RICHMOND — Alberta country music star Brett Kissel sold out two of threeoutdoor social-distancing concerts at the Richmond Fair grounds last month. The unusual set-up required fans to stay in their vehicles. By show time, they were hanging out of their car windows. Others sat rooftop.
It was a dramatic breath of fresh air as for much of the last six months people have been locked out of restaurants and every group-related recreational activity. There were no country fairs this year, which is why the Richmond Agriculture Society held an emergency meeting when they learned that the Alberta star was looking for an Ottawa-area gig. The ag society jumped at the chance. “Rumour has it that all the other fairs are jealous,” said fair board director David Seabrook. “Everybody wanted him.”
The 4:30 p.m. sold-out open-field concert Sept. 19 under a beautiful blue sky allowed for 250 vehicles at a price of $180 per vehicle. They were filled with families, teens, and lovers with the top down. The only hiccup was when the Kissel team arrived. “They wanted professional stage hands and we said, ‘No,” Seabrook confessed. “You’re getting some farm boys.’”
Kissel connected early with his audience. “I’m a kid from a farm in the middle of nowhere and I had the number one album in the United States,” he said. Cars and pick-ups erupted in deafening honking. It made snarled Toronto traffic sound rinky-dink.
To make Kissel feel at home, local farmer and ag society president Rob Parks parked his large Case combine at the back of the field. When local boys Ryan Baker and Drake McLean climbed in for a better view, Kissel shouted out to them and waved. “My kind of people,” Kissel cried out, as he told the happy crowd he watched the two climb in the cab for a better view.
The afternoon show ended with more honking, clapping whistling, shouting and waving.
