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By Sarah Lemmon Photos by sprout

Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans– Commodore Ballroom Wednesday, Feb 20th 2008.

I have to admit, I’ve been avoiding modern country music most of my life. I classified the sound as songs about dogs dying, wives leaving and other generic radio waste. I unintentionally stumbled upon Corb Lund because my roommates local band ‘”Rosco” have covered several of his songs. I enjoyed my friends playing them, but being a Hurtin’ Albertan virgin, I was excited to hear the original compositions of the songs I only had experienced second hand.

Wednesday was the first of two, sold out, back-to-back shows at the Commodore Ballroom, a favorite venue and a perfect match to the military motif in their latest album “Horse Solider! Horse Solider!” Dressed in Civil war uniforms, Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans open with their new hit “I Wanna Be in the Cavalry.”

Corb’s guitar and vocal talent come in as a close second with his true talent living in his lyrics. He is a wonderful songwriter and an authentic story teller reminding me of Willie Nelson or Waylon Jennings whom he covers nicely performing “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” and “Seven Spanish Angels.”

Halfway through his performance Corb thanked his audience by saying “I love that I can write songs about anything and you guys will still like them.” What other modern day musician can write an entire album about military history and horses and successfully target anyone other then war veterans? The majority of tonight’s sold out audience were under the age of thirty.

The set was a combination primarily of songs from his three most recent albums featuring major hits like “Switch to Whiskey” and “The Truck Got Stuck.” He reminded the audience that he now has five albums and delighted some of his favorite fans with some of his earlier releases including “Heavy and Lifting.” He finished with “I Wanna Be in the Cavalry Reprise” book-ending the set nicely.

Corb Lund surprised me with a reminder of why songs were sung. Around me drunken fans were pushing their way onto the stage in an offbeat ruckus barely listening to the lyrics. I stopped dancing, stood motionless, and watched as Corb struggled to perform with tears in his eyes. The original song opens with a lighter youthful tone in the lyrics “I beg of you sarge let me lead the charge when the battle lines are drawn/ Lemme at least leave a good hoof beat that’ll remember loud and long.” The reprised version is truthful and timeless, reflecting not only the history of war, but war today. “With morale in doubt and our pride run out no honor did I see/ All I seen were a thousand dreams piled dead in front of me.”

A vulnerable, beautiful, encore performance was given and most of the audience was missing it. They were more interested in what he would play next, chanting “Hockey Song,” which previously had been wardrobed by an Edmonton Oilers flag fashioned as a cape. Being Oilers fan myself I am a little disappointed he didn’t perform it but 14th place in the western conference isn’t really something to strut the flag over especially in Vancouver, BC.

The two-hour performance was a little bit long for this crowd, not to mention forty-five minutes from opening act Hayes Carll, another brilliant singer/songwriter. I think as the tour progress the show will tighten up.

Backed up by Kurt Ciesla on bass, Grant “Demon” Siemens playing guitar and “everything else”, and Brady Valgardons on drums, Corb Lund gave a spirited and honest performance converting me from a country coward into a not-so-hurtin-Corb-lovin-Albertan!

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