CONCERT REVIEW
by Michael Swanger
Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert
Wells Fargo Arena, Jan. 15
Friday’s “American Saturday Night Tour 2010” that played before 8,500 energetic fans at Wells Fargo Arena was a contrasting study of gender roles between talented performers at the forefront of the pop-country music movement.
On one hand, you had the show’s headliner West Virginia native Brad Paisley, decked out in a white cowboy hat, boots and jeans colored by splashes of paint, celebrating being a red-blooded American male with songs like “Mud on the Tires,” “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)” and “I’m Still A Guy,” which he introduced by saying, “So this is Iowa? It’s 20 below zero and you’re a real man no matter what. This is a song about not being a sissy,” as the audience cheered.
On the other, there was opener Miranda Lambert, a fiery blonde bombshell from Texas who tore through a 45-minute set complete with rocking songs about female empowerment and guns such as “Sin for Sin,” “White Liar,” “Gunpowder and Lead” and a spirited cover of The Faces’ “Stay With Me.”
Paisley’s musicianship held together his tight, yet genuine 105-minute show. It shined on “I’m Still A Guy” and the breakneck-paced “Catch All the Fish,” in which Paisley displayed his versatile prowess on the Fender Telecaster.
The bottom line is Paisley can do it all: sing, pick, write, arrange and entertain. And do it all with substance, humility and a clever sense of style that is mostly lacking in pop-country music today, while reminding us he’s still just a guy. CV — Michael Swanger
