Dean Brody #BringsDownTheHouse

James Barker Band

Well that was indeed a #BeautifulFreakShow! An all Canadian Country evening in the ‘almost’ sold out RBC Theatre at Canada Life Place…anyone who thought about coming and didn’t…you missed one amazing evening, opened by the James Barker Band & High Valley. We arrived at The Bud with our #BGReviewer tickets in hand, early enough to check out the merch table and try out the “Bring Down the House Turbo”, the drink of the night. The drink was a mixture of beer and your choice of Palm Bay flavours.

The James Barker Band took the stage at 7 p.m. thanking the fans for ‘coming early’ to see them. They opened their energetic set with Just Sayin’ from their debut album Game On. Their set included a cover of The Georgia Satellites 1986 hit, Keep Your Hands to Yourself and a ‘campfire’ acoustic version of Living the Dream. 

The band wrapped it up with their new single, Chills, which is climbing the Country Music Radio charts and the great summertime anthem, Lawn Chair Lazy, had the fans on their feet, singing along. As the lyrics say…”It's the party of the year sitting right here! Somebody hand me a beer, beer, beer!”

High Valley

The Thursday night party continued in London when High Valley, a Canadian duo from Alberta, brothers, Brad and Curtis Rempel took the stage. They opened their set with 2016’s Dear Life from the album of the same name. “Dear Life, what's your plan? Is where I'm supposed to be, right where I am?” I am sure the crowd would agree that The Bud stage is exactly where they belong! 

Come On Down and County Line/Fishin’ in the Dark (a 1987 cover of the original hit by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) had the crowd on their feet, because “Yeah we work hard, live right. Tear it up on a Saturday night.” Actually a Thursday night in London, but you get it. The set continued with a cover of John Michael Montgomery’s 1994 hit Be My Baby Tonight and High Valley’s love song, I Be U Be. 

The guys recounted the stories of performing in an auto body shop using karaoke microphones and of a farmer (their dad) betting the farm on their careers in Country Music…the rest is history. They performed A Father’s Love (The Only Way He Knew How), in honour of their dad, showcasing father/sons relationships and his never ending faith in their talent. 

The set continued with You’ll Find Your Way, the upbeat She’s With Me that had the crowd back on their feet and finished the set with their 2014 hit Make You Mine. “I'm gonna make you mine. Yeah, I'm gonna make you mine.” and that they did! 

Dean Brody

The man himself, headliner Dean Brody certainly proved why he has 9 CCMA’s, 4 of which he won in 2016 at the Canadian Country Music Awards which was hosted in our fair city, and 2 Junos to his credit. From the moment he took the stage, opening with the The Great Canadian party anthem Bush Party the crowd was on their feet. We were having our own B-U-S-H P-A-R-T-Y at The Bud!

Dean dedicated Love Would Be Enough to Carol, who was visiting from the UK (the other London) and during that song out came the chainsaws, yes you read that correctly. Not one but two chainsaws, entertained us with a duelling chainsaw solo. 

Dean moved from the main stage onto a smaller stage in the  crowd during an amazing fiddle solo by  Shane Guse, who it just so happens, is a good friend to two friends of mine, (how cool is that) to sing by a ‘campfire’. How “Canadian” is that eh! That is where he spotted 2 guys sporting “I love Deaner” t-shirts. He invited them onto the stage with him, where he received repeated hugs from these 2 guys and took a selfie with them. 

In a very touching moment he dedicated Brothers, to a young woman, who served in the Canadian Armed Forces and is suffering from PTSD.

Dean closed his #BeautifulFreakShow in London, ON with a rockin’ version of his hit, Canadian Girls. He returned for a 2 song encore which included Mountain Man and a great cover of Sam Cooke’s, Another Saturday Night. 

I have included the links to Canadian Girls, Bush Party and my personal favourite, Time, so you can enjoy them all over again…and to those who missed #TheBeautifulFreakShow…you missed an AMAZING Thursday evening #CanadianCountry Party at The Bud last night!

Dean Brody Setlist:

1. Bush Party 
2. Dirt Road Scholar
3. Upside Down
4. People Know You By Your First Name
5. Roll That Barrel Out
6. Beautiful Girl
7. Monterey
8. Undone
9. Love Would Be Enough (Chainsaw Duet)
10. Bounty
11. Little Yellow Blanket
12. Brothers
13. Time 
14. Beautiful Freak Show
15. It’s Friday
16. Bring Down The House
17. Canadian Girls

Encore:

1. Mountain Man
2. Another Saturday Night (Sam Cooke Cover)