Dean Brody “Beautiful Freakshow Tour 2017”-Tribute Communities Centre- April 29, 2017. - by Tania Normand

Perfect timing… Today I had a chance to kick up a storm with my new cowboy boots for Dean Brody’s event in Oshawa. Yes, the ‘Beautiful Freakshow Tour’ with ‘James Barker Band’ and ‘High Valley’.

Oshawa was the fourth stop on “The Beautiful Freakshow” tour…

Four Canadians from Barrie Ontario called the James Barker Band was the opening band for the night, which promptly started at 7:00 pm. They performed some of their top charting hits which included “Chills” & “Lawn Chair Lazy” followed by “Living the Dream” in which they got the crowd to use their lighters and cell phones to create the mood. A lot of energy on stage with this 5 piece band…

Next on stage were 2 Canadian brothers Brad and Curtis Rempel, who were born in a Mennonite community in La Crete, Alberta. They started their carrier with and an Open Mic night at a local establishment, the crowd at this gig loved what they heard and urged the band to continue playing.  But unfortunate for this duo, they only knew one song which they then repeated loud and proud…. Yes, this was the advent of ‘High Valley’ which formed in 1997.  During their performance they spoke of a touching story about their father who had to use the family farm as collateral to finance the boys with their music career. They then segued into “A Father’s Love”, a touching tune and a tear jerker for sure. The tempo was then elevated and the crowed love it. They even decided to do a dance within the crowd and gave away a bunch of gifts to a girl that competed in a dance off. The set ended with their hit “I’m Gonna Make You Mine”.

For the main act of the night as the lights dimmed, the crowd roared and cheered for none other than Dean Brody who took to the stage guns a blazin’. Dean Brody has great stage presence and loves to interact with his fans. Beach balls were flying around in the crowd and the fans continued to sing along. An interesting part of his set was his two chainsaws, powered up and ready to go while singing his song. At one point I thought he was going to juggle these power tools while he sang, but I relaxed when he continued with his guitar. Highlight of the night was when he performed on a second stage in front of the sound board. It depicted a camp site, very well done I must say. Dean then called up a young boy from the crowd to sit with him as he continued with a few songs from the set. I believe it was the boy’s mother’s birthday so she was also invited to the ‘Campsite’ where Dean Brody sang ‘Happy Birthday’. Everything fell in place so well, it was an amazing touch. He then headed back up to the main stage, all the way interacting with his fans that loved every second of it. Dean further went on to sing the balance of his set which included “Beautiful Freakshow”, “Bring Down the House” and a crowd favourite “Canadian Girls”.

A big thank you to all the bands, The Tribute Communities Centre and TriRocks for another amazing Saturday night filled with Country Music!!!

James Barker Band High Valley Dean Brody