Thursday, November 19, 2009

Brad Paisley, October 21, 2009, MSG, New York, NY

Tonight is a night I've been looking forward to for over a year. Four words: Brad Paisley in concert. Let me tell you this guy has got it all. Great songs, outstanding guitar work, and hilarious videos playing in back of him the entire time. On top of that he always brings talented opening acts that people recognize. Tonight it's Dierks Bently which I'm certain you haven't heard of unless you listen to country radio but trust me, he's big. Four out of the eleven songs he sings tonight are legitimate singles played on country radio on heavy rotation. Other acts that I've seen open for Brad include Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Jewel. C'mon that's some legit star power thus making Brad one of the few acts that doesn't waste my time before he takes the stage.

I've brought three friends with me tonight who simply do not want to be here. I think they feel sorry for me as every year I send out an email asking someone to go with me to see Brad Paisley and every year the responses range from ridicule to pity. These guys are sophisticated Manhattanites so I'm very interested in their reactions. It's kind of like I've got a sociology experiment going on here with these middle aged test subjects... I can't imagine they'll like Dierks Bentley because that's pretty hardcore country. Songs about Jesus, tractors and guns don't resonate all that well in New York. I'm interested in how they like Brad Paisley and his brand of country which closely borders rock.

Before the concert we went to Brother Jimmy's bar next to MSG and from the look of the crowd you would never would believe we were still in Manhattan. It looked like a flannel convention sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon. It was an unbelievable sight and I learned an important lesson. It seems expensive hunting gear is acceptable concert attire. I never knew that! It raises a long time question for me. Are these people real red necks or are they professionals like me who burst out of their rural closet whenever they get the chance?

As I mentioned earlier the video screens in back of the band are a HUGE part of the show. The band interacts with the screens throughout the show. Andy Griffin (yes indeed, Matlock does have lines in one particular song) and Taylor Swift appear on screens to sing parts of songs, or in Taylor's case, play guitar hero on screen while Brad rips through solos on another song. My favorite use of the video screens is during his instrumental songs. While he's ripping through these solos a cartoon he drew plays in the background and the cartoon is choreographed to fit the song. It's remarkably well done.

I have to admit to being a bit conflicted about the video screens. Here is my favorite guy and I should be the old guy screaming, "In my day it was all about the music, man!" Instead I'm captivated like the member of the MTV generation that I must acknowledge being part of. I wish I could totally focus on watching the band because that's what I paid for but I can't help but watching the screens. Sometimes there is just too much comedy going onscreen (William Shatner pretending to be Brad's father) to focus on the live performance.

Now the one thing that we all loved were our seats as we were in the ninth row on the floor. The picture next to this paragraph was taken with an iphone from our seats and it isn't a close up. We were that close. The crazy thing is I didn't know where the seats were until I picked up the tickets at will call two hours before the show. I joined the Brad Paisley fan club so I would have access to advance ticket sales and what the club does to discourage scalpers is not disclose the location of your seats until you pick up your tickets. I expected relatively good seats but because the stage has a ramp up the middle often times we were less than six feet away from the band. I've been to a ton of shows in my life but here I was, my favorite performer and I'm sitting in the best seats I've ever had. Very, very cool!

So in the end my contemporaries admitted to enjoying themselves though that might have been the beer talking. The video screens kept their interest and helped covey the themes of each particular song as these guys never heard the lyrics before. One friend commented he couldn't believe how he could look around the crowd and see all of us who knew ever word to every song. He might have mentioned something about these people being as dumb as sheep but I'll choose to ignore that.

Nevertheless, to a man they all said they'd be willing to come again next year.

But only if I bought the beer...

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