Ever since Affinity Place opened in 2011, there’s been a recurring theme about concerts: country music shows have been a challenge.
It’s hard to pinpoint a reason as to why. People like country music in this market. We’ve had some great entertainers put on some fun shows. But the country music shows we’ve had have made a small amount of money, broken even or lost money.
So you could understand why some people were skeptical when it was announced earlier this year that the city was bringing in a country music show, with two of the performers, George Canyon and Doc Walker, being people who have been here previously.
And it was a cabaret-style event on the arena’s floor, which only added to the concerns some people had, since minors would be restricted to the seating area.
Any doubts about the show were dashed by the time Canyon walked onto the stage. He was billed as the headliner for the night, but he shared the spotlight with Walker and Charlie Major, another veteran Canadian country music singer.
It wasn’t a packed house for the show. It was hard to gage just how many people were there, since the crowd on the arena’s floor was standing instead of sitting. There wasn’t floor seating this time around.
But there was a good crowd on the floor, and many fans were seated in the arena’s bowl.
They enjoyed what proved to be a very good and entertaining show. The music was excellent. The spectators were energetic. The bands played their biggest hits. And rather than try to promote their latest album by singing four or five songs that people might not know, they sang the songs that the audience knew and loved.
The concert’s “kitchen party” format was also well-received.
Canyon is from Atlantic Canada, where kitchen parties are a part of the music fabric. In essence, people come together, play music and dance.
He said that the concert in Estevan was going to be a kitchen party, and if that’s what a kitchen party is like, the idea will have some newfound fans in Estevan.
It was a different format than what we’re used to for concerts. Normally you’d have an opening act who would play a few songs, followed by the headlining group, who would play for 90 minutes to two hours.
With three country music groups and an opening act performing for the Hit After Hit Tour, it would mean each of Canyon, Major and Walker might get six to eight songs. And you’d need to have a break between groups to change the set.
But with the kitchen party format, it meant that you several songs for each group, and minimal downtime between the acts. Each would play two, three or four songs.
No intermission, except for the change from opening act Manny Blu to Canyon, Walker and Charlie Major. It was a fun, fresh event.
And since there weren’t chairs on the floor, there was plenty of room for people to get up and dance.
It was an enjoyable evening from top to bottom.
The city always has to be mindful of the cost of a show when bringing in a concert. It’s always going to be a risk. Sometimes a show won’t meet expectation; other times it will exceed expectation. This is likely one that exceeded the expectations of a lot of people.
That’s not to say that it would be a slam dunk for success if someone were to try another concert with a similar format. It might work. It might not. You had some well-known musicians together who have a lot of chemistry.
(The lack of time between acts will likely be applauded no matter who is here next time).
It was a fun night and a format that people embraced.
And it proves that it is worthwhile to bring country music shows to Estevan again in the future.
