by Kerrie-Ann Schoenit, Black Press
Fresh off their Academy of Country Music Award win for Vocal Duo of the Year, Florida Georgia Line arrived in Abbotsford on Wednesday ready to party.
The high-energy duo wowed the sold-out crowd of fans at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre as the Here’s To The Good Times tour rolled into town. The concert was the fastest selling show in the arena's history, with more than 6,000 tickets sold in about eight minutes on the first day of sales back in December.
Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley set the tone for night by hitting the stage with "It'z Just What We Do," "Party People," and "Tip It Back."
"This is for the people who work hard to earn money to come see us play. Thank God for allowing our music to come up here," said Hubbard while doing a shot of Fireball whiskey with Kelley on stage before singing "Round Here."
"We have a hell of lot to celebrate tonight. This is going to be a wild ride."
The duo performed to a sea of plaid shirts, blue jeans and cowboy boots. The younger crowd never stopped singing along to Florida Georgia Line's hits, which included "This Is How We Roll," Stay," and "Get Your Shine On."
Hubbard and Kelley also showcased their vocal diversity with a hip-hop medley as well as renditions of Bruno Mars' "Grenade" and Alabama's "I'm In A Hurry."
After over an hour of entertaining and engaging the crowd, chants of "FGL" brought the duo and their band back to the stage for a three-song encore, which ended with their platinum selling hit "Cruise" and a shower of confetti.
In Canada, Florida Georgia Line was crowned the No. 1 Most Played Country Artist on radio in 2013, having launched three consecutive, multi-week No. 1 smash hits. They are also the only artist to join Brooks & Dunn in having their first three singles hit No. 1 for multiple weeks each on Billboard's Hot Country Songs Chart.
The night's entertainment kicked off with a set from newcomer Chris Lane, who was making his debut performance in Canada. He not only showcased his own music, but covered several popular R&B, pop and hip hop songs. Lane has played more than 500 shows, opening up for Florida Georgia Line, The Band Perry, Eli Young Band, Chris Young, Brantley Gilbert and was also featured on Lee Brice's The Otherside tour.
Langley singer-songwriter Dallas Smith then took the stage, bringing the screaming crowd to its feet with his rock-country hit "Nothing But Summer." The former Default frontman worked the stage with a high-energy set that was filled with plenty of guitar riffs. Smith performed several songs off his Jumped Right In album, including "If It Gets You Where You Wanna Go," "Somebody Somewhere," and "Jumped Right In." He also performed his former band's most well-known hit "Wasting My Time" and ended the set with his new single "Tippin Point."
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by Victoria Gill
W.J. Mouat Secondary
Florida Georgia Line kept their fans engaged all night and created an electric atmosphere that left the whole crowd buzzing.
The Florida Georgia Line concert became the fastest sell-out in the history of the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre (AESC).
With an attendance of 7,000 happy fans, general manager Jason Blumenfeld said last night’s turnout was "outstanding" and he couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Chris Lane brought the AESC to life as the opening act. Seeing an upcoming artist perform as well as he did was impressive.
Dallas Smith from Langley also made an appearance and rocked the stage. Fan Tyler Doyle said, “seeing a performance by a local artist like Dallas Smith was unreal,” adding it was a proud evening for not only himself, but the community as a whole.
Morgan Klimchuk, Collin Valcourt and Brett Kulak of the Abbotsford Heat attended the concert and collectively agreed, “it was a great turnout with lots of energy,” and they're hoping their playoff games will yield similar crowds.
Kira Fast, a lucky fan, won dinner and limo service along with two tickets to the concert on behalf of Murray GM.
Spectator Trevor Pridie remarked, “I wasn’t a country fan before the concert but have to admit that I’ve been converted.”
From the perspective of a teenage fan, I’ve got to say it was definitely an unforgettable experience and was hands down the best concert I've been to so far.
With fantastic bands, great fans and a full house, Abbotsford clearly showed “this is how we roll.”