Canadian Vacation, The Cadillac Three and Black Mountain Whiskey Rebellion Take Toronto

Long hair, loud guitars and rockin’ country music took over Toronto’s Queen Street East on Thursday night when The Cadillac Three and Black Mountain Whiskey Rebellion hit the stage and went all-in.

From start to finish The Opera House was home to a good time. Both bands walked the line between rock and roll and country, mashing them up, making them one, and entertaining an engaged and excited crowd. A quick look around the room saw just as much black leather and tattoos as plaid and denim. Proving, once again, that the modern country music crowd is more than just the pop stereotype that it’s sometimes saddled with.

As the Thursday night audience was filing into the building and making their way to the bar, the music started with Black Mountain Whiskey Rebellion hitting the stage.

The stage was full for this set. And that’s not an exaggeration. The full Black Mountain Whiskey Rebellion lineup; Mitch Merrett, Corbett Frasz, Erik Dylan, Greg Carroll, and Mike Little were all there. Plus, special guest (and friend of the band/ collaborator) Clay Bellamy joined them to make it a half dozen dudes up there having a blast.

This collection of veteran musicians/ singers/ songwriters is clearly having a good time when they play. We saw it at the MDM 10th-anniversary party during CCMA weekend, and they doubled down on it this time. With a nine-song set that had no lulls, no letdowns, and no rest for the wicked, BMWR knows exactly what they’re doing and how to do it.

With dual guitars, bass, keys, drums and vocals, they push out a full, grungy, dirty, guitar-driven sound and black mountain harmonies that are making people pay attention. Rolling Stone gave them love right away. Holy Smoke has more than 400,000 spins on Spotify, and now live crowds are getting a taste – and loving it – on the Canadian Vacation Tour.

Note: We also have to give some love to the total accumulation of hair and beard in the band. It’s glorious.

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The set included a cover of Steve Earle’s Fixin’ To Die, ended with Dylan’s Willie Nelson T-Shirt and also teased new music that we’ll hear on the band’s debut album. Bloody Bill, It Ain’t Broke, Stillhouse Blues, and Wolves are all legit and we want to hear them again.

Whenever the album drops, we’ll be ready. Whenever these boys roll back through on a tour, we’ll be ready.

Thursday night’s headliners, Tennesee country rockers The Cadillac Three have been favourites of Canadian country fans for years, and their following is only growing. We’ve had the chance to see it up close and personal on tours with Florida Georgia Line, Dallas Smith, at Country Thunder and the Calgary Stampede, and at their own private gig last fall in Toronto.

Related: Dang If We Didn’t, The Cadillac Three Take Toronto!

Each and every time we’ve seen more and more fans in the crowd singing along to the music. We’ve seen more enthusiasm from the front row to the back. It’s been great to see, and on Thursday night in Toronto, it was all on display.

Note: During the set, Jaren gave a shout out to Big Machine label boss Scott Borchetta who was in the crowd. And when the band played White Lightning near the end of the set, Borchetta himself was one of the first to hold up his hand in a #3 in tribute to the late Dale Earnhardt, Sr. It was pretty cool to see.

From the moment TC3 started playing, while the crowd was still in the middle of their welcoming applause and cheering, this was a banger. “Can I get a hell ya?!”, Jaren asked, and he got it as the boys started to rip through a more than 90-minute set that included more than 20 songs from their first three albums, and a taste of what’s coming next.

The announcement during the show that the band has finished recording their next album drew loud cheers, and now we can’t wait. It’s been just over a year since Legacy was released, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not ready for more. We are.

Related: Legacy, The Cadillac Three Album Review

Throughout the night the volume from the speakers mixed with the singing and screaming in the crowd to create the kind of atmosphere that makes live music a special experience. The Opera House audience was more than happy to show TC3 how loved they are. And when they got the White Lightning at the second last song of the night, they belted it out.

The response from Jaren was perfect and everything we could have hoped for when he exclaimed, “That shit never gets old. Thank you, Toronto!”.

All night this was a southern rock and roll/ country music celebration, and everyone in the room was onboard. They paid back all of the energy that Jaren, Kelby, and Neil put out. And sometime after we all thanked daddy for Hank and mama for Jesus, Jaren exclaimed, “God bless this thing called country and western heavy metal music.”.

And after they finished the show with a rousing, rowdy rendition of The South, we agreed. Bless it indeed, because it’s a whole lot of fun!

Photos of The Cadillac Three at The Opera House, Toronto

photos: Trish Cassling

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Joshua Murray

creator of content, daddy blogger, writer, coffee drinker, fan of the Batman. proud mo bro. prouder dad.