That’s entertainment. That’s country music. That’s Brad Paisley.
That was Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena, where Paisley was in peak form from “Last Time for Everything” through the encore of “Alcohol” nearly two hours later.
Along the way, he gave one of his Telecasters to a little girl — “That’s how you make a Taylor Swift right there,” Paisley said — and answered a fan’s cellphone — “That’s a first, ladies and gentlemen.
He sang with John Fogerty, via the video of “Love and War,” and joined the “South Park” kids on “Celebrity,” a signature funny song as the show made great use of the screen behind the stage.
And he paid tribute to artists from Glenn Frey to Little Jimmy Dickens, Prince and Andy Griffith — and, of course, did the Nationwide jingle.
Oh, yeah, he also played guitar.
Man, did he play guitar, blistering the fretboard in a cutting contest with opener Chase Bryant on “American Saturday Night,” wringing out a soulful, bluesy lead on “She’s Everything” and doing some serious picking as he strolled through the crowd on “Grey Goose.”
The night’s two other support artists got their chance to sing along with Brad — Dustin Lynch on “I’m Still a Guy” and Lindsay Ell, who killed on “Whiskey Lullabye” and, impressively, held her own playing twin leads with Paisley.
He’s got a fine real country band, The Drama Kings, with Hay Springs native Kendal Marcy on keyboards — a unit so plugged into Paisley it brings to mind Merle Haggard’s Strangers.
And they put together a perfect set list, mixing humor, ballads, hits and more hits that delighted the 8,000 fans who were entertained by one of the best in the business.
