On a chilly Tuesday night, Jason Bradley DeFord A.K.A. Jelly Roll finally made his Montreal debut at a jam-packed Place Bell as part of his ‘Beautifully Broken’ tour. We made it through a sea of Cowboy boots, trucker hats, and ripped jeans to see the Nashville songwriter deliver an unforgettable show full of striking visuals and pyrotechnics, but also some truly heartfelt moments.
The night kicked off a few minutes before 7pm with Savannah Dexter, who warmed up the quickly growing crowd at Place Bell with half an hour of upbeat country pop.
Next up was rising country star Josh Ross. This wasn’t the first time the Canadian singer performed in the city, and even though he was dealing with an audience 10 times bigger than his last gig at Beanfield theatre, he had no problem warming up the Montreal crowd. This arena was certainly ready to party, even for a Tuesday night.
The crowd welcomed Ross with open arms, singing along to songs like “Red Flag” and “Trouble.” He also threw in a couple of unexpected covers. Gotta admit, when I woke up this morning, listening to “Lips of an Angel” (originally by Hinder) live wasn’t on my bingo card. That’s the kind of song that, if you went to highschool in the mid 2000s, lives rent free in the deep corners of your brain like a Mentos jingle.
Around 9pm, host DJs ‘Arena Rockers’ cleared up the B stage of Place Bell and the lights went down. The giant widescreen setup lit up with a 10 second countdown: It was finally time. The crowd was roaring, ready to finally see the Rap-Country phenomenon deliver an unforgettable set.
The clock striked zero and a white light illuminated the east side of the crowd, where Jelly Roll walked in slowly, taking his time and basking in the warmth of the Montreal people. As he made his way through the stage, he stopped at least 10 times to sign autographs, take selfies, and give fist bumps to kids in the front row. I confess, I wasn’t super familiar with Jelly Roll’s music or persona before tonight (outside of the mainstream songs), but it’s gestures like these, especially coming from big time stars, that really makes it impossible to not fall in love with them.
He finally reached the back of the arena stage, smiling ear to ear, and started off his set with one of his biggest hits: “I Am Not Okay.” His powerful voice cut through the roaring crowd, as a flaming house was lowered slowly to the stage throughout the song. He rushed right after to the main stage and continued a very upbeat part of his set for the next 4 songs, with “Halfway to Hell”, “Get By” and “Son of a Sinner.” He then moved to play a surprise Medley of “‘”Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day and “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” After all, this was still a country show to its core.
After 40 minutes full of high energy songs, dancing and jumping around with his band, Jelly Roll took a minute to speak intimately to the crowd. “Thank you to every single one of you for listening to my music. You changed my life. You changed my wife’s life. You changed my daughter’s life.” the songwriter said during a break right before going into the acoustic ballad “She” which he performed sitting down beside a piano that was lit on fire during the song.
It was truly moving how, everytime he addressed the crowd to talk about something heavy, deep topics, or talk about trauma, you felt he meant every single word he said. This is an artist that is extremely self-aware of how his life could’ve taken a very different turn if it wasn’t for the music and the healing effect it has on him. This is perhaps the reason why his work resonates so much with so many people. But if a man covered in ink and baring his soul in front of 10,000 people didn’t do it for you, how about a skull literally spitting fire? Part of his insane production was a giant white skull that laid on the ground for most of the set, eventually getting lifted and spitting fire through a wire line all the way through the arena.
To finish up in style, Jelly Roll went back to the B stage to close down the night with the iconic ‘Save Me’. The house on flames came back down to the stage, and was eventually extinguished by heavy pouring rain, drenching Jelly Roll as he was hitting his final notes. Lastly, followed by heavy snow to finish up the song and the set. He thanked the audience, stepped down the stage and disappeared into the crowd.
It was a truly special night for Montreal and the Nashville singer. He’s now off to Quebec City to finish off his Canadian leg of the tour. Fortunately, if you missed him or want to experience his powerful stage presence and vocals again, he’ll be back in Montreal for LASSO this summer. And, as I walked back home in the cold tonight I thought: “summer sounds pretty good to me.”
GALLERY: Jelly Roll with Josh Ross at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec (March 25, 2025)
