Sometimes reviews are hard to write because you want to convey to your readers every little nuance of what happened, how, when, who, what songs were played, how filled up the venue was etc.. and you tend to get lost in the details rather than realizing.. most times a GREAT show is great because of how it makes you FEEL!
Such is the case of the Dallas Smith show the other night in Kamloops! How did it make me feel? Truly amazing.. actually, amazing is the wrong word. Amazing sounds too much like.. ‘great’, ‘good’, ‘killer’, ‘wicked’, ‘off the hook,’ and all the other euphemisms us writers tend to use to describe an experience.. so how to describe something that left me feeling revved up but exhausted? Surprised but not surprised? Happy I made a 3 hr round trip in winter fog to go see it? I’ll try!
With 9 of his Singles last year reaching the Top 10, with Tippin’ Point being the fastest Canadian Country single to reach Platinum status (and the highest selling Canadian Country digital single in history), as well as a Juno nomination this year for Country Album of the Year, any artist would have reason to smile – but with Smith its all about the fans. When an artist is happy the fans reap the benefits!
Dallas Smith has a song on his new Lifted album called Cheap Seats. As soon as I heard it I fell in love with it! It talks about he and his girl being up in the bleachers at a show.. no money to be down front but they don’t care. They’re having fun being together up there watching the show from the Cheap Seats. There ain’t NO cheap seats with Dallas Smith and band! Down front, in the middle, up in the bleachers – it don’t matter – Smith goes out of his way to connect with as many people in the crowd as he possibly can. The once shy front man has permanently ditched his mic stand in favour of wirelessly roaming across the stage, waving at people in the crowd, pausing to photo bomb selfies from fans down front, dancing with his band mates, and nearly falling off the stage each time he leans out to touch people’s hands as far back as the 3rd and even 4th row of bodies up front. He even grabs people’s cell phones and snaps photos of he and they together, without ever messing up his timing or singing.
The smile never leaves Dallas Smith’s face the entire evening – true testament to him being in a great place in his life right now. With a daughter who just turned one (‘Peanut’ he calls her on Instagram), in a loving relationship, as well as a experiencing a career high, Smith is happy and it’s genuine.
The show itself is intense, funny, heartwarming, top notch, energizing, a good kind of crazy, and there is no way you’re gonna stay sitting down! Despite venue rules, Smith had the first four rows up front plastered up against the stage from the first song to the last.. tweeting later, “Fire code my ass. Thanks for a great time Kamloops.” (yes!)
And how did the show make me FEEL? Young and in love with music again!
Here’s a shortie vid clip taken on my ancient iPhone to give you a taste of the sheer thrust of energy from band to crowd and back again. Enjoy!
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Great job describing the energy! That smile!