And that’s a wrap…Mackenzie Porter and Dallas Smith close out the 2023 Festival Country Lotbinière

Rain and wet weather go hand in hand with Festival Country Lotbinière…it’s almost expected. But until this year it was just something you dealt with and the show would go on. Saturday dealt a new twist when the rain changed to heavy rain and the temperature turned cold as well.

Unfortunately the turn in weather kept fans away from the day time performances on the KIA stage and the heavy rain forced organizers to cancel all performances on that stage. But all was not lost. Performances on the PNS Tech main stage went on as planned with Phil G. Smith kicking off the show. Although entirely in french the enthusiasm of the crowd was not lost on me as it was cold and raining quite heavily and still the fans kept coming into the festival grounds.

At the end of Phil’s set he invited the three artists who’s sets were cancelled; Vince Lemire, Fred Dionne and Karo Laurendeau to join him on stage. I thought this was a super classy thing to do and demonstrates the support artists have for each other in Quebec. It’s a community unlike any other I’ve seen.

The rain and cold didn’t keep everyone away as a fair sized crowd had started to assemble on the festival grounds prior to Mackenzie Porter’s set. Extra layers and rain gear were the name of the game if you were going to the show and to these country fans that was a small price to pay to be up close and personal to their favourite artists.

Mackenzie Porter had been battling a case of food poisoning earlier in the day on Saturday and not only had to cancel all her interviews but her sound check as well so that she could rest and prepare for the show. I don’t know if you’ve ever had food poisoning but it sucks and you don’t want to get out of bed. Not only did Mackenzie get up out of bed she walked out onto that stage in the middle of the pouring rain and performed her heart out for the fans. For those of us who knew that she was suffering you could sense that she was using every ounce of her energy to pull off that performance and, let me tell you, she hit it right out of the park. Perhaps a few more covers than usual, so as to allow the audience to assist Mackenzie with signing but even if that was the case the crowd didn’t care. They became part of the show and what better way to keep an audience engaged than to involve them.

Not only did Mackenzie stun with her performance and stage presence, during a cover of Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag” she took to the drums and nailed the drum solo, while singing the song…all while recovering from food poisoning…I suddenly feel so inferior that I need my wife to bring me dry toast while I quietly die on the couch. I guess that’s what sets me apart from these artists who will literally leave it all on the stage for their fans. Mackenzie finished her set and likely went back to the hotel for a much deserved curl up under the covers in bed and had to miss out on a planned duet with Dallas Smith. No doubt Mackenzie will feel better in a couple of days and I hope she’ll be able to look back on her performance on Saturday night with pride and not regret because there was not one thing to regret and the fans loved every second of it!

By the time Dallas Smith hit the stage the rain was falling harder and the temperature had dropped another degree of to into the single digits, probably the coldest spring edition we’ve had of the festival to date. Much like his last performance at the festival, Dallas told the crowd “you’re going to get wet tonight and we’re going to get wet with you”. I always wonder what goes through the band member’s minds when the front man says that to the crowd but I’d imagine it’s something along the lines of “ah crap”…all while the band drummer is laughing on the inside because they get to stay nice and dry on the stage while the other members have to go out into the rain. I can tell you, from experience having been in the crowd (several times), they appreciate it and love the artist even more for doing that.

Dallas has always been a world class showman and knows how to entertain a crowd. He never hesitates to take someone’s phone for a selfie or shake the hand of a fan. (speaking of which Dallas I need a lesson because I can’t take selfies to save my life lol and you do it with such ease while singing in the pouring rain.) The weather last night was next level and the cold didn’t help and even some diehards, like us, were struggling to keep our fingers and toes from going numb. Dallas pushed through song after song, the crowd was right there with him.

Unfortunately our group had to wave the white flag about 3/4 of the way through his set. It takes a lot to knock us down but between the rain, the cold and the biting wind it was just too much and we just couldn’t hold on any longer. We slowly made our way back to the car backstage before tying a bow on another memorable year in Saint-Agapit, our 6th and the 8th for the festival.

As we drove home today we talked about the weekend and everyone in our group which included my wife, son and our good friend The Godmother of Canadian Country Music all agreed that after a spring dominated by massive forest fires and smokey cities a couple days of cooler weather and rain were a small sacrifice to be able to enjoy this festival without the risk of poor air quality or, worse, forest fires.

To the organizers thank you for having us back and taking such good care of us for the 6th year in a row, we look forward to joining you for year 9 in 2024. Special shout out to Joelle and Julianne from Agence Ranch, it’s always a pleasure working with Joelle and her team. They’re a world class group!

For full coverage from Lotbinière be sure to check out our exclusive page here: https://www.soundcheckentertainment.ca/countrylotbiniere/

Merci et à bientôt à l’année prochaine….

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