The Montreal Alouettes begin their 2023 season tonight with a game against the Ottawa Redblacks at Percival-Molson Stadium.

And fans can see the new version of the Alouettes at work for the first time, led by quarterback Cody Fajardo and head coach Jason Maas.

“We’ve seen some great things over the past few weeks during our exhibition games,” team president and CEO Mark Weightman said on the show Saturday morning. hello hello weekend on TVA. We can’t wait to see the team in real life tonight with all the starters on the field to see what we can do against the Ottawa Redblacks.

In addition to the show on the pitch, fans will be treated to off-the-white-line entertainment tonight and throughout the season.

“At 6 p.m. there will be a pre-game concert featuring 2Frères and France d’Amour,” Weightman continued. There will be a big halftime concert with Our Lady Peace and a tailgate in the park, starting at 4:30 p.m. (There are) many program elements to revitalize the customer experience in the stadium and to welcome people. A huge crowd is expected tonight, more than 20,000 people are expected in the stadium. We can’t wait to get started.

“We want to give our fans every reason to rediscover Percival Molson Stadium and to follow the Alouettes both at home and on the go. Our program: Each game will have a theme and activities. […] Whether it’s a July Cirque du Soleil themed game, the July 1st family game, or the fall Halloween game, each game should be an event in itself. We will host the party at the stadium.

As for Fajardo, Weightman was thrilled.

“For several years we were blessed with probably the best quarterback or one of the best quarterbacks in Canadian League history (Editor’s Note: Anthony Calvillo), analyzed Weightman. It’s always a challenge to find a replacement for someone like that. We’ve got a new quarterback with us this year who not only has a lot of talent, but he’s had a lot of success. A few years ago he was a finalist for the league’s Most Valuable Player award. He is a very dynamic person, very lovable. He likes Montreal very much. He’s already learning to speak a few words in French and interact with fans.

See it in the video above.