Old Dominion helped turn France Margaret Bélanger into a country fan.
It wasn’t just the five-man band’s music that impressed the president of sports and entertainment for Groupe CH — which includes Evenko and the Canadiens — but just how nice they were when they took part in the first Lasso country-music festival at Jean-Drapeau Park four years ago.
Bélanger attended the first Lasso with her two daughters and saw the members of Old Dominion in the backstage area, not knowing who they were.
“They were getting a coffee before going on stage, smiling, super kind,” Bélanger recalled. “Just regular people. They looked like they were just festivalgoers like the rest of us. But that was the band — so unassuming.
“And then they got on stage and one of the guys is super blond and the girls were like: ‘That’s the guy who was right next to the coffee machine,’” Bélanger added. “So genuinely warm, down-to-Earth. Such a pleasure to work with them and they left a lasting impression not only on me, but on our entire (Evenko) team. They have great music. It’s a fun kind of country — a happy type of music.”
The fifth edition of Lasso will be held this Saturday and Sunday at Jean-Drapeau Park and Old Dominion has been invited back as one of the two headliners Sunday night, along with Mumford & Sons. Jon Pardi and Thomas Rhett will be the headliners on Saturday.
Thirty-six country artists will perform over the two days — including The Band Perry and Carly Pearce — with the music starting at 2 p.m. both days and continuing until 11 p.m. on three stages. A general admission ticket for both days costs $250 (taxes and service fees included) and a one-day ticket costs $150.
If you’re a country fan — like me — it’s a highlight of the summer. If you’re not a country fan, Lasso can turn you into one like it did with Bélanger.
More than 50,000 fans attended the two days of Lasso last year.
In a recent phone interview with Old Dominion lead singer Matthew Ramsey, I mentioned how much his band had impressed Bélanger at the first Lasso.
“That’s great to hear,” he said. “We’re just dudes.”
Those dudes have been named Group of the Year a record eight consecutive times by the Academy of Country Music and seven straight times by the Country Music Association. The band released its sixth studio album, Barbara, last summer.
“We’re grateful to have the jobs that we have and we’re grateful for anyone who wants to help us keep this thing going,” Ramsey said. “We don’t by any means take that for granted and we try to treat people with respect and make friends along the way. That’s the best way that we can think of to kind of honour our music and keep this thing going.”
Lasso has quickly become a popular festival with country stars, including Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brown, Jelly Roll and Shaboozey, who have all performed in previous years. Country star Luke Combs held two concerts at Jean-Drapeau Park in May, attracting 35,000 fans each night.
Several of the Canadiens players watched Combs — Jakub Dobes, Brendan Gallagher, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki shot-gunned beers with him on stage — and Lasso is a popular event for players who spend the summer in Montreal since country music is huge in the team’s locker room.
“We are hockey fans,” Ramsey said. “Trevor (Rosen, a guitarist and keyboard player in the band) in particular is a big hockey fan. He’s a hockey player and actually a very good hockey player. Lots of times he gets ice time with some of those (Nashville Predators) guys.
“I think we’ve been blamed for some losses before because of hungover hockey players,” Ramsey added with a chuckle about players attending their concerts.
Country artists Old Dominion will be performing at this year’s Lasso Festival at Parc-Jean-Drapeau on Aug. 15 and 16. Dove Shore
One of the things country artists love about Lasso is that Jean-Drapeau Park is so close to downtown. Evenko also makes sure the performers get first-class treatment, which is now known in the Nashville music community.
“It is nice to not be in the middle of some dirt field 30 miles away from any civilization,” Ramsey said with a laugh about playing at Lasso. “Montreal is such a beautiful city. It’s a pretty vibrant place. We love it there. There’s great food, there’s great people. The city itself has a unique vibe. It’s very close to the U.S., but helps us feel like our music is expanding much further than we ever dreamed of. So we love it.
“It’s a pretty indescribable feeling,” Ramsey added about performing in front of so many fans. “It’s the best drug in the world. To know that you created something from your heart and from your mind that’s connecting with that many people and you can really put yourself in their position because we’ve been there. We were the fans in the crowd and we still are. We’re into songs and songwriting and bands and music and we know the power that music can hold in terms of enhancing your life or helping your life in hard times. So to be able to stand there on that stage and watch that first-hand happen it’s really magical.”
Bélanger will be among the fans watching this weekend at Lasso.
I grew up dreaming of being an NHL defenceman or an MLB pitcher, but that didn’t happen. Fortunately, I was able to find another path to work in sports and have been part of The Gazette sports department since the early 1980s, including a 12-year stint as sports editor before becoming sports columnist in 2015. It’s a great job and I’m a lucky guy.
scowan@postmedia.com