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Canadian country music star Dean Brody can party -- and be serious.
As evidenced by his concert last night at Mission Hill winery in West Kelowna where he belted out his hits and also raised money for International Justice Mission (IJM), which fights modern slavery, human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children.
It was a hybrid event unlike most other concerts in the outdoor amphitheatre at the winery.
For the sell-out audience of 800, Brody was a crowd-pleaser by getting right to it with four of his biggest, pump-up hits right off the bat -- Canadian Summer, Whiskey in a Teacup, Canadian Girls and Bring Down the House.
In fact, for Bring Down the House, the lawn in front of the stage filled with mostly women to dance to the upbeat country-pop crossover chart topper and sing-along: 'Hey, I, want you girl. You make my heart, heart flutter like a tilt-a-whirl. I might have grown up in a barn. But I can bring down the house.'
The scene led Brody to quip: "Wine is a wonderful thing."
Then he got earnest.
The evening was billed as a 'concert for a cause' so he introduced International Justice Mission, a charity he's been involved with for over a decade.
He outlined a grim trip he made to Brazil where girls are forced into prostitution and he decided to make International Justice Mission his cause.
He urged people to donate what they can at ijm.ca.
Then a painting of Brody, signed by the star, was auctioned off to the highest bidder -- who pledged $25,000.
Halfway through the bidding, Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland, who co-chaired the concert, agreed to sweeten the pot with four tickets to an Oilers game and a meet-and-greet with the team's superstar player Connor McDavid.
Brody sang a song of hope he wrote after meeting a girl forced into the sex trade in Brazil and his ballad 'Time' before turning the stage over to the Dwayne Gretzky Band.
The nine-piece group -- which is no relation to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, but likes to play off the name -- is a slick cover band from Toronto.
As such, it launched into set of international smashes that again got the crowd up dancing -- Man, I Feel Like a Woman (Shania Twain), 9-5 (Dolly Parton), Dancing Queen (ABBA), I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Whitney Houston) and Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen).
The concert was the second of four in Mission Hill's summer concert series.
The first was Blue Rodeo on July 6, tonight country-R&B singer Johnny Reid is sold out and there are a few tickets still available for trumpet virtuoso Chris Botti on Aug. 30.
Check out MissionHillWinery.com.
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