REVIEW

Sawyer Brown 40th Anniversary Tour

With Shenandoah

Special Guest George Fox

CANADIAN TOUR OCT 17TH - NOV 2ND, 2024

Concert Review Date

October 25th, 2024

VisitLethbridge.com Arena

Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

7:00 PM - 10:20 PM

By Curtis Newart

November 1, 2024

Sawyer Brown 40th Anniversary Tour at VisitLethbridge.com Arena in Lethbridge, Canada, on October 25, 2024, with Shenandoah, and special guest George Fox. (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

George Fox. (Photo credit: Daniel Alexander)

The multiple Juno Award winning George Fox ran onstage at 7 PM to kick off a 3.5 hour country music concert to celebrate Sawyer Brown's 40th Anniversary. Shenandoah was on hand, performing some of their biggest hits.

George Fox and band (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

Fox and his 5-piece band were energetic and in great form. The three-time Canadian Country Music Award winner joked that at his wedding to his wife Monica, when it came time for her to say I do, she said, “You’ll do. I mean I do.”

Fox is a Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.

He got another big laugh from the audience when he said, “The next song is about me in the hot tub with Shania Twain." Big laughs from the audience. "Or was it Kim Campbell?” A few smaller laughs. For those who don't remember Campbell, she was the shortest-serving Prime Minister of Canada at less than five months. When I spoke with Fox after his set, and told him I loved the joke, he mused, "and she really was short." By the way, the next song wasn’t about either woman.

Fox says he picked the songs to play tonight by checking out his Spotify top plays.

Full Set List:

Wear and Tear on My Heart
Goldmine
I Give You My Word
First Comes Love
No Trespassing
The Night the Barn Burned Down

During the first intermission, Fox had a long line of fans eager to get signed copies of his new book Trail of The Fox (a tour exclusive), and possibly a photo. Security had to cut the line short, unfortunately, as Shenandoah was about to take the stage.

Fox gave us a signed copy for one of our lucky readers to win! Winner to be announced November 4th

Curtis Newart and George Fox (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

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WINNER!
Gina D
of Camrose, AB

READ ORIGINAL PREVIEW!

Shenandoah is a GRAMMY Award, Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMA), and Country Music Association Awards (CMAA) winning band.

The 6-piece band opened with "Next to You, Next to Me", featuring Marty Raybon on lead vocals, Mike McGuire on drums, Paul Sanders on bass, Donnie Allen on fiddle/acoustic/electric, Austin Brown on lead guitar, and Dale Wallace on keys.

Shenandoah (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

Shenandoah

They played some of their biggest hits, including "Two Dozen Roses". Their new duet with Luke Combs is up for GRAMMY consideration in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance category.

Full Set List:

Next to You, Next to Me
The Moon Over Georgia
If Bubba Can Dance, I Can Too
Mama Knows
Sunday in the South
I Got You
I Want to Be Loved Like That
Medley – When A Man Loves a Woman (Percy Sledge), Mustang Sally (Wilson Pickett), Family Tradition (Hank Williams Junior), Old Time Rock and Roll (Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band), Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Two Dozen Roses
Church on Cumberland Road

During a hilarious sing-along portion of the song "I Want to Be Loved Like That", Raybon seemingly held a note for several minutes as he kept switching the microphone between him and the audience.

Another fun moment was when Raybon took the phone from a fan in the front row and sang into it, then filmed the audience. Click here for video

Raybon said that while touring Canada he has enjoyed the love and hospitality that Canadians have shown to them, in a world full of hate. When he’s not touring, he visits prisons as a pastor to inmates.

Raybon threw more than a few guitar picks into the audience. One guy in about the 4th row kept trying to catch one, and Raybon continued to throw them his way, but I don’t know if the poor guy ever got one.

Raybon spoke of the band’s hometown of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the one-time “hit recording center of the world” where major acts recorded. He then sang a medley of some of their songs, including When A Man Loves a Woman (Percy Sledge), Mustang Sally (Wilson Pickett), Family Tradition (Hank Williams Junior), Old Time Rock and Roll (Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band), and Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd).

They gave us a signed tour T-shirt for one of our lucky readers to win! Winner to be announced November 4th

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WINNER!
Melanie U
of Blacksville, NB

READ ORIGINAL PREVIEW!

Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMA), and Country Music Association Awards (CMAA) winners Sawyer Brown headlined with their 6-piece band, including Mark Miller on lead vocals, Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard on keys and hooter, Shayne Hill on lead guitar, Joe "Curly" Smyth on drums, Joe Erkman on guitar, and Nathan Winkler on bass.

The Boys and Me

Drive Me Wild

Miler said that when he was diagnosed with a throat ailment in September, he was told they would have to cancel their Canadian tour. The crowd gave a loud boo. He said he told them, "no way", generating a loud round of cheers.

Miller started hot with "The Boys And Me", plus his notable wild antics. The women were screaming (possibly some men, too). Over the hour and twenty minute show, the band played a ton of hits, plus the rocking "Under This Ole Hat", from their new album Desperado Troubadors (produced by Blake Shelton). Miller impersonated Shelton in a slow drawl (drawing giggles from the audience), saying that this album might be Sawyer Brown's best.

Under This Ole Hat

Mark Miller having fun

Miller told a story of how following their Star Search win, they received a phone call from Kenny Rogers. He invited them to open for himself and Dolly Parton, to which Sawyer Brown wholeheartedly agreed.

Miller said that after Sawyer Brown first opened for Rogers, they felt that they had done an outstanding job, and stood in the wings to watch Rogers perform, saying to one another, "follow that, old man.” He said Kenny sauntered up to the microphone, eyeballed Sawyer Brown, gave them a wink, then started singing "The Gambler".

The crowd applauded as Sawyer Brown played a rousing rendition of the song.

Sawyer Brown singing "The Gambler"

Hobie sang a joyous cover of Life’s Been Good (Joe Walsh), while doing an MC Hammer-like dance across the stage, and making humorous hand gestures. At the finish, he encouraged people to continue applauding for his actions so that he could collect on a bet from Miller. The longer people cheered him, he announced the totals of his wins as they rose from 20 to 80 dollars, to the delight of the crowd.

Miller said he and Hobie have known each other since the eighth grade, and that one of their classmates, John Anderson, had recently been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Hill sang "Swingin’" in tribute.

At one point, Miller's fellow band members performed a well-executed stunt of blocking him at every turn from getting to a microphone, or they would stand up front and play over him. They took turns 'stealing the spotlight' from Miller, which became uproarious by the end of the song.

Sawyer Brown (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

In recognition of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, for whom Sawyer Brown used to open, they sang an exuberant cover of “Fishin’ in the Dark” (which got bums out of seats).

Shayne Hill guitar solo

Following "All These Years", Miller jokingly commented, that he was surprised by all the cheering for a song about infidelity. Shortly after, Miller asked for a show of hands of people in the audience who had never seen Sawyer Brown live in concert before. After the show of hands, Hill joked that it was the same people who cheered for infidelity.

Miller announced that their highly-anticipated documentary Get Me To The Stage On Time, will be coming out on November 4th. He said it will be available to rent or buy on Amazon, iTunes, and Google but he prefers that you buy it (earning a good laugh from the crowd).

Get Me To The Stage On Time documentary promo (Source: Sawyer Brown Facebook)

Sawyer Brown (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

The crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to Miller. He told the crowd he just turned 40, which got a laugh (he is 66). Hobie jokingly told the crowd that each of us in the audience needed to go to Timmies (Tim Hortons) to buy Miller a donut.

Happy Birthday to Mark Miller

They closed strong, with their George Jones cover song hit, "The Race Is On". Their encore was a jubilant performance of "Some Girls Do".

Full Set List: