Brad Paisley delivers music and laughs at Jones Beach

Brad Paisleyโ€™s North American tour ends tonight in New Jersey, before heading overseas in October

To see Brad Paisley live is to see more than just a music show. Of course, the music takes center stage. But itโ€™s dressed up by Paisleyโ€™s wry wit, down-to-earth nature, and fashion sense…for guitars.

This review will be a hard one to write, as I do not want to spoil the fun, clever moments peppered throughout. Iโ€™ll just say: A song title parodies Netflix hit Stranger Things, Selfies are taken, and a muppet-like mascot may crash the stageโ€ฆ.

Then of course, there were the guitars: I counted at least 16 of them. One glowed dark during an awe-inspiring blacklight rendition of โ€œAmerican Saturday Night.โ€ Another was painted to represent water.

Paisley rarely performed with any one particular guitar for more than a song or two in his over-20 song setlist–an exception being his acoustic set on a โ€œBโ€ stage towards the end of the concert. But the changes were never mentioned. Knowing Paisleyโ€™s showmanship, never directly addressing the guitars served two purposes; to silently highlight his unmatched guitar skill, and to add yet another layer of that trademark wry humor. (Who has a guitar with paint splatter, after all?)

The setlist was markedly different from last yearโ€™s outing. Of course, staples including โ€œWater,โ€ โ€œAlcohol,โ€ and โ€œMud on the Tiresโ€ were present. But gone were songs including โ€œLove and War,โ€ and โ€œRemind Me.โ€ This year included โ€œWaitinโ€™ on a Woman,โ€ and โ€œBeat this Summer.โ€ A glaring omission was Paisleyโ€™s recent radio effort, โ€œBucked Off.โ€

Another desire I had was to see more of Paisleyโ€™s authentic interactions with his crows. Barreling through his setlist, he rarely stopped to address the crowd, almost like he was uncharacteristically avoiding breaking that โ€œfourth wall.โ€

The moments he played with the crowd, such as when he and openers Riley Green and Chris Lane joined for a selfie-fied โ€œIโ€™m Still a Guy,โ€ or when he spoke with some kids from the โ€œBโ€ stage before โ€œLetter to Me,โ€ were some of the best moments of the show. I wanted more.

One moment in particular that returned from the last tour was Bradโ€™s salute to the men and women of the Armed Forces. During โ€œThis is Country Music,โ€ four battle green-clad service members took the stage.

Let me paint the picture: the show was relatively subdued and the majority not in the GA area sat for most of the show unless they wanted to dance to a certain song (for which I and my knee I screwed up on the beach last week are grateful for, thank-you very much.Iโ€™m digressing.) But when the military folks joined Brad on stage, the reaction was swift and immediate: Anyone who could stand, stood. Hats came off.

After touring as a headliner every year since 2005, I would hope the world knows this objective truth by now: Seeing Brad Paisley live is just plain fun–almost too much fun. From his comical videos, to his sense of humor and off-handed hysterical comments, to the extraordinary guitar playing and stacking of his setlist, there is something for everybody.

Hear my words to you: Even if you would not consider yourself a country music fan, see Brad Paisley once in your life, and you will see a classy, all-around showman really is.

Matt Bailey
Matt Bailey

Matt Bailey is a media producer currently located in Washington, DC. He has worked as a writer, producer, and host in a variety of mediums including television news, podcasting, daytime television, and live entertainment. He joined The Music Universe in 2016. Since then, Bailey has traveled across the country to review hundreds of concerts and interview some of music's biggest hitmakers. Bailey truly believes in the unifying power of experiencing live music. To reach him, please email matt@themusicuniverse.com.