway through featuring songs “Since U Been Gone”, “Complicated”,  “Life is a Highway – Rascal Flatts version” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”. Cooke would return later in the show to join Davis for his ’07 Mixtape set.

Honorary Canadian, by marriage, Mitchell Tenpenny hit the stage next. (For those who don’t know, Mitchell married our good friend Meghan Patrick in October 2022.) Mitchell has been a long anticipated act for me for some time now. Since Canada’s own Cold Creek County re-released their single “Money” back in 2018 which featured Tenpenny as a guest vocalist I knew there was something special there. With country music having taken a serious turn in the poppy direction over the past decade Tenpenny brings a bit of grit to the scene that it so desperately needs. Live was no different. Tenpenny brought one heck of a show to Slush Puppie Place even telling the audience that he’s learnt one thing since marrying Patrick and that is “Happy Wife, Happy Life” before jumping into his single “Anything She Says”. The 15 song set also included covers from artists including Bob Marley and the Whalers (“Three Little Birds”), 2Pac (“California”) and Goo Goo Dolls (“Iris”, which Tenpenny recorded and released along with “Not Today” earlier this year. The biggest highlight for me was near the end of his set for “Demon or Ghost” which really gave the band a chance to showcase their stuff and had us all head banging which, I must say, is a rare event at a country show these days. Mitchell was definitely everything I hoped he would be live, I have zero doubts that he’s maybe a year or two away from his own headlining Canadian tour and when that time comes I have but one request…can Meghan Patrick be on the double bill? This dynamic duo could easily become the next Tim and Faith, maybe with a bit more Grace & Grit. Oh and Meghan, based on the explosive reaction in Kingston last night I think it’s safe to say Eastern Ontario approves!

Jordan Davis took to the stage to close out the night and by then the crowd was in a frenzy. Davis kicked off his set with the title track of the tour “Damn Good Time” and everything that followed was exactly that. Davis and the band were cranking out hit after hit but, about midway through, Davis step out of the spot light to allow his band to intro the next single….and intro the single they did as they took us to church with one of the best guitar intros I’ve heard in a long time before they jumped into “Church in a Chevy”.

It was during “Next Thing You Know” that Davis hit a soft spot in my heart. Having just turned 50 earlier this year and my youngest now 16 working, driving and becoming more and more independent the song really felt like that self fulfilling prophecy I always tell friends as they become parents “enjoy it while you can, next thing you know they’ll be asking for the car keys and you’ll never see them again”. During this song Davis welcomed an audience member to the stage…I remember seeing the boy with his dad in the lobby earlier that evening. It was their first concert together. Those who have followed my journey over the past 15, or so years, have watched my own son grow up in the pits at concerts and festivals it’s become one of the special things that we share, and I believe will always continue to share as he becomes and adult. That said I couldn’t help but get sentimental as the song made me think back to Keenan’s first show and, next thing I knew, he was grown up. Parents reading this will get what I’m saying, if you’re a new parent trust me when I tell you…they grow way too fast so enjoy it while you can.

Midway through the show Davis did a segment on Mixtapes, you know the ones we all made back in the day whether it was recording our favourite songs off the radio or from other CDs or from songs that we “acquired” off of the internet. The segment was a fun, high energy mashup of some of the songs that shaped him as an artist over the years. Including “I Don’t Want To Be” by Gavin DeGraw, “Over My Head (Cable Car)” by the Fray…even the band got into the fun as one of the band members took to the mic to perform, a solid cover of, “This Love” by Maroon 5. Following this the band briefly got carried away and started on Santana’s “Smooth” before Davis reigned them back in and invited Ashley Cooke back to the stage for a solid cover of Miranda Lambert’s “Gunpowder and Lead” following which they both invited Mitchell Tenpenny back for a high driving cover of blink 182’s “All The Small Things”.

Davis closed out the show with 5 more songs including his hits “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot”, “Part of It” and the ACM nominated single “Buy Dirt”.

They promised a Damn Good Time and Jordan, Mitchell and Ashley 100% delivered. The tour hits the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa tonight for tickets and more information visit https://www.jordandavisofficial.com/

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