Thunder in the Rain led to Short Skirt Weather for Kane Brown’s Ottawa debut

I don’t know what mother nature has against country music this summer but I’m starting to see a pattern here. Festival Country de Lotbinière, it rained.  Country night 1 featuring Eric Church, it rained and delayed the gates by 2 hours nearly threatening the night’s entertainment. Country Night 2, last night…it rained delaying the gates by 2 hours nearly threatening the night’s entertainment…anyone else see the pattern here? In all three cases the show was able to go on and country music fans came out in large numbers to party, country style.

When Kane Brown was announced as a headliner for this year’s Ottawa Bluesfest I, admittedly, was a bit skeptical. Canada’s largest country music festival, Boots and Hearts, has him as a direct support of Jason Aldean, the headliner. Ottawa is a funny city when it comes to supporting country music, they’ll come out in droves for one artist and then barely show any interest to the next. There’s the homegrown vs super star US talent aspect too where the homegrown talent generally tours the country every few years and pops up at festivals and fairs throughout the summer whereas the massive super star acts that make up most of the spots on the Top 40 country charts only come to Canada every 2-3 years and even then only perform in select cities of which only a few actual add Ottawa to their list of dates. A late afternoon thunderstorm made me even more skeptical that any kind of crowd would show up for the show especially considering the direct support for the show was a relatively unknown country band which featured a well-known pop singer, Colbie Caillat, at the helm. Would Colbie be enough of a draw to get hard working country music fans to take a break from working on the farm and head down to LeBreton Flatts? The weather had already, unfortunately, knocked out the two talented local openers (Brea Lawrenson and Abby Stewart) who would each draw some local country music fans in.

I arrived on site shortly before 7, the rain had stopped, the gates had just opened, and the sun was starting to make a final appearance as it began it’s descent for the night but not before evaporating all of the water that had fallen just an hour earlier and turning the temperature up a few notches. At first the crowds were coming in in a trickle, that trickle grew into a stream and eventually a flood. Gone West was first up for us, having been a fan of Colbie for a long time I was curious how she would translate into a country act. I was pleasantly surprised. Paired with her fiancé Justin, songwriter Jason Reeves (Jason co-wrote Caillat’s “Bubbly”, “Realize” and “I Never Told You”) and Jason’s wife Danelle Leverett (aka Nelly Joy) who was one half of the country duo the JaneDear Girls. Turns out the combination was brilliant. Nelly’s youthful spark matched with Colbie’s incredible soul and vocals along with the musicianship of Justin and Jason turns into magic on stage. The set combined some of Colbie’s best known songs, a few covers and some Gone West originals including their debut single “What Could’ve Been”

Following Gone West we took a walk around the other stages. First stop was Videotron Stage where Murda Beatz was spinning his beats for a decent sized crowd. Next stop was in Bluesville where Shakey Graves was about to take to the stage. By this point in the evening the fans were pouring in from all sides and Bluesville was getting packed quickly. I know it’s been said many times over the last few years, but something must be done about that stage. Once again last night most of the audience was watching the show on a screen outside of the tent. That said I like the family entertainment options they have in Bluesville with the Ferris wheel and carnival games, it’s nice to see the festival offering a different kind of attraction. The tent is handy when it starts to rain but with the weather often humid in July it quickly gets unbearably humid inside the tent some nights after a rain so I’m not certain if this is an advantage or not.

From Bluesville we made our way back to the main concert bowl, grabbed ourselves a snack and found our place in the audience for Kane Brown. Kane’s grand entrance was a mix of flashing lights on the back and side screens as he appeared on a staircase center stage jumping right into synth heavy “Baby Come Back to Me”. He followed that up with his first #1 single, in the USA, “What Ifs” from his 2016 self-titled debut album. The crowd was a decent size too, it wasn’t as big as Eric Church’s, but few artists can boast that kind of draw. If I was guessing, I’d say there were enough fans in attendance for Kane’s performance to give him a great crowd at the Canadian Tire Centre or a comfortable sell out at TD Place which I’d say is pretty good for an artist slotted as direct support at Boots and Hearts.

It was a night of singalongs as he rolled through all of his biggest hits including “Good As You”, “Short Skirt Weather”, “Heaven” and of course “Used to Love You Sober”. One of my favourite moments was as he introduced “Homesick”, a song dedicated to the men and women of the armed forces. He asked the crowd to turn on the lights on their cell phones (something we all used to do with lighters back in the day), the result was incredible. It was as if the lights had suddenly been turned on, you could tell that Kane was a bit blown away as well. He performed the song sitting on a step in the middle of the stage which was a cool touch as well.

It wasn’t all Kane Brown hits last night, though. A staple in his set list, this year, is his incredible cover of All-American Rejects “Gives You Hell”. The cover is part of a mashup, that drives the audience wild, which also includes Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me”, Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls”, Kriss Kross’ “Jump” and the huge DJ Marshmello, Bastile hit “Happier” through which Brown takes a trip through the crowd taking selfies with fans and saying hello. Marshmello also recently released a single featuring Kane called “One Thing Right”, unless I missed it it did not make the set list last night. He capped off his set with his first single, and his third US #1 single (2nd in Canada) “Lose It” off his 2018 album Experiment. We’d be remised if we neglected to tell you that Kane’s latest single “Like a Rodeo” came out at midnight so if you’re a country fan you’ll want to go here and check it out!

The answer to the question I asked at the very beginning of this review is a clear and undeniable NO! Once again mother nature tried, and once again mother nature failed to dampen the spirits of Ottawa festival goers. Whether they came for Kane, Shakey, the Beatz or just the atmosphere the crowds came. It was a good night.

Coming up tonight RBC Bluesfest rocks with Dirty Nil, The Offspring, Alexisonfire and more!! Full details at www.ottawabluesfest.ca

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