An annual tradition for most Canadians over the Thanksgiving long weekend is to enjoy the outdoors one last time before the cool air settles in and we move deeper into fall.
One big local tradition is the Friday Night Country Concert at the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show in Simcoe Ontario near the shores of Lake Erie. This year we took in the action for the first time and were impressed from the get go!
This year’s show featured one of the biggest names in Canadian Country Music right now, Dallas Smith, who just came off a string of shows in Western Canada with Keith Urban. Tickets were in high demand for this show as it crashed the fairs ticketing website more than once with crazy country fans looking for that one last party of the year.
Dallas came out of the gate swinging, with no opening act it was right to the action. Kicking the party into high gear with all his big hits and even threw in some new tracks from his latest release Side Effects including the latest his ” Autograph”.The new tracks were awesome and fit right into the set of Dallas Smith classics including ” Kids with Cars”, “Tipping Point” and of course “Cheap Seats”.
The massive crowd that filled the grandstand loved every moment of the 90 minute show. Couple of times you could hear the fans over powering the PA singing along songs and just having a good time under the crystal clear skies.
One of my favorite parts of any Dallas Smith show is when he takes us back to his roots, and plays a couple songs from his Default days. And even though some of the fans there likely weren’t even born yet, they still know every word to those classic 90s rock tunes.
I have a feeling it’s going to take a lot to top the party that was had this year, however, it seems every year the folks at the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show bring something big to grandstand. See you there in 2017!
Bill Woodcock / @BillWoodcock
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