Sunday was the final day of Boots and Hearts 2023 and while some were nursing hangovers others were ready for a full day of music.
Boots And Hearts Day 4 Alli Walker / Photographer Elliott Deseure
The day kicked off on the Front Porch stage with Alli Walker, following her performance Nice Horse took to the stage and had the crowd singing and dancing for the whole 25 minutes they had on stage. As they were on the last song Matt Lang started his set, to open the Main Stage for the day. He even brought out Tyler Joe Miller for a song so he could experience that main stage crowd and energy.
NiceHorse performs on Day 4 of Boots And Hearts 2023 – Photo: Spencer Smye
Next up was Alberta indie artist Dan Davidson on the Front Porch stage and he gave the crowd his #1 song “Found” and followed that up with a bunch of mashups even including the Super Mario BROS theme song. He ended his set with “Barn Burner” making the crowd yell Barn Burner when it was time to he gave the crowd a C minus on the first attempt but they grew louder and louder until Dan was satisfied. I turned around at different times during his set and noticed how big the crowd was and mentioned to Dan when I interviewed him after his set that the crowd for his set was “probably the biggest I’d seen at the Front Porch stage since Morgan Wallen played it back in 2019”. Dan looked at me with a big smile on his face and said he’d happily take 2nd and be a poor man’s Morgan Wallen any day of the week.
Kyle Morgan performs on Day 4 of Boots And Hearts 2023 – Photo: Spencer Smye
Kylie Morgan’s set overlapped Dan Davidson’s so I didn’t get to see her set on the Main Stage but after my interview with Dan I got back out to the Front Porch stage for Tim and The Glory Boys and they were awesome. This was my first time seeing them live and by the middle of their set I was checking their tour schedule to see if and when they were playing close to me in the future.
Travis Denning performs on Day 4 of Boots And Hearts 2023 – Photo: Spencer Smye
Travis Denning was next on the Main Stage and he said he was told that this Boots and Hearts crowd would be one of the best he had all year and I think they definitely did a good job living up to that. Denning played “Tank Of Gas And A Radio Song” he then asked the crowd how many single ladies were out there and there was a good loud scream from the ladies, he then asked how many single guys were out there and there was a roar of all the guys who were single, Denning then said it sounds like you guys have some pretty good odds go find yourself a girl and “Buy A Girl A Drink”. A few songs later Travis asked the Boots crowd what the drinking age was up here in Canada and a big loud 19 was yelled back at him. He followed with “you guys know what the drinking age in the USA is?” and the crowd shouted back 21 but Denning then said into the mic “Bullshit” that’s what the drinking age is in the states; then he said well if the drinking age wasn’t 21 then I wouldn’t have this next song and dedicated to anyone who ever had a fake ID it was his song “David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs”. He finished his set off with “After A Few”.
Shantaia is presented the award for the 2023 Emerging Artist Showcase – photo by Spencer Smye
5 minutes after Travis wrapped up Tyler Joe Miller was over on the Front Porch stage but I stayed at the Main stage to see who was going to win the Emerging artist showcase contest. The final 2 artists were Shantaia and Darryl Anderson with Saskatchewan’s Shantaia being crowned the winner of the 2023 event.
Riley Green performs on Day 4 of Boots And Hearts 2023 – Photo: Spencer Smye
After that wrapped up and they left the stage it was about a 15 minute wait until the “Duckman” Riley Green took to the stage and had all the girls hot and bothered by just his mere presence on stage, he blew into his duck call like he does before every show and then threw it to one of his crew guys at the side of the stage. Travis Denning joked at the end of his set that if Riley Green just did 7 more push ups that he’d be in shape. Riley played “If It Wasn’t For Trucks” “Georgia Time” and “Different ‘Round Here” before saying that Travis Denning told Riley in between sets that the Boots and Hearts crowd wasn’t very country so Green said he had a test to see if they were or not. Green said it would take 2 seconds they’d either know it or they wouldn’t and his band started the intro into Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight” and Travis Denning joined Riley Green on stage for the song. Riley then said I knew you guys liked your country up here and said he could prove it. The next song he was about to play went #1 in Canada before it went #1 in the USA and he was so grateful for his Canadian fans, the song, if you couldn’t guess, was “There Was This Girl” and it was basically just a 3 and a half minute singalong with the majority in attendance knowing every word. At the end of the song Riley left the stage and with 10 minutes left in his set I noticed some fans look at their watches or the Boots and Hearts app wondering why he had stopped early the crowd chanting “RILEY” “RILEY” urging him to come back out and play another song and he did just that he came out all by himself with just a guitar and starting singing his hit song “I Wish Grandpas Never Died” and when he got to the part about and I wish coolers never run out of cold Bud Light; Riley has switched it up to cold Busch Light, with the Bud Light controversy he knew that if he sang it the way he wrote it he would get booed every night he sang the song so he switched it up a bit to avoid being booed but he never expected the cheers he would get from tweaking the lyrics a bit. Riley said he knows his demographic and that’s why he made the change. When the song was almost done Green wanted to hear the crowd sing and let them do a whole verse and then when that finished Riley’s band was back on stage and joined in to finish off the song as Riley walked off stage and with that performance we hope he’s back in future years to play for the Boots crowd.
Tim McGraw performs on Day 4 of Boots And Hearts 2023 – Photo: Spencer Smye
Next up was the legendary Tim McGraw. His 30 plus years in the country music industry speaks for itself with 75 million records sold worldwide and he’s dominated the charts with 44 worldwide #1 singles he took to the Boots and Hearts stage with his signature tight jeans, black cowboy hat and his shirt half unbuttoned he surely was a sight all the ladies at Boots and Hearts had waited for all day no matter if they were 19 or 69 years old. McGraw banged out hit after hit playing “Don’t Take The Girl”, “I Like It, I Love It”, “Real Good Man” and “7500 OBO” The crowd sang along to every song Tim played, it didn’t matter what it was the Boots and Hearts crowd was all over it matching McGraw word for word. He also played some songs of his current album like “Hey Whiskey” and the title track “Standing Room Only” which McGraw introduced saying this next song you’ll all know, or at least you better or else I’m going to have to fire some people, gave the crowd a peek into Tim’s joking and playful side. He wrapped up his set with “Live Like You Were Dying” “Something Like That” before returning to the stage to play “Indian Outlaw” and “Humble and Kind” to close out the 2023 edition of Boots and Hearts.
That’s a wrap for 2023, special thanks, as always to the team at Republic Live for their hospitality. We’ll see ya’ll in 2024! You can find all of our coverage for 2023, and previous years here: https://www.soundcheckentertainment.ca/bootsandhearts/
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