First edition in the saddle!

Quebec’s first urban country festival finally took place on Friday and Saturday at Parc Jean-Drebeau after two years of postponement. In all, 35,000 festival-goers and country music fans gathered to celebrate this genre of music, which has yet to be showcased in a major city.

• Read more: Don’t miss shows at LASSO

• Read more: Old Dominion enchants festival-goers

“Society was yesterday’s buzzword [vendredi] », says Nick Farkas from the beginning. The Vice President of Programs, Concerts and Events at Evanco was obviously delighted and his LASSO was finally launched.

“It’s hard to keep your people motivated and engaged when an event like this is repeatedly postponed due to the pandemic.”

Emerging artists

The festival was aimed at young people, many for headliner Luke Bryan or inspired by the new country, but less for young people and as much for fans as for families. “Like all our other festivals, we wanted to deliver VibrationA very special spirit,” he adds.

Pioneered by Osheaga and îleSoniq, LASSO is able to offer huge venues that offer a completely different experience not only for the fans but also for the artists.

“Many upcoming artistes are not used to performing on such big stages. They enjoy finding themselves in the same environment as the headliners. It warms the heart,” continues Nick Farkas.

Figures hadn’t officially dropped at the time of going to press, but there were already 15,000 festival-goers on Friday, up from around 20,000 on Saturday.

“The first year, it’s been fantastic. We see Lasso in particular as a long-term investment,” explains Mr. Farkas.

“Our goal is to establish ourselves as a destination with country fans from all over the world within three or four years”.

A show for Matt Long in Montreal

Festival spokesman Matt Long was on fire on stage Saturday afternoon. He wasn’t shy about walking into crowds, handing out beers as they passed, and waving cowboy hats in the air.

In the middle of his performance, Maniwaki’s singer excitedly announced that he will be performing at Corona in Montreal on September 29. Tickets are on sale now.

Brittany Kennel

The first artist to perform on Saturday, Brittany Kennel delivered the goods solidly! Dressed in a white dress, fringed suede belt and white cowgirl boots, the Beaconsfield singer performed songs from her album I am not a saintt as well as a good cover All I want to do By Sheryl Crow.

He opened for Shania Twain at the famous Boots and Hearts festival in Ontario. She is the only female Quebec artist to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

RECLAWS

The energetic brothers-sisters from Ontario launched their show Live the night Much to the delight of festival-goers. Quickly, they had the crowd on their feet, followed by copious choruses or clapping. I feel that wayt or repeat 11 beers.

Jenna and Stuart Walker didn’t hesitate to give their show a more festive touch by sitting on the fridge singing, recalling the tone of the camps or exchanging a few shots of whiskey.

Those who attended the ceremony were delighted

Many of them were wearing cowboy hats, bandanas around their necks and tied shirts and smiling. The atmosphere was gently festive and from the start of the day, festival-goers tried to practice the steps of a line dance. Male! I feel like a woman.

After more than two years of waiting after the announcement of Lasso’s creation, many were happy to finally enjoy the event.

“We bought our tickets early,” explains Amelie de Valleyfield. She and her friends enjoyed the atmosphere of the site. They came especially for the Old Dominion, who on Friday, had a Luke Bryan show, and were especially appreciative of discovering Quebec artist Lily Rose and Ashley McBride.

Nicole and Denise, the “country fanatics”, had come down to Lasso for two days.

“It was a gift from our daughters, the best gift they could have given us,” says Denise. They were at Sarah Dufour’s fourth performance in Quebec and greatly appreciated the interaction with the Old Dominion public the day before.

Appreciated environment

Eric, Sacha and Nicolas from Montreal had come especially for Luke Bryan and were excited to see The Recluse.

“We bought our tickets on the first day of sale,” Sacha said. Young people in their twenties especially liked the atmosphere of the platform they were stepping on for the first time.

Several children also attended, including 10-year-old Zaélie, who was accompanied by her godmother Coralie. The young woman was also looking forward to seeing the evening’s headliner, having enjoyed the Ferris wheel rides earlier in the day.

In the reserved section at the front of the floor, Sylvie and Serge, avid fans of all kinds of festivals, were satisfied with the atmosphere. “We came with others for Matt Long and Luke Bryan. And for folding chairs, it’s great for us oldies,” laughed Serge.