Tim Hicks "Shake These Walls Tour 2017" - Tribute Communities Centre - Friday, January 20, 2017.

On this mild January evening walking up to the newly named venue, I was very excited to review my first show of 2017 “Tim Hicks” at the Tribute Communities Centre, formally (GM Centre) in Oshawa. For those who know me know I love my country music, Hell Yeah!

To start the night off was Chris Labelle (Vocals), Jeremy Bortot (Lead Guitar), Chris McComb (Rhythm guitar), Dan DiGiacomo (Bass) and Jordan Potvin (Drums) in the band known as “River Town Saints”. These 5 guys come from the surroundings of the Ottawa valley in Ontario. River Town Saints are big for their song Cherry Bomb. Their most recent single is “Bonfire”. Their set included the two songs mentioned along with “Hungover yet” and “Friday Night”. It was unfortunate the crowd was still filling in and their performance was missed by many.  However they put on a great show and interacted well with the crowd, I am sure we will see more of the ‘RTS’ in the near future.

Next performance of the evening was 36 year old Jason Blaine from Pembroke Ontario. Jason Blaine was discovered in 2002 during a talent search sponsored by CMT. Jason Blaine lit up the stage with his amazing vocals, singing songs like “Spotlight” and with a very touching song that is very dear to his heart and career called “They Don’t Make 'Em Like That Anymore”. Jason Blaine and Tim Hicks share a mutual commonality together as they both started singing on a wee stage in a bar called “The Corral” in Oshawa Ontario. Today they are touring together, sharing a much larger stage and performing to bigger crowds. Jason Blaine’s comes across as a down to earth person and even though I have not had a chance to meet him personally, I’m sure he has a great personality. Go Jason!!!

Music and lights were turned off while excitement starts to build amongst the fans… The screams were increasing while each band member took to the stage and I wasn’t sure who was louder the crowd or the first note that Tim Hicks played. The stage now lights up with blue lighting and dry ice smoke as Tim Hicks starts his set with “Shake these Walls” the crowd is now ecstatic. Tim, a proud Canadian hailing from Niagara Falls, Ontario started “Shake These Walls Tour” on January 6^th, 2017 and Oshawa was number 10 out of the 15 stops. His set list included songs “Slow Burn”, Stompin Ground”, and “Strong Beer” just to name a few. Tim loves interacting with the crowd, this time it was with huge ‘Beach Balls’… These blown up balls were bouncing back and forth from the stage to the crowd and back. A good time had by all.

A big Thank you to Tim Hicks, The Tribute Communities Centre, and TriRocks for an amazing Friday night filled with country music!!!

Tim Hicks