~Photos by Trish Cassling, Boots and Hearts, Cole Swindell, country music, Florida Georgia Line, Kane Brown, Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, The Cadillac Three, Toronto Awesome, Entertainment, Music
On a beautiful Thursday night in September, thousands of country music fans flocked to Toronto's Molson Canadian Amphitheatre to celebrate Florida Georgia Line's Dig Your Roots Tour ... and it was a party!
With a full night of country lined up, the music started with Kane Brown. The newcomer, known for his social media to the big stage ascent, brought a full band up with him to make sure the volume filled the amphitheatre. Kane did a great job working the crowd, walking the catwalks, and snapping quick pics with some of the fans standing at the edge of the stage. The Georgia boy used his deep, smooth voice to impress the early audience with tracks including, Wide Open, Thunder In The Rain, Pull It Off, and his first hit, Use To Love You Sober.
Keep an eye and ear out for Kane Brown, you're going to hear a lot more from him... we'd bet on it.
The Cadillac Three popped up next on the night's list of talent, bringing their guitar edged country music to the stage and turning things up a little bit. There's no doubting that these three Nashville boys love to have a good time, and relish the opportunity to start a good party - and that's exactly what they did on Thursday night.
The Cadillac Three Set List, Dig Your Roots Toronto 2016TC3 have their own new music on the market, with Bury Me In My Boots ready and waiting for you to listen... and you should. Just like the record, the live show was a banger, and the gritty trio gave it everything they had. Special mention goes out to R.A. Dickey, who Jaren dedicated Ship Faced to, and thanked for the gift of his Blue Jays hat. These cocky and charming southern boys were everything we wanted them to be live, and we can't wait to see them again with more time and more songs to play!
⍟ Party Like You
⍟ Ship Faced
⍟ White Lightning
⍟ Days Of Gold
⍟ The South
Another Georgia boy hit the stage in the third slot, and he hit it hard. Cole Swindell's stock has been rising since he burst onto the scene with Chillin' It in the number 1 spot on the charts. And in the three years since, he hasn't slowed down. Cole knew his job was to get everyone ready for FGL, and he did everything he could to make it happen. The energy was up, the crowd interaction was on point, and maybe most impressive to me, Swindell was incredibly humble, thanking the Toronto crowd again and again for supporting his music, singing his songs with him, and being there for the show.
The 33 year old has a whole lot of country music in him, and if we're lucky, he's going to keep writing it and singing it for us like he did at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre on Thursday night. If his smile on stage (from the start of his set to the finish) is any indication, I don't think there's anything that's going to be able to stop him!
Cole Swindell Set List, Dig Your Roots Toronto 2016We're looking forward to seeing Cole Swindell again soon, you should be there.
⍟ Down Home Boys
⍟ Hope You Get Lonely Tonight
⍟ Hoppin'
⍟ Chillin' It
⍟ Middle Of A Memory
⍟ Flatliner
⍟ No Can Left Behind
⍟ Let Me See Ya Girl
⍟ You Should Be Here
⍟ Ain't Worth The Whiskey
A lot of things get said about Florida Georgia Line, here are the things we're saying after Thursday night's headlining performance...
☞ Talented
☞ Great With The Crowd
☞ Funny
☞ New Gen
☞ Major League
Tyler and BK came down to the stage from their floating platforms to a HUGE pop from the Toronto crowd, and they didn't stop giving their fans what they wanted until they left the stage after the encore.
From their bro country hits like This Is How We Roll, to covers including Backstreet's Back (seriously, it was awesome, check the video a little further down in the post), to the slowed down smashes like H.O.L.Y., these two had the crowd in the palm of their hands. They worked the approximately 20,000 country lovers to the limit, with voices singing and screaming until they cracked, and feet dancing until they hurt.
Note: I have never heard the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre get louder than they did during H.O.L.Y. - the roar at the end of the song made it feel like my seat was shaking - and then when the Toronto crowd sang a chorus for Tyler and BK, with only the piano to lead them, it was incredible. Loud, crisp, clear, on time, and everything that we love about the live music experience.
The Dig Your Roots Tour is coming through because the new album with the same name just hit the world last Friday... and even brand new it was awesome to see people getting into songs like May We All, Smooth, and the title track. Because radio success is cool, but when the fans know your music enough to sing along after only being on the market for 6 days, you're in a pretty great spot as artists.
If you haven't listened to all 15 tracks on the new album yet, it's time for you to do that. This isn't the same record as Here's To The Good Times or Anything Goes. This isn't the same music that you've heard from Florida Georgia Line in the past. Yes, it's still got their attitude and stamp all over it, but the tides have started to turn from the pure party pop bro country to more subtle and maybe even grown up feel to it.
Note: Among the 20,000 in the crowd was 2015 National League MVP, Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals. If you don't follow baseball, you might not know who he is - but trust me, he's good. Really good.
Florida Georgia Line Set List, Dig Your Roots Toronto 2016
special thanks to our friend @cjtremblay for these next pics from her seat - and for the Backstreet's Back video you already watched! 
Cole Swindell, Dig Your Roots Tour Toronto 2016 
The Cadillac Three, Dig Your Roots Tour Toronto 2016 
Kane Brown, Dig Your Roots Tour Toronto 2016 
The FGL live show is something that you've really got to see to grasp. There's fire and smoke and lights and props and it's just go go go from minute one. We saw it once before at Boots & Hearts 2015 - but this was a whole other animal. And if you're a country music lover, Florida Georgia Line fan, or you just want to see some really big production value on stage, we'd recommend grabbing a ticket for the Dig Your Roots stop near you.
It was smash after smash all night from four country acts doing what they love and what they're best at. And we'd do it all over again tonight if we could!
