When you think about great arena concert tours, an all-Canadian country line-up featuring performers from only Alberta and Saskatchewan might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But, that’s exactly what Paul Brandt’s The Journey Tour was on Feb. 16 at TD Place—a beyond-impressive arena show.
Although Brandt’s face covers most of the posters and tickets, he did not make the night all about himself, as he featured some highly talented special guests and opening acts.
Up first were the Hunter Brothers, a band composed of four brothers from rural Shaunavon, Sask. They each take on various musical roles in the group, including playing guitar, drums, harmonized vocals and the “Ganjo,” which is a banjo strung like a guitar.
In their short set, they played three songs as a full band and one where they all stood centre stage and sung in harmony. The only disappointment about their set was that it was too short. They only had about 20 minutes to play, so it would have been nice to hear a bit more from them. Thankfully, they came back onstage later in the night to be featured in Brandt’s set.
Up next was Jess Moskaluke, a fellow Saskatchewanian from the town of Langenburg. The 28-year-old Juno Award winner came onstage with a lot of energy, clearly very excited to begin her set.
Moving around with the microphone almost the entire time, Moskaluke filled the stage with her lively presence. As a regular on Canadian country radio, the crowd was seemingly happy to have her onstage, as some audience members sang along to her more popular songs, such as “Drive Me Away,” “Kiss Me Quiet,” and “Cheap Wine and Cigarettes.”
Although High Valley was on the bill as an intro act, they won over the crowd like they were the headliners of the night. The La Crete, Alta. brothers Brad and Curtis Rempel performed as a duo and completely rocked the stage with their unique dynamic.
Their set was mostly made up of songs from their most recent two albums, County Line and Dear Life, but they made sure to play some of their older songs. The duo also used the Ottawa show as a chance to premiere their new single “Single Man,” which is set to be released very soon, and followed by a new album.
As an interactive band, both Brad and Curtis descended from the stage to get very close with fans, giving high fives and posing for selfies. The crowd was fired up by the end of High Valley’s set, but it was still only the beginning.
After a long video intro highlighting all the accolades of his career, Brandt appeared onstage as a shadow, kneeling with his guitar case. He then proceeded by playing some of his new songs from The Journey.
Throughout his set, he welcomed all of his guests back onstage. When High Valley joined him in the song “When You Call My Name,” they once again appeared in the crowd and interacted with fans as they made their ways back to the stage. The Hunter Brothers came back to provide their choral harmonies on a few songs, and Moskaluke joined Brandt to perform their 2015 collaboration “I’m an Open Road.”
During Brandt’s performance of “I Do,” people started making noise in the back of the general admission section on the floor because a man proposed to his girlfriend mid-song. Brandt acknowledged the newly engaged couple by giving them a brief shout-out and finishing the song in front of them.
Brandt ended the show with two covers. First, he played “Convoy” by C.W. McCall, which is a well-known 1975 country classic. The final song of the night was “I Walk The Line” by Johnny Cash, performed in a more modern pop country style. Brandt invited all of his guest performers onstage for that, which worked as a nice send off from a great show.
Overall, Brandt’s show was very special. The show’s all-Canadian line-up showed the incredible talent this country has, giving a sense of security knowing that you don’t have to look far to find great country music within our borders.
Photo by Jeff Pelletier
