Greenwood Village – Before Brad Paisley could pull some gags on his fans, his video screen pulled one on him.
“Here we go, Charlotte!” read the video screen behind Paisley, two songs into his set.
Oops.
“Charlotte?” Paisley said. “This is Denver! Is that a joke on me?”
It marked the only foul-up for Paisley, whose “Time Well Wasted” tour shows have become a test case in innovative concert entertainment. He introduced beach balls. He threw guitar picks into the crowd. He even faked a satellite uplink to Nashville and talked to Little Jimmy Dickens before a song.
It’s a fairly novel approach to musical entertainment.
Paisley played music, too, of course – including all his crowd-pleasers. He opened his 70-minute set Friday at
Coors Amphitheatre with “Celebrity,” as the music video with Jason Alexander and William Shatner played behind him.
Each song, it seemed, had a gimmick to go with it. When Paisley played “Me Neither,” he started flinging guitar picks – taped in a line on each microphone stand – into the crowd.
When he finished the next song, “Little Moments,” he uplinked with a video of Dickens in his living room and pretended to converse with him.
All the stunts engaged the crowd, but they suffered one inevitable flaw. Most fans like to at least pretend the shows are somewhat unscripted, that the banter with the crowd is a singer speaking from his heart.
The videos made clear the rehearsed fashion of the show, but Paisley – with his ear-to-ear smile and undeniable charm – pulled it off.
His musical style helped. He showcased his range with quick-paced, energetic tunes like “Easy Money” and performed two solo acoustic acts.
He also connected with the crowd in more subtle ways. When Paisley played his song “The World,” a series of beach balls decorated as globes popped into the crowd. Paisley had to kick a couple back as the globes collected on stage.
Paisley also used animation art on his video screen. It featured cartoons – all drawn by Paisley – with the band jamming out. Sometimes the band looked like Peanuts characters. Other times, Simpsons characters. Other times, Flintstones characters.
The band jammed through the entire cartoon.
Paisley finished the set with his hit “Alcohol” and performed two encores: “I’m Gonna Miss Her” and a cover of “Walk the Line.”
Live shows are always fun, and Paisley has found new ways to push the limits of entertainment. With his current act, he succeeded.
Staff writer Scott Lieber can be reached at slieber@denverpost.com or 303-820-1694.
