Here's a somewhat short review from member Bill O'Day:
Brad Paisley traded fiery licks with his fiddle player and rolled through such hits as Water, the spectacular opener which spoofed Jaws and Space Odyssey, The World, Online and the lovely, painfully sobering Whiskey Lullaby.
U.S. star Alison Krauss made a virtual appearance to duet with Paisley on that one, a quiet and effective use of his tour's multi-projection stage magic.
The strongest magic was the star, guitar, fan, band roof-rais-ing combination on Alcohol in the encore.
Paisley was everywhere, too. He went deep into the audience and showed a rare ability to play stellar solos while fans were touching his big white hat dur-ing these forays into the crowd.
Paisley is so good one-on-one that he might want to reduce the visual, big screen side of his productions. There were lots of monster trucks in the mud and cartoon Godzillas pooping on cartoon bandmembers and various Paisley alter egos all over the background images.
Sometimes, the images are cute. The fish swimming all over behind Paisley on I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song) do have the song's hero hooked.
Second on the bill was Darius Rucker, who was the singer for 1990s big-selling band Hootie The Blowfish.
Rucker had the hits and sing-alongs for a solid 45 minutes. Like Niemann, Rucker was up there on the screens, something non-headliners don't always enjoy. When you hear covers of Hank Williams Jr. and Prince in the same set, you can safely say the star is making the point.
Rucker's point with those choices was he can do it all. He can countrify the Hootie hits -- such as Hold My Hand and Let Her Cry -- and then stroll the stage for his solo blasts, includ-ing Don't Think I Don't Think About It.
"I just got a question -- where are all the crazy girls at?" Rucker asked early in his set.
The answer was loud and obvious -- everywhere.
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