Last year was a great year for concerts for me. I saw the Hip, Sam Roberts, Big Wreck, Wintersleep, and the Trews multiple times. This year, due to limited funds, I've had to cut that way back, but when Blaire asked if I wanted to see Lady Antebellum in Toronto, how could I say no?
Ladies night out! Me, Blaire, Kaela, and Heike.
We missed the first opening act, which was Thompson Square, but I'm not a huge fan so I wasn't very disappointed. The second opening act was Darius Rucker, who used to be the lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish.
I liked Darius Rucker's music before this, but I'm so much more of a fan now - he was AMAZING on stage. Lots of energy, insane voice. He sang a mix of his new country stuff and his old Hootie and the Blowfish stuff and the crowd was absolutely loving it. He sounded incredible.
Lady A took the stage just before 9:00 pm and kept it going until 10:30. It was a great set. It was obviously only a small selection of music from their three albums, but they played most of their big hits.
The three members of the band are Hilary, Charles, and Dave. Hilary and Charles do the lead vocals, while Dave provides harmony and plays most of the lead instrumental parts.
This is video from 'Dancin' Away With My Heart'. I apologize in advance for the sound quality - apparently the microphone on my cell did not like the bass.
Hilary started off a little bit pitchy, but that levelled off throughout the concert. I loved her outfit.
Sparkles!
I was super impressed with Charles' vocals. He sounded amazing - exactly like he does on the album. He was also a ball of energy and really engaged the crowd. While Hilary seemed to be riding it and kept it fairly mellow, Charles was SO fired up.
Charles must have been so sweaty - his deep-V t-shirt hid it well.
This clip is from 'American Honey' - lots of audience participation . . . Yes, you can hear me (and everyone else) singing in this one.
I really loved how Hilary and Charles interacted, though. Given the fact that they're both married to someone else, they had amazing chemistry onstage.
This video clip is from 'Love Don't Live Here' off of their first album.
The entire band used the whole stage, frequently coming to the wings for instrumental solos or to sing to the crowds at the sides. It was great, because we were only fifteen feet or so from the right hand side of the stage.
About halfway through Lady A's set, they called Thompson Square and Darius Rucker back onto stage with them and sang a few songs, including covering Black Water by the Doobie Brothers and doing Hootie and the Blowfish's Let Her Cry. I wasn't impressed by Thompson Square's vocals, it made me even more alright with us missing their set.
Everyone up on stage together!
This video clip is of Lady A and Darius Rucker singing 'Let Her Cry' from his Hootie and the Blowfish days.
After the obligatory pause while everyone screamed for an encore, they came back onstage to finish up the night with 'Need You Now'. This was just an amazing concert. I would recommend them to anyone - they are so talented!!
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