By: Julia Vodyanyuk
Canadian country hit Dean Brody sold out the Algonquin Commons Theatre on Oct. 3 and performed to a crowd of close to 800 cowgirls and cowboys with guest Cory Marquardt.
This is the first time the theatre has ever sold out a show since it opened.
North Bay native Cory Marquardt opened the show with an intimate acoustic set playing a mix of originals and familiar covers that had everyone dancing.
Among the covers, an acoustic but lively version of crowd favorite Footloose was performed.
Dean Brody hit the stage shortly after in a wide-brimmed cowboy hat wearing an acoustic guitar and started his set with one of his most recent radio hits Dirt.
Later Brody performed Brothers to which the energy in the crowd instantly went from energetic to completely somber.
“It was a song that I wrote when I was on top of a mountain in B.C.” he said during an interview after the show, “people just really connected with it, but I feel like I could have written it even better because it was one of my earliest songs.”
The song had half the crowd in tears. Brody himself turned around at the end of the song and as the lights dimmed, Brody wiped his eyes and took a moment.
At the end of the set, Brody patriotically sang O Canada to a crowd that happily sang along.
The stage lights shined red and white and then he fired off his best-known song, Canadian Girls.
After the show, several lucky fans and their guests had a chance to have a meet and greet to get pictures and sign autographs with Brody who greeted every fan like a friend.
“(Canada)is home, I lived in the United States for six years and whenever I crossed the border, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I didn’t quite belong,” he said, “when I’m in here I feel like I belong, anywhere in Canada feels like home,”
Brody joked that Dunkin’ Donuts has nothing on good old Canadian coffee from Tim Hortons.
After meeting some students from Algonquin, Brody spoke about his college experience.
Before getting into music, Brody went to school in Alberta for a few years, “I took architectural design,” he said.
“I was so bored,” he said, “it wasn’t artistic anymore, just more computer-based. So I sent a bunch of unsolicited CDs out to Nashville and the senior A&R guy at Sony records actually got back to me, which is unheard of.”
“My friends definitely made college for me,” Brody said, “just 7 other people who get you.”
Brody will be busy the next few months kicking off his Crop Circles and Tractor Beams tour as well as his charity, The Dean Brody Foundation, which helps young children at risk of human trafficking and child prostitution.
With some shows on the tour already sold out and popularity rising, Brody said that he hopes to come back to Algonquin again in the future.