It’s been 4 years, almost to the day, since Dean Brody last performed on the big stage at Canadian Tire Centre and this time he brought along a handful of friends most notably Dallas Smith.

It didn’t take long for the audience to realize that Sunday’s show in Ottawa would be unlike anything they’ve even seen before. Most of the time each artist on a tour will take turn performing their set and then occasionally the opening act will join the headliner for a song or two…that’s not how it was going to be on the Friends Don’t Let Friends Tour Alone Tour.

Jimmie Allen performs in Ottawa – photo by Tom Mt. Pleasant

Delaware native, Jimmie Allen, may not have won over the hearts of American Idol viewers back in 2011 but 8 years later he easily won over the audience at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Allen clearly has some experience under his belt even though his debut, hit, single “Best Shot” is just under two years old.

Allen is more proof of my theory that genres in music are simply a fine line that should be crossed as often as possible. After giving a bit of relationship advice to the men in the audience, telling them that when they did something wrong the best thing they can do is simply say “I’m Sorry”, he seamlessly jumped into the Boyz II Men classic “I’ll Make Love To You”. Of course the crowd went wild, as you’d expect. It was an impressive set, even more so considering that he was still mourning the loss of his father who had passed away just days before the show. I don’t know about you but I don’t have the inner strength to pull that off, hats off to you Jimmie.

Dean Brody and Dallas Smith perform in Ottawa – photo by Tom Mt. Pleasant

Following a short break the main event began. The show fittingly started with the two “friends” Dallas Smith and Dean Brody performing a few of each other’s hits together. Now I’ve been to shows where the headliner invites the opening act to join him or her on the stage to perform a few songs or joint headline shows where each band takes a turn playing their songs, what made this unique was that both Dallas’ band and Dean’s band were onstage at the same time.

When you see Dallas Smith live his band members are a major part of the act, Darren on the guitar and Travis on the bass really know how to back Dallas’ vocals and take the show to a whole new level. Now add Dean Brody and his band into that mix. Dean’s no pushover live either and his shows are always fun to watch. That combination made for one heck of a show. As a duo Dean and Dallas performed 4 songs together; “If It Gets You Where You Wanna Go”, “Undone”, “Love Would Be Enough” and “Somebody Somewhere”.

Dallas Smiths perform in Ottawa – photo by Tom Mt. Pleasant

After their four songs together Dallas took over the stage solo for a high energy performance of 11, or so, of his biggest hits including “Drop”, “Lifted”, “Kids With Cars”, “Autograph”, “Rhinestone World”, “Wasting Gas” and “Side Effects” near the end of Dallas’ solo set special guest Mackenzie Porter, the first special guest of the night joined Dallas to perform Terry Clark’s part in “One Drink Ago” before performing her latest single “These Days” in front of a cheering crowd.

Following Mackenzie our good friend Chad Brownlee took to centre stage for a couple of songs notably “Forever’s Gotta Start Somewhere”…loved seeing Chad back in Ottawa albeit far too short. With fresh new music out I truly hope that both Chad and MacKenzie return to Ottawa soon.

The assistant captain for the evening’s show, Dean Brody, returned to the stage next with a dozen of his biggest hits from over the years starting with “B.U.S.H P.A.R.T.Y” and going all the way through to “Bounty” with “Canadian Girls”, “Upside Down”, “Mountain Man”, “It’s Friday”, “Whiskey In a Teacup” and so many more packed in between. I’ve seen Dean many times over the years and his show never disappoints.

It didn’t end with Dean. After his set Dallas returned to the stage along with the Friends Bar. While at the Friends Bar both Dean and Dallas took turns playing a couple of their tracks acoustically. Dean made the first request and requested Dallas play his Default hit “Wasting My Time” following which Dallas requested, one of my all time favourite Dean Brody songs, “Time”. There’s honestly no better way to hear this song, Dean with his guitar performing just lets every note and every word sink right through your skin into your soul.

There wasn’t much time for sentiment as Chad and MacKenzie returned to the stage and joined Dallas and Dean in performing their joint single “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink Alone”. The show wrapped up with Dean and Dallas performing Dallas’ hit “Cheap Seats” followed by a dual band, high octane, powerhouse rendition of Dean Brody’s “Bring Down the House”.

Call this tour the Friends Tour, the Friends Don’t Let Friends Tour Alone Tour or simply the WOW tour…whatever you call it you have to check this one out! There’s still plenty of opportunities on this tour including stops in Kingston on October 2 and then the entire Western Canada leg which kicks off on October 15 in Saskatoon at the SaskTel Centre. For a full list of dates and how to get tickets click here!

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