Ashley McBryde Brings “The Devil I Know” Tour to Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom [Show Review]

After an absence of almost six years, Ashley McBryde returned to the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on March 25th to present her The Devil I Know tour. The welcoming Vancouver fans were waiting with their cowboy boots and hats for the delightful night ahead.

Opening the show, we enjoyed listening to Kasey Tyndall, who was stepping on Canadian ground for the first time. The North Carolina native sang ten songs, including two unreleased ones, covers of “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne and “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” by Joan Jett.

The country fans were highly pleased by Kasey’s set, who performed without a band, just her voice, presence and guitar were more than enough to keep the crowd dancing and singing along.

Ashley McBryde walked to the stage while “Devil Woman” by Cliff Richard played in the background. She opened her set with “Blackout Betty,” from her most recent album with the same title as the Album. “Brenda Put Your Bra On” was her third song, for which she brought to the stage a gigantic Red Bra while the fans sang along word for word.

Ashley’s interactions with her fans in between songs are fascinating. As a great songwriter, the delivery of her story is at the same level. One of the things she highlighted was how, back in her last presentation in Vancouver, at the same venue opening for Luke Combs on April 23, 2018, she and the band were travelling in a small tour bus, and she had no idea how they were all able to sleep there. Forwarding to 2024, she is headlining her tour, travelling with two tour buses plus a semi, with a bigger band and more team members behind the stage.

For the 8th song of her set, she performed “Girl Goin’ Nowhere” out of her Grammy-nominated album with the same name, a song with a strong meaning for her, inspired by a condescending remark made by her teacher discouraging her musical aspirations.

During her performance, Ashley performed songs from all over her discography, 22 songs in total, including, “6th of October,” “Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega,” “Women Ain’t Whiskey” and “First Thing I Reach For.”

To close her regular set, she played “The Devil I Know” but had to return to the stage to deliver “Marthe Divine” and “Bible and .44” to her fans who did not want the concert to end.