Once again I found myself in the car travelling with Ted to cover another concert. This time though was different. This time we were covering Terri Clark. Finally some country music, and not just any country music… some good ole Canadian country. As we turned the corner to head to the parking lot of the Sound Acadamy in Toronto we were amazed to see the line up outside. The doors opened at 7:00, we arrived about 7:30 and they were lined up halfway down the block (a very long block). Standing in line waiting to get in the fans kept showing up, the closer we got to the door the longer the line seemed to get.
Inside you could feel the excitement in the air. The crowd consisted of mostly women of all ages, a few men were sparadically interspersed in the crowd, and a hearty young following for the opening act.
Saturday, March 30 – Sound Academy, Toronto
Photography by: Ted Van Boort
Terri opened the show with “Love is a Rose”, originally performed by Linda Rondstadt, and dressed in black jeans, t shirt, brown jacket and her statement cowgirl hat she continued to perform some of her greatest hits. Girls Lie Too, I just Wanna Be Mad, A Little Gasoline, If You Want Fire, I Wanna Do It All. A quick moment off stage for a costume change and she goes right into her “Classics” set. Wearing a long white, beaded Opry style jacket. An image of the Opry stage was projected on to a screen in the background. Terri, the only Female, Canadian country artist to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, went on to tell her story about wanting to bring a piece of the world famous stage to her fans north of the border by recreating the famous mic stands, the graciously offered for her to take one with her. So there it sat, in the middle of the stage during the set. A fitting symbol for classics such as It Wasnt God Who Made Honey Tonk Angels, Dont come Home A Drinkin (With Lovin on Your Mind), Swinging Doors, Two More Bottles of Wine, Gentle on My Mind, and Delta Dawn.
Another change, this time to a classic black leather jacket, and more of her hits, Gypsy Boots, No Fear, a medley of In My Next Life / When Boy Meets Girl / Now That I Found You / Three Mississippi / Dirty Girl, Better Things to Do, Norther Girl, and Poor Poor Pitiful Me ended the performance.
After a few moments, some encouragement from the audience she came out for the gratuitess encore consisting of Im Moving On, and Were Here For A Good Time.
I have to say that I enjoyed the performanced completely, and once again I am impressed by what a gracious, and humble performer Terri is. She is truly a lady of country music and represents our country well.
The opening act, Kira Isabella, is a 19 year old Ottawa native and its easy to see whay she is the 2012 CCMA Rising Star. Accompanied by only 2 accoustic guitar players, she performed her hits, Love Me Like That, A Real Good Radio, and Songs About, then gave the crown a preview of her next single “Blame It On Your Truck”. she shared her dreams of a big white wedding, before singing the ballad “Little White Church”, a cut off her debut album. Kira closed her set with her hit single, “A Little More Work”. With a string of four successful hits, its easy to see that this young lady is just getting started and will be a big hit in the future.
