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After a long, cold Montreal winter, the city’s country music fans got a taste of the warmer weather to come. This past Thursday night, Jade Eagleson was playing the Studio TD. It was part of his “Coming Soon To A Honky Tonk Near You” tour. Montreal hosts the annual Lasso Festival every August, and Jade Eagleson has been part of that a few times.
One could almost feel the summer heat coming while he was on stage. Toques, mittens and snow pants? Not on this night. Jeans, vests and cowboy hats were the fashion choice of the fans. They packed the concert hall, definitely arriving in their rodeo finest.
Opening the show was young sensation Sully Burrows. Armed only with his acoustic guitar, Sully took the stage and immediately claimed it as his own. He opened with “Somewhere In A Small Town,” which got a great reaction. The earnestness of “Youth” really pulled in the crowd. Sully Burrows definitely made the most of the short amount of time that he had. He left the crown thirsty for more.
This tour features several special guest and this night was no different. The second slot on the night belonged to Montreal’s resident Country Queen, Brittany Kennell. My kids know her best as the sometimes national anthem singer for the Montreal Canadiens. When they get older, perhaps they’ll dig through dad’s music collection and discover her albums. They’re all full of great songs.
She gave us a mix of both old and new, beginning with her latest single, “Life’s Waiting On Me.” All of the songs got a great reaction from the hometown crowd. Old favourites “Eat Drink Remarry” and “Bought The T-Shirt” are still great fun to hear live. Guitarist Antoine Loiselle was his usual awesome self, which always adds to the greatness of Brittany’s shows. Brittany Kennell still stood tall. Even when, accidentally, the power to her amps was cut off. Triumphantly strumming her guitar until the technical problems were fixed. It was a great performance indeed.
Up next was our headliner, Jade Eagleson, who was already all smiles. This was before even the first note was played. The Celine Dion t-shirt he was wearing might have been chosen in order to win over some of the crowd, but it wasn’t necessary. This honky tonk was already hooting and hollering in anticipation of his arrival.
He opened with “Coming Soon To A Honky Tonk Near You,” and the fans were all in excitement for this new song. The party continued with “Do It Anyway” from the album of the same name. It won him a CCMA Country Music “Album of the Year” award. This one really got the crowd roaring, and I saw a cowboy hat or two waved along to the groove. Opening act Sully Burrows returned to the stage to lend his vocals to “More Drinkin’ Than Fishin’.” Many of the locals lent their voices to the song as well. This left the Studio TD rockin’ and rollin’ like the Boar’s Nest back in Hazzard County.
Completing the good time was “Worth The Double,” “Rodeo Queen,” and “Get Your Name On It.” After the encore, the damsels and gentlemen made their way to the stables for the horse ride home. This was one of the final shows of the tour, but Jade Eagleson will certainly be back on the road again soon for a grand ole time that you should not miss.