Live Review: Michelle Wright, Ottawa SuperEx, Friday August 18. 2006

Fresh off a recruitment drive for World Vision and a spring trip to Afghanistan to entertain our troops who are doing the vital work of preventing states from falling into the hands of those who would fly planes into North American buildings (just in case you needed a reminder), the beautiful, humble and classy Canadian country singer Michelle Wright entertained no more than 300 fans at the SuperEx in Ottawa last night. (It might have been the threatening clouds, however, I think that the paltry attendance has to do with the inherent elitism in this town. But I digress.)

Opening with "Safe in the Arms of Love", a tune popularized south of the border by Martina McBride, Wright delivered a 90-minute set that was long on hits, new material and audience participation. Going from mainstream country to adult contemporary to pop to rock to honky-tonkin' to hurtin ballads and back again, Wright demonstrated the diversity of her material and the versatility of her voice. As is the usual with country artists, the lyrical content of her songs reflect the values of family, patriotism, faith, loyalty and optimism, which is one of things I love most about this genre today.

On the downside, the use of tapes for female backing vocals gets a frown from this traditionalist reviewer, and at times, the overly varied nature of her material made it sound a little bit like Wright is still looking for her niche despite nearly twenty years in the business. Playing fairs and the like is probably about as far she'll ever get, which explains why she probably can't afford to pay backup singers, but judging from her enthusiasm for performing and her genuine love for her audience, I don't think Wright seems to mind. Nor do they, I don't think. Wright made sure that the ones paying the bills, the fans, were given more than their proper due between tunes, and she stayed around to sign autographs later.

SIDE RANT: It's the stuff like that which makes me proud to be a mainstream country music fan and I think that anyone who can't get past their prejudices to give it a shot by attending events like the Ex to take it in is cheating themselves out of something they might really enjoy. Michelle Wright may not be as hip as the Marxist former heroin addict Steve Earle who was apparently playing some songs in between bashing America across town at the Folk Festival, but no one has to know that you even went if you don't tell anyone. And you can even pick up a Che Guevara shirt in the Cattle Castle on your way out just to confirm your "takin' on the man" cred.

Overall rating: 7.75/10