Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Luke Bryan Turns a Thursday Night in Ottawa Into a Country Party
People were already dancing and cheering as they walked to the line at the Canadian Tire Centre. That was probably the first sign that Luke Bryan’s Word On The Street Tour stop in Ottawa wasn’t going to feel much like a Thursday night.
Drew Baldridge got the night started while the arena was just starting to see people on their seats, but you wouldn’t have known it from watching him. He and his band played like the seats were already full. Covering Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” was also a pretty foolproof way to get an Ottawa crowd warmed up.
Lauren Watkins came next. Cowboy hats were becoming harder to avoid, people were starting to groove, and the arena was noticeably filling up. Like Baldridge before her, Watkins wasn’t trying to reinvent country music. She was there to celebrate it.
Then Lanie Gardner came flying out in sunglasses with a band that looked like they had collectively decided it was still 1993, and it worked. They hit hard from the start, and Gardner had the advantage of playing to an arena that was now getting close to what it would look like for the headliner. People were louder, drinks were flowing, and it finally felt like Luke Bryan was next.
Except he wasn’t. Not quite yet. Bryan was a little late getting onstage, so a DJ was tasked with keeping a packed Canadian Tire Centre entertained. Instead of killing the momentum, it turned the wait into its own little party. By the time the lights finally went down, people were more than ready.
And when he finally came out, the noise was unreal. The Canadian Tire Centre looked packed. For a Thursday night in Ottawa, that alone was impressive. When Bryan started playing, everyone in the building seemingly knew every word. That’s the difference between knowing someone has a lot of hits and actually seeing what those hits do to an arena.
Bryan has been one of the biggest country artists of his generation for long enough that these songs belong to his audience almost as much as they belong to him. There were moments where he could have stopped singing entirely and the show probably wouldn’t have missed a word.
The band deserves just as much credit for how good the night sounded. Everyone on that stage could play. The guitars were huge, the rhythm section hit hard, and the banjo or slide guitar rang through the entire arena in a way that was impossible to ignore.
Nothing about the show needed to be complicated. Luke Bryan showed up with a killer band, a ridiculous number of songs people knew by heart, and an arena full of fans who wanted to party. Sometimes that’s enough.
Actually, judging by the noise inside the Canadian Tire Centre, it was more than enough.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
LUKE BRYAN
LANIE GARDNER
LAUREN WATKINS
DREW BALDRIDGE
All Photo Credit: Gonzo Wassermann
Concerts Reviews
LØLØ Brings her ‘God Forbid a Girl Goes on Tour’ to the Pearl in Vancouver
LØLØ brought her second headlining tour – aptly named “God Forbid a Girl Goes on Tour” – to Vancouver this week, a first for the Canada-born artist. We’ve been a fan since we first heard “Death Wish” back in 2021, which seems like it was yesterday, and we aren’t going to overthink that right now. That being said, we’ve been waiting a long time for this night, and what a show!
We’ve been frequenting The Pearl more and more lately, and like so many others this show was sold out and packed wall-to-wall. There was a small mob for the first opener of the night, Dawson Gamble, and the floor was packed by the time Con the Artist took the stage. When LØLØ appeared, it was all plaid miniskirts and devil horns from the stage to the merch booth.
When the lights went down, LØLØ’s voice boomed over the speakers, narrating excerpts from a journal. LØLØ is not a choreographed, over-polished pop princess. Like so many artists that grew their audience from nothing, she does her best to connect with individuals in the audience. She takes her time, holds their hands, and during one memorable song, brings them on stage to dance.
“I think that people don’t want perfection,” she told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “They just want to see a live show and a special moment.”
LØLØ was very upfront about her adventures online, finding her voice, and time spent during COVID, and from the vibe you have to assume the audience had been there with her the entire time. From “The Floor is Lava” to “Faceplant,” all the hits were covered and sung along to. Speaking of which…
Must Hear Songs by LØLØ (In Our Humble Opinion):
• “death wish” (Single, 2021)
• “Hot Girls in Hell” (falling for robots, 2023)
• “u turn me on (but you give me depression)” (falling for robots, 2023)
• “Let It Go” (A Whole New Sound (Disney), 2024)
Fun fact: LØLØ was featured on a 2024 Disney punk album alongside Simple Plan, Magnolia Park, and Yellow Card, to name a few iconic bands. Check out her version of “Let It Go” from “Frozen.” It’s unexpected and a lot of fun.
LØLØ ‘s first moment of viral fame was her cover of “Hey There Delilah,” updated and sung from Delilah’s perspective. Pulling Con the Artist back on stage for a duet gave the crowd a wonderful, heartfelt moment that was honestly quite touching. Not everyone’s favorite song, but a lovely moment for everyone in the audience.
LØLØ, with several incredible songs in her library and with a stack of “Warped Tour” appearances already in the books, seems poised to breakthrough to the next level. She’s electric on stage, and animated, and we can only dream of the day she is given more space to play. Until then, another highlight concert of 2026, and something to think about until her next visit!
LØLØ Setlist:
• the devil wears converse
• pretty little wreck
• god forbid a girl spits out her feelings!
• THE FLOOR IS LAVA!
• debbie downer
• me with no shirt on
• the punisher
• 2 of us
• u turn me on (but u give me depression)
• faceplant
• Hey There Delilah
• death wish
• delusional darling
• junkie
• DON’T!
• dumbest girl in the world
• wish i was a robot
• hot girls in hell
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery. Thanks for attending the show with us and for checking out our review!
LØLØ
All Photo Credit: Jason Martin
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Bring Me the Horizon Lights Up Ottawa
Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, October 2 2026
Three bands, three very different flavours of heavy, and not a dull stretch in the night. From the opening notes of the first set to the last drop of confetti, this was a show that gave fans their money’s worth.
The Plot in You
The Plot in You had the job of waking up the room, and they did it by leaning on their biggest strength: the vocalist, Landon Tewers. He has a remarkable range, and what stood out most was how smoothly he moved between two completely different modes. One moment he was unleashing deep, guttural screams that hit like a wall of sound. The next he dropped into soft, melodic passages.
That contrast gave the set its shape. Instead of staying at full volume the whole time, the band let the quiet moments breathe, which made the heavy parts land harder. It was an impressive showing from an opener, and a good reminder that this is a band with real dynamic range.
Motionless in White
Motionless in White brought a different energy: dark, theatrical, and confident. With such an extensive discography, they had plenty of material to choose from, and the set felt like a well-curated tour through their career. Longtime fans had something to sing along to, and newcomers got a clear picture of what the band is about.
The look matched the sound too with the bassist and guitarist wearing creepy makeup and masks, which gave the stage a horror-movie atmosphere. It added to the show without ever pulling focus from the music, and it made them fun to watch even from the back of the room.
Bring Me the Horizon
Then it was time for one of the biggest rock acts in the world: Bring Me the Horizon. From the start, frontman Oli Sykes controlled the room. He wasn’t just performing at the crowd; he was directing it. He demanded circle pits and crowd surfing, and the floor responded. Pits opened up, bodies went over the barricade, and the whole arena never sat still.
The production was enormous. Fire, smoke, confetti, fireworks, and lasers were all deployed throughout the night, and none of it felt like a gimmick. Each effect was timed to hit at the right moment, amplifying the biggest drops and choruses. The backdrops and visuals were just as impressive, giving the stage a cinematic, almost apocalyptic feel that changed with the mood of each song.
One of the most striking moments came during “Shadow Moses,” when Oli brought out a flare. With the red glow cutting through the smoke and the crowd roaring the song back at him, it was one of those images that sticks in your memory long after the lights come up.
A young man was brought on stage to sing “Pray for Plagues,” a tradition the band has kept up at every show on this tour. After the fire, noise, and spectacle, it reminded everyone that this massive production still has room for a fan to share the spotlight.
Through all of it, the pacing was excellent. From their well known hit “Can You Feel My Heart” to their more recent “Darkside, the band balanced intense, high-energy stretches with moments that let the crowd catch its breath, and Oli kept the connection with the audience alive the whole way through.
This was a complete night of heavy music: a strong opener with a standout vocalist, a theatrical and razor-sharp middle act, and a headliner that treated the show like a full-scale production without losing the raw energy at its core. Loud, spectacular, and a whole lot of fun.
Head here for information on the rest of the tour.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
BRING ME THE HORIZON
MOTIONLESS IN WHITE
THE PLOT IN YOU
All Photo Credit: Kieran Delport