Jason Blaine brings the Three’s A Party Tour home to Ottawa

Ok so Ottawa is a few hours drive east of home for Jason Blaine but, as he put it, it’s as close as he was going to get to bringing his Three’s A Party tour to Pembroke, Ontario. Jason is currently touring Canada with Tebey and James Otto.

Unlike most 3 act tours this tour doesn’t really have an opening act, more like 3 distinct headliners.  The show began with the three acts on stage together and then each act took a turn to perform 6 songs.

James Otto was the only act out of the 3 that I haven’t had a chance to see perform yet, having seen Tebey and Jason Blaine on numerous occasions.  James was also the artist whose music I was least familiar with.  His set was more laid back and a nice change of pace to more of a classic country, storyteller, feel.

Tebey took to the stage next and I have to say one thing you don’t realize about Tebey until you actually see him perform is how many hits this guy actually has. For the duration of his set everyone of the songs he performed was a huge song for him and he could’ve sat on the stage for his entire set and listened because the crowd at the Algonquin Commons Theatre was singing every song right along with him. It’s been just over a year since I personally saw Tebey last, at the Spencerville Fair last fall, and I must say he’s definitely been working on his stage presence. Definitely a class act both on and off the stage I have no doubt that his name and reputation as an artist will continue to grow in the coming years.

Jason Blaine who, I guess, you could consider the veteran in the bunch capped off the night with a strong performance. I had just seen Jason at his own event in Pembroke in the spring with Tim Hicks and Chad Brownlee and it just seems that he gets better every time I see him. It’s like he has a mental connection to his guitar which makes every one of his songs come alive.  From his latest hit “Spotlight” to his biggest career hit “They Don’t Make Em’ Like That Anymore” Jason nailed each and everyone and had the crowd on their feet for the entire time. Being his home town show Jason’s family was in attendance and his father even joined him on stage to play guitar with him for “They Don’t Make Em’ Like That Anymore”, the touching tribute Jason wrote for his grandparents (up until earlier this year, both of his grandparents would attend every local show that Jason would play but sadly Jason’s grandfather passed away this summer making the performance all the more moving this time).

The trio capped off the night together again with a group cover performance of the “Honey I’m Good” by Andy Grammer and Eli Young Band.

It was a short show (only about 90 minutes) but they packed a lot of incredible country music into that time.

The Three’s A Party tour is headed west and wraps up at The Roxy in Vancouver on November 29.

Hendrik Pape

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