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George
Canyon Concert Review - Belleville Empire Theater - October
16, 2006
From Bobbi Smith
George
Canyon, the tall, dark and handsome family man from Nova Scotia,
Canada is a rising star worth keeping an eye on. He is a star
who already burns bright over his native country and he proved
it in spades tonight to an intimate crowd in the small town
of Belleville, Ontario.
Some
would argue (just ask any Canadian who watched the show) that
George should have won the second season of Nashville Star,
but the second place finish certainly hasn't done any damage.
It has instead propelled George into the spotlight, a place
he fought for 13 years to finally stand.
Gord
Bamford, from Alberta, Canada, opened the show with a 7 song
acoustic set and would later join George on the stage during
his encore.
Gord
is a talented singer/songwriter who is finally making his
breakthrough North of the border, but hasn't really fought
his way into the U.S. music scene yet. He did a fantastic
job singing most of his singles and a few new songs for the
crowd.
After a brief intermission, where I was pleasantly surprised
to hear George Strait's Somewhere Down in Texas CD playing
over the loud speakers, the main event began. The spotlights
produced a fiery cross, George's symbol, and a voice began
to speak introducing George in an infomercial-like manner.
The curtains pulled back to reveal a 6 piece band, and the
man we'd all been waiting to see sauntered out and stepped
up to the microphone.
They
opened the show with the namesake of the tour "Somebody
Wrote Love." When the song was over George noticed 3
empty seats in the front row and proceeded to ask if there
were going to be people sitting there. He showed his humorous
side very early on when he asked, "What? Did someone
fart earlier and they all left?"
The
next song was a single from his debut album One Good Friend
called "Who Would you Be" and he followed that up
with a song from the new album, Somebody Wrote Love, titled
"Your Smile." There were several breaks between
songs where George would address the audience, crack jokes,
tease band members, etc. and that is what made the show for
me. For the most part, the music is fantastic at any concert
you go to, but it's the in between stuff that sets the entertainers
apart from the singers. And George Canyon is definitely an
entertainer.
He
talked about making his break on Nashville Star and thanked
those who voted for him. George said that he truly owes a
lot to his Canadian fans and the Canadian Media who have supported
him along the way. He told a funny story someone had wrote
to him about a little boy who just started school and when
he saw the Canadian Flag at school he got excited and said
that it was George Canyon's flag. There were so many funny
stories and one liners all night long that it would be impossible
to share them all, but there were a few memorable ones I will
share later on.
George
showed his softer side and his love and devotion to his wife
Jenn when he spoke about her and dedicated the next song,
"One Good Friend" to her. George expressed how he
wished he could have wrote this song because it says exactly
how he feels about Jenn. The touching ballad was followed
up by the band jamming to this groovy beat and George announcing
that this was the Disco Dancing part of the show. With only
a little encouragement from his boss the fiddle player quickly
showed us a few Saturday Night Fever moves. At this point
George introduced Dave Gunning to us, a friend he'd grown
up with in Nova Scotia. The two sang an excellent cover of
the Willie Nelson classic "Pancho and Lefty" after
which George left the stage and allowed Dave to sing 2 songs
by himself.
The
first was a hilarious Christmas song about how daddy was just
sick over the fact that Santa left the milk and cookies and
drank all his beer instead. George returned to the stage to
join Dave and sing "The Long Black Veil" a song
originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell, but covered by such
artists as Johnny Cash, and more recently the rock group the
Dave Matthews Band.
After going through a couple of his early singles, "A
Good Day to Ride" and "I'll Never do Better Than
You" and a beautiful new song called "I Want You
to Live" which he dedicated to the troops and their families,
George showed once again what a true entertainer he is. He
was looking for someone at the back of the audience who had
a Canadian One Dollar Bill. Since those went out of circulation
many years ago, it wasn't too surprising that no one had one.
But the girl sitting right behind me hollered out that she
had a $5 and George jumped down off the stage and came wandering
up into the audience to collect it. On the way towards the
back he spoke to audience members asking them if they were
having a good time and if their seats were okay. He stopped
and talked to an older woman who wanted him to sing to her.
George said that the next song he did on stage was for her.
Once he got the five dollar bill George continued to the top
of the theatre and out one of the back entrances. He carried
the microphone with him so we could hear his comments and
the crowd burst out laughing when he announced that there
was a bar back there. Suddenly he appeared through the back
door on the other side of the theatre and made his way back
to the stage. It was then time to explain why he wanted the
bill. George shared a story about how Johnny Cash would ask
for a one dollar bill from the audience when he first started
out because he could fold it up and put it under the strings
of his guitar to make the guitar sound like a snare drum.
With a little effort (apparently Canadian fives are thicker
than American ones) George got the bill in place and performed
two absolutely amazing Johnny Cash covers, "Walk the
Line" and "Ring of Fire."
When
the crew member came out to give George his guitar for the
next song he was dressed in a clown outfit. George had commented
earlier about how he hadn't seen any practical jokes that
night, I guess he spoke too soon. The clown took the five
dollar bill from George and returned it to the girl in the
audience. Once again George showed his softer side when he
spoke to the audience about his children. He said his 8 year
old son was learning to play the drums, then he turned around
to his drummer and told him in another 8 years he was fired!
The he talked about his little girl and the song he wrote
for her which he sang next called "Madi's Song (The Way
She Thinks I Am)." It was a beautiful ballad that would
be special to any father and daughter.
Before
singing his next song, "Some People Change" he talked
about how a friend of his wrote the song and a couple guys
decided to record it and release it as a single. The guys
he was talking about are the duo Montgomery Gentry and "Some
People Change" is their current single. George said he
would have released it as a single himself but they beat him
to it. I first heard this song on Kenny Chesney's When the
Sun Goes Down album and I loved it instantly. I'm not a big
fan of Montgomery Gentry's version of the song, but George's
version was incredible. It was full of life, energy, and heart.
That was one thing I noticed about George, he puts his heart
into every song he sings and it's very obvious.
One
of the highlights of the night for me was the next song introduction.
George sang part of a gospel song his grandfather used to
sing as an intro to the song "Quitters." He sang
the intro a capella and it really showed off his incredible
deep and rich voice. By the time he started into "Quitters"
I had goosebumps on my arm. There is no denying that Mr. Canyon
can sing!
The
regular set came to a close with two fun and upbeat songs,
his current single "Drinkin' Thinkin'" and another
catchy song from the new CD "Time for Goodbye."
Thankfully we didn't have to wait long for George to reappear
for an encore. The next song was another highlight of the
night for me. George told us that they had planned on retiring
this song from the set list, thinking that it might be too
painful for some people to hear, but when they were flooded
with over 5000 letters telling them how much the song meant
to people, they decided to keep singing it. If you have never
heard the song "My Name" you should go to iTunes
and buy it right now! It's a story told from the perspective
of an unborn child who dies during childbirth.
"They loved me just the same, and they didn't even know
my name."
The night ended with another Johnny Cash cover, "Folsom
Prison Blues," and all George's guest came back out on
stage to help him out. George kicked it off, then Gord Bamford
and Dave Gunning both sang a verse of the song. You could
tell how much they were enjoying themselves on that stage
and how appreciative they were of their fans. During the last
song several of George's band members came up the aisles into
the audience while they played and George himself even wandered
up the aisle while he was singing.
I
am an avid fan of Nashville Star and I loved George Canyon
when he was on the show, but I had no idea what an incredible
entertainer he would turn out to be. I wasn't sure what to
expect but I was treated to 2 full hours of something far
more enjoyable than I would have ever imagined. The venue
was tiny, less than 1000 people I'm sure, but the man on stage
was a HUGE talent and he proved to me that he could easily
open stadium tours for the likes of Alan Jackson or yes, even
the king of country himself, George Strait. I bought the new
CD on my way out and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one.
Set
List:
Somebody
Wrote Love
Who Would You Be
Your Smile
Ladders To Climb
One Good Friend
Pancho And Lefty (W/ Dave Gunning)
Drank All Daddy's Beer (Dave Gunning)
Saltwater Hearts (Dave Gunning)
The Long Black Veil (W/ Dave Gunning)
I Want You To Live
A Good Day To Ride
I'll Never Do Better Than You
Walk The Line
Ring Of Fire
Madi's Song (The Way She Thinks I Am)
Some People Change
Quitters
Drinkin' Thinkin'
Time For Goodbye
My Name
Folsom Prison Blues
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