Canadian country artist Dallas Smith is kind of a big deal, although based on his personal Instagram videos and from talking with him, you wouldn’t know it. Never one to tell his audience what number hit it is he’s singing, he instead lets his fantastic voice and engaging live show speak for him.
The Some Things Never Change tour rolled into Kamloops right before the weekend, and kicked off early – a lot of music to get through in one night! Smith brought some of his country friends – Manny Blu, Kelly Prescott, JoJo Mason, Shawn Austin, and Meghan Patrick warmed up the arena crowd as more and more filtered in for what was a first show in 2 years for many of us. By the time James Barker Band hit the stage, the floor seating was packed, as was ‘the pit’ which hosted over 300 fans standing room only.
Having each band keep their set short (3-5 songs) and minimal set changes in-between meant Dallas Smith arrived on stage at a decent hour; it didn’t feel like a marathon of endurance. From the get go, Smith was energetic, smiling, never standing still behind a mic stand. He greeted those on the floor with handshakes as he sang familiar tunes, to which the crowd sang back many of the choruses. Not one to ignore those in the bleachers, Smith made a point to roam the large stage from side to side, reaching out to those wanting a gentler experience in the arena seats. Smith’s band complimented his performance, especially his bass player who really made a point of playing up to the few people on our side who stood up to dance and clap and sing. (People! its your first show back in two freaking years! Get off your butt for at least one song!) 😉
Its hard to say that Dallas didn’t ‘only sing the hits’ – as the only Canadian country artist to have eleven singles hit #1, and have 22 singles peak in the Top 10 Country airplay chart – every song (nearly) is a hit! Our favourite is still Somebody Somewhere, and Lifted, and both made the set list ❤️. So did Cheap Seats, Smith’s newest song, Hide From a Broken Heart, and many others. At one point, the band gathered on the smaller section of stage to do a semi-acoustic mini-set, and Smith brought Meghan Patrick, Shawn Austin, JoJo Mason and James Barker back on stage to sing one or two songs each with him.
All in all the evening was incredibly enjoyable. It felt great to belt out songs we knew, to stand up and dance and clap and just laugh! It was great for everyone’s mental health – speaking of which, in 2021 Smith created the Lifted Dallas Smith Charitable Foundation – a non-profit organization committed to ensuring that mental health services are accessible to anyone and everyone in need.
Find Dallas Smith on Instagram, Twitter and website.
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