Bands On The Run Tour
One of the hottest country music concert tours is slowly marching it’s way across Canada and on Friday night the three bands that make up Bands on the Run, Blackjack Billy, Doc Walker and The Road Hammers, blew the roof and walls off the Grand Theatre in Kingston, Ontario. Kingston was the seventh out of nineteen stops on their march across Canada which began in Fredericton New Brunswick on November 20.
With special thanks to our friends at Open Road Recordings, who have been incredibly supportive of what we are trying to do, the performance in Kingston was also the second of which we were able to get into and cover; in case you missed it Corey covered the show in Guelph earlier in the week. Friday’s event had special meaning to me personally as it marked somewhat of a new beginning for me with Sound Check after a really rough year forced me to take a bit of a backseat from the writing. It felt great to be back in the saddle again and I look forward to covering many more shows in the coming months.
Blackjack Billy on stage at the Grand Theatre in Kingston, ON November 28
American country rockers Blackjack Billy kicked off the party and wasted little time getting the sold out crowd on their feet with songs like “Booze Cruise” and plenty more. Of course BJB made their debut in Canada about a year ago performing alongside Tim Hicks on his incredibly popular single “Got a Feeling“. We ran a feature on Blackjack Billy in January and they have been on our list of artists to watch ever since and boy Friday night’s performance definitely did not disappoint. Blackjack Billy recently released their first full length album Rebel Child.
Doc Walker on stage at the Grand Theatre in Kingston, ON November 28
The veterans Doc Walker, who notably will be celebrating 20 years since their debut album “Good Day To Ride” was released in 2017 and are currently touring in support of their 8th studio album, simply titled the 8th, took to the stage next. One thing is crystal clear after nearly 20 years of writing, recording and performing these guys from Manitoba have it down to a science. It’s clear that they are having as much fun performing as the audience is watching them perform. Cranking out hit after hit after hit from “Good Day to Ride” to “Shake it Like It’s Saturday Night” (which the crowd gladly did even though it was only Friday). The surprise of the night came after the group performed their 2002 single “Rocket Girl” when a young couple was invited up on stage, Mark and Kelsey. It was Kelsey’s 23rd Doc Walker show and that was the premise for having them up onto the stage, turns out Mark had other plans and it quickly turned into an on stage proposal…oh and by the way she said yes!
The Road Hammers put the hammer down in Kingston November 28, 2014
The group I was honestly most looking forward to capped off the night. Since they dominated our #SoundOff poll in the spring I’ve had the chance to get to know Jason, Clayton and Chris a bit through conversations we’ve had online. I’ve seen The Road Hammers once before about 12 years ago before they disbanded but I’m so hooked on their latest album Wheels that I’ve been itching to see them again. Naturally, like Doc Walker, the hammers are made up of three very talented and experienced musicians. Jason McCoy alone has won Male Vocalist of the Year (2001) at the CCMA’s not to mention the fact that he has a handful of Juno nominations for Best Country Male Vocalist. Clayton’s career stretches almost as far back as Jason’s and the accolades are equally impressive with a Juno for Best Country Recording, a four time Canadian Country Music Award winner, and SOCAN Songwriter of the Year award under his belt. My voice was already raw by the time the hammers took to the stage but that didn’t stop me from belting out my favorite tunes at the top of my lungs anyway. From “Girl on the Billboard”, a song that I’ve been trying to get the words down pat to for nearly a decade, to their megahit “MUD” it turned a boiling pot into a pressure cooker ready to explode. How these guys can put on such a high energy show 7 or 8 nights straight is beyond me, I sang my heart out last night and woke up this morning feeling that I got run over by a truck being driven by The Road Hammers. I sincerely hope that the wheels stay on this truck for a long time because this group is far too much fun to have them go away again anytime soon.
Members of The Road Hammers, Blackjack Billy and Doc Walker on stage in Kingston November 28, 2014
So you’d think that after about 3 hours of non-stop music and the fact the pressure was at it’s breaking point that the show would end, fans would go home happy maybe a new autographed album in hand and the bands would settle in on their tour busses to get ready for their next stop. Nope not on this tour. With virtually no break in between sets Jason McCoy returned to the stage and invited BlackJack Billy and Doc Walker to join him and the hammers. Although not completely surprising considering all three groups just recorded a song together for the tour, called “Run“. I figured they’d all come out put on a quick spirited performance of that song and call it a night…wrong again. The three groups turned the encore into a full on jam session blew what was left of the roof and walls off of the Grand Theatre and then still took the time to meet fans and sign autographs after the show. I was most definitely a hammerhead before the show and this simply renewed my faith.
Click to view slideshow.If you live west of Ontario there are still plenty of chances to catch the Bands on the Run tour, but don’t wait too long their remaining show in Ontario is sold out and as this show continues to gather steam the western leg is sure to sell out as well. For full details on the remaining tour dates and tickets visit www.bandsontherun.ca. Watch our Flickr page for all of our photos from Friday’s Bands on The Run show as we get them uploaded!
The next show on the radar for me is coming up Tuesday night in Ottawa where, thanks again to Open Road Recordings, I’ll be taking in the Riser Tour featuring Dierks Bentley, Randy Houser and Tim Hicks. Be sure to follow @SoundCheckBlg on Twitter as I’ll be tweeting pictures throughout the night, of course a full concert review will follow sometime on Wednesday as well.
Here’s The Road Hammers performing “MUD” from the Bands on the Run tour stop in Kingston.
