Canada has TALENT! Okay, perhaps I'm a bit biased being a Canadian Girl myself, but Johnny Reid and Emerson Drive did us proud Friday night in Hamilton Ontario opening for the beautiful Martina McBride. Many of those reading this will never have heard of Johnny Reid but I urge you to do a little research and give this guy a chance. He is a talented song writer with an amazing voice and undeniable passion for what he does.
When we arrived at our seats for the night we struck up conversation with the couple sitting beside us and soon discovered they knew Johnny Reid. They own the lot where Johnny parks his bus. They shared a lot of stories about Johnny and his family with us while we were waiting for the show to start. Apparently Johnny's wife is from Port Credit Ontario and they met in College. They now have 3 boys, under the age of 5. Johnny's 5 year old son can sing all of his songs word for word... perhaps there's a future in country music for this little guy too?
It has been a long time since I was this excited about seeing a performance. I have loved Johnny's music for several years now but have never had the chance to hear him live. He did not disappoint me in the least! In fact, no disrespect to Emerson Drive or Martina McBride, but Johnny Reid was the absolute highlight of the night for me and I could have listened to him for hours! He opened his set with a couple of high energy songs where he moved from one side of the stage to the other, constantly on the go. For the third song he slowed it down and sang "Missing and Angel" which is one of his signature ballads and my favorite song! It was incredible and gave me goosebumps.
Johnny has far too many hits to cram into a 30 minute set, so he obviously had to pick and choose what would work best. The majority of the songs came from his latest studio release Kicking Stones. He dedicated the title track to his boys who were at the show. Perhaps Johnny's biggest hit so far in his career, a mid tempo song called "Darlin," was definitely a crowd pleaser.
He finished with "Thank You" which was a song that began as a Valentines Day poem to his wife and developed into a touching ballad which is a perfect close to his set. He dedicated the song to all his fans and everyone who had supported him throughout his career in Canada. Johnny is originally from Scotland evident in his thick accent, and moved to Canada, then eventually Nashville, to pursue his career. When the set ended the entire audience was on their feel applauding. I actually can't remember seeing an opening act that the crowd was this excited about. Johnny was absolutely fantastic and the perfect start to the night.
Set List:
- Which Way is Home
- Love Sweet Love
- Missing an Angel
- Right Out of the Blue
- Kicking Stones
- Darlin'
- Thank You