Emerson Drive, the Canadian country band knows how to put on a show. Going to a concert is always a risky venture. You can never be sure that the band will sound anything like their albums.

Sometimes bands are terrible, often mediocre, mostly good and rarely phenomenal. This past Friday night Emerson Drive was the latter during their show at the Grizzly Rose.

The show was an hour and half of non stop music all of it high energy and more that entertaining. The playing was tight, they are all good musicians and the harmonies (which often don’t translate live) were on point. They did a great job playing old favorites and material from their forthcoming album.

They played their new single, “A Good Man” early in the show. And because of air time on the radio most people seemed to know the words, despite the fact that the album hasn’t even come out yet. The crowd was totally in to it and they had us hooked.

Their old hits were met with a roar of approval. Most notably their first hit, “I should be sleeping,” off their self-titled 2002 release. Everyone knew the words to this and everyone was singing along. Not that crowds help detracted from their harmonies which were beautiful.

“Fishin’ the dark,” another old crowd pleaser allowed the audience to get involved with the show when the band started a sing-along. And at the moment that entire place was totally buzzing with energy.

They also played a number of slow songs which acted as a nice break between the high energy levels. They also gave the band members ample time to show off their impressive vocals.

But arguably the most enjoyable aspect of the concert was its unique use of the instrumental. They played two different songs sans lyrics. What was nice was that the lead singer made his way to the back of the stage and out of the spotlight.

To often when bands do instrumental pieces the lead singer stays center stage and continues his or her antics which detracts from the music. But not this time, the music took center stage and it was totally enjoyable.

Most notably was the dueling between the fiddle player and the bass player. Both were on fire and totally in to it. This is not your average country, but it is country that rocks and these are great musicians.

But the best part was their obvious enjoyment of the music, the crowd and almost more importantly each other. They love what they do and it shows. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand all night. And when the finally left the stage the crowd’s enthusiam brought them back for a multi-song encore. After the concert the band hung out and signed autographs for the hundreds of fans who lined up as soon as the late note ended.

And if the new music played was an indication check out their new album in August it will be worth the wait.