American country music, historically shunned by the media and the general public in our countries, made an historic breakthrough in Quebec in 2022 thanks to the success of Luke Combs concerts and the new Lasso Festival in Montreal. Will this interest last? Connoisseurs believe in it.
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Matt Lang, one of Quebec’s most prominent artists today, is adamant. “It’s going to get bigger and bigger,” says the man who had the chance to open for Luke Combs in Quebec City last summer.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
Matt Lang in action during the inaugural presentation of Lasso Festival August 13 in Montreal.
On that July evening, the charismatic American singer drew more than 70,000 people to the Plains of Abraham. It was by far the largest crowd since the summer festival has featured country stars on its main stage.
That’s not all, Luke Combs then returned to perform sold-out concerts at Montreal’s Bell Center and Quebec’s Videotron Center in November for festive and…thirsty crowds.
“During the show, I didn’t see anyone coming back from the bar with less than two beers in hand,” laughs show Zone New Country host on the airwaves of radio station WKND Gab Marineau, who believes Quebec has the test in the year passed in 2022.
“If it hadn’t worked there, it would never have worked. »
lifestyle
There is increasing evidence that American country music is firmly established in Quebec. Last summer, 35,000 spectators attended the concerts at the lasso festival, Evenko’s Newborn, which hosted Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
Luke Bryan was one of the headliners at the Lasso Festival in August.
The event will return in 2023 and we learned on Wednesday that the headliners will be Kane Brown and Chris Stapleton.
The recent announcement of another American country star’s arrival in 2023, Morgan Wallen, has drawn a strong reaction and all tickets for his Montreal and Quebec concerts, which are being offered at gold prices, are expected to go on sale starting Friday .
AFP
Morgan Wallen was a guest at the CMA Awards in Nashville last month.
“The current successes and enthusiasm are obviously more than a passing whim,” says the Videotron Centre’s program director, Dominique Goulet.
“(Country music) reaches a large, young audience who recognize in this music a lifestyle, a community, a habit of consumption not just of the music itself but of the experience during the shows,” she says.
Like metal fans
Ms. Goulet even draws a parallel between country music devotees and those who love metal.
“They recognize themselves in the music, in the clothes and in the rituals proposed by the artists, such as Ghost’s makeup or Luke Combs’ beer toss. »
Matt Lang maintains that Québecians resonate with the unifying side of country music, as well as its accessibility. “It works everywhere. You can hear it in a tank or when going through a heartbreak. »
Other stars in sight
In addition to the Combs, Wallen, Brown and Stapleton, Quebecers can hope for more country stars to visit us in the years to come. “The trail is open”, image Gab Marineau, who counts on the possible arrival of artists of the caliber of Blake Shelton and the Zac Brown Band.
For his part, Dominique Goulet adds the names of Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Old Dominion, Hardy and Thomas Rhett to the big country names that could perform at the Videotron Center.
So keep your cowboy hat handy country lovers, you will surely have more and more occasions to wear it.