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Saturday, June 14, 2014

Brad Paisley / Randy Hauser/ Leah Turner @ Merriweather Post Pavilion 6/12/2014

Andrew and I went to see Brad Paisley ($49) at Merriweather Post Pavilion.  We grabbed tickets before, because last time Zac Brown sold out the lawn. Better safe than sorry. As it turned out, the rain (and maybe the Thursday night) drove away some of the potential crowd. However, that didn't mean that not a lot of people showed up.  Cause there were still a ton of people there!

Brad Paisley! YEEE HAWWW
The pavilion looked pretty sold out, but there was plenty of room on the muddy and damp lawn. I think we saw about a dozen people who nearly wiped out and a few who did.  Mud + booze  do not a good combination make.  Thousands were definitely in attendance.  There were a lot of younger people there it looked like (school's out?) and so many white people and girls in short shorts. As expected.


Sample of the crowd

We got there in time to see 2 of the 3 openers- Leah Turner was first. her band had no backdrop or anything, just some spotlights. She reminded me of Miranda Lambert a little. They sounded pretty good and apparently did a Dixie Chicks cover...and a snippet of a bad Beyonce song too.  I didn't know any of their songs, but they sounded fine to me, I was entertained but not impressed.

Randy Houser took the stage after a very short set changeover (like 8 minutes) which was filled with a DJ.  He also sounded fine, and also did a Garth Brooks cover ("Friends...") which went over amazingly well.  I swear I have heard one of his other songs before, but I couldn't quite place it.  Again, entertaining but not making me want to run out and buy an album. But I wasn't running away from the stage either.  I think he had a bit more of the crowd behind him than Leah.
Blur Paisley

Brad Paisley came on about a quarter to 9, and sounded pretty amazing.   The sound, as always for a country show, was amazingly clear and not "too loud."  Everyone from the fiddler to Brad sounded great.  Brad's guitar playing is solid, and I think that's a big draw for me.  He's no Eddie Van Halen, but  he seems more competent than many other Country stars (probably Zac Brown is on par w/ him).

Speaking of Van Halen, he did a partial cover of "Hot For Teacher" after the mini medley which went over pretty good. The medley was between him and some DJ, they did snippets of "Smoke on the Water," "Beat It," "Let it Go" (Frozen), and "Sweet Child O' Mine" at least (maybe ZZ Top and Lynyrd too).  He only 3 songs off of his latest album, but then  2 new songs ("River Bank", "Moonshine...") off of his forthcoming album ("Moonshine in the Truck"), an a song I'd not heard before ("4-wheel Park") that may also be a new song.  Apart from that he played many hits. The last time I saw him in 2012, he had 15 songs that he also played this time.  So, it was a pretty similar setlist, but I don't think I minded much.

You can clearly see comic Cap fighting Batroc the leaper
 
There were various video clips played on the screen for several songs (ex: 1960s Captain America images from the comic during "American Saturday Night", the videos for "Celebrity," and "Waiting on a Woman" (RIP Andy Griffith)).  During another song, he took off his guitar... and.handed.it.to.some.kid who must have been about 8. That kid must have had the best night!  Another song, he got a couple on stage (even tho the husband/fiance had an offending sportsing team's hat on) and dedicated a song to them.  "Remind Me" again featured a ridiculously lifelike hologram or something of Carrie Underwood.  All in all, a lot going on during the performance to make it a SHOW.  I think there was a secondary stage set up closer to the back of the pavilion, where Brad did a few songs.  During those songs, the spotlight was on him, I think it was acoustic, and the video screens were dim.  There was an overall air of havin' a good natured fun time (tho I suppose some people did have a bit... too much alcohol).

Overall, Andrew and I had a very good if not great time!  And even though I was sweating in my trenchcoat, it did not rain (thankfully).  A bit last minute, but I am glad we went.  But by this time you might be wondering where the hell did all the metals go?   FEAR NO EVIL, for I am readying myself to see GRIM REAPER as I write this.  So that should knock things back into proportion!

Next Show: GRIM REAPER w/ Ghost of War!

Setlists

Leah Turner (7:30-8:00)


  • Make Your Move 
  • Take The Keys 
  • Bless My Heart 
  • Pull me Back 
  • Cowboy Take Me Away  (Dixie Chicks cover)
  • My Finger/Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)  (BeyoncĂ© cover)


Randy Houser (8:08-8:45)






  • Boots On 
  • Growin' Younger 
  • How Country Feels 
  • Goodnight Kiss 
  • Friends In Low Places (Garth Brooks cover)
  • Like A Cowboy 
  • Runnin' Outta Moonlight 
  • Whistlin' Dixie 



  • Brad Paisley (8:45- 10:53)

    • Moonshine in the Trunk 
    • Ticks 
    • American Saturday Night 
    • Southern Comfort Zone 
    • Waitin' On A Woman 
    • Celebrity 
    • This Is Country Music 
    • I'm Still a Guy 
    • She's Everything 
    • Beat This Summer 
    • The Mona Lisa 
    • Then 
    • Online 
    • Four-wheel Park 
    • Mud on the Tires 
    • River Bank 
    • Smoke on the Water/ Beat It/ Let it Go/Sweet Child snippets
    • Hot for Teacher  (Van Halen cover)
    • I'm Gonna Miss Her 
    • Remind Me 
    • Old Alabama 
    • Water 

    • Alcohol 

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