LONDON, Ont. -- It takes more than a little drizzle in the dark to leave Jann Arden high and dry.
The Calgary singer-songwriter joked about the weather at the Western Fair grandstand concert last night, headlining before a crowd estimated at about 4,000 fans.
"You can always say, 'I got wet at a Jann Arden concert,' " she assured the happy crowd in a double-entendre Arden admitted her mother might find objectionable.
Nobody in the Arden-friendly gathering responded with anything other than a Richter-registering guffaw at this and other raunchy bits of classic just Jann. These included her plans for Haydain Neale, frontman for Jacksoul, the Toronto urban R&B group which opened last night's show.
"Maybe I'll get to sleep with him," Arden mused early in her set before joking it was time to play her last song because too much time had been taken up in her comic chitchat.
Oh, there were songs, too, all of them gratefully received by the moist Arden worshippers in the rain and their dryer pals in the less expensive seats under the grandstand. The crowd filled in the title on Insensitive, during an unplugged-style interlude.
Arden used that mid-concert mini-set to revisit her 1990s hits, including Insensitive with its Celine Dion moment -- getting a big laugh for a dramatic hand thrust to the air -- and Could I Be Your Girl?
As she did at a show at Centennial Hall earlier this year, Arden also spent time with material from her new CD Blood Red Cherry. Waiting In Canada was her opener and Arden and her band came up with even harder rocking versions of such CD-mates as Sleepless, Cherry Popsicle, I Only Wanted Sex and Piece Of It All than at the Centennial Hall concert.
When it time for the encore, the rain had pretty much stopped -- Arden went with one dedicated to her family, Good Mother.
But as anyone of her "little potatoes" -- which is Jann-talk for rain ponchos -- could have told, she had about 4,000 family members with her rain or shine last night.
Speaking of numbers, Saturday's attendance was 40,182, up from 32,445 on Day 2 last year. Last night's attendance was still being totalled after the Arden concert ended.
Tonight, U.S. country star Collin Raye headlines at the grandstand concert. Canadian comedian Ron Pardo is the opener.
Speaking of openers, Jacksoul's smooth harmonies and solid funk deserve a closing shot of their own one day.
Arden's view of the Toronto band's attractions is already a matter of comic record.
The combination of Jacksoul's hits such as Can't Stop and Arden's wit and hurt blended beautifully. That has not been the case for Friday night's concert with the fair still looking for an opening act for Chantal Kreviazuk. Folkie Jason Mitchell has dropped out.
