It was the last concert for the summer of 2015 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA, on a cool Friday night in September. Brad Paisley, Justin Moore and Mickey Guyton performed for us with as much gusto as if it were their very first show of the season.
The opening act was Mikey Guyton. This newcomer to the country stage is from the great state of Texas, and her voice was just as big. She performed a seven song setlist, which included several of her own songs and some cover songs as well as. Before singing the Patty Loveless song, ‘Blame It On Your Heart,’ she told everyone, “You know this song. Sing it with me!” Mickey left the stage just as she had come on to it, with a big smile and a dance in her step.
Entering the stage soon after Guyton exited was 2014 ACM New Artist of the Year, Justin Moore. Starting with the song ‘Point at You,’ Moore performed a nine song setlist. The audience loved Moore and his strong Arkansas twang as he went on to sing, ‘How I Got to Be This Way,’ ‘Til My Last Day,’ and ‘Bait a Hook.’ Before his next tune, Moore had something important he wanted to say to us. His usual introduction to his next song is to send it out to all of our military, thanking them for all that they do for us. Tonight, however, Moore wanted to also remember and thank a different group of people for their strength and courage. “This is the first time we have played here (Xfinity Center) since the song went number one, and it was right after the marathon bombing a few years back. So in addition to our military, we’d like to send this out to all the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing. You guys were most impressive during those weeks, months, and days, and as someone not from here, you guys were encouraging not to say the least, for a country that needs a little bit of encouragement. So God Bless you guys.” The emotion from the crowd fell over the stadium like a blanket and from Justin himself, you could hear the catch in his voice. The audience was soon lighting up their cell phones and began swaying back and forth, as Moore started singing the first notes to ‘If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away.’ He dedicated the song to his Grandpa and to those in the crowd that may have lost someone, no matter where, why or for what reason.
Next on Moore’s setlist was the song ‘Small Town Throwdown,’ a song he recorded with Brantley Gilbert and Thomas Rhett. Cheers and screaming ensued as Moore asked the audience to help him out with his friend’s parts and to sing the song as loud as they could. “I’ll make a deal with y’all, from the front row all the way to the back row. I promise you right now, for the rest of the show, I’ll give you every ounce of energy in my 5’6” 135 pound frame has, if you give me every ounce of energy you’ve got. Is that a deal?! Bullshit is that a deal!!” Moore was not disappointed. The audience kept their part of the bargain and certainly filled Gilbert and Rhett’s shoes, as only a Boston crowd can. Moore next sang, ‘Flyin’ Down a Backroad,’ followed by ‘Backwoods.’ Before ending his time on stage with his first number one hit, ‘Small Town USA,’ Moore thanked those in country radio and the fans, promising to give 110% to them every time he comes to Boston. “We’ll see you next time Boston, God Bless you. Have a safe trip home.”
A brief intermission followed Moore’s performance as the stage crew set up for the man of the evening, Brad Paisley. The lights dimmed, the music started and Paisley made his entrance rising through a platform at the top of the stage. The impressive stage was set up to look like a bridge, with its curved metal frames and long platforms. Hanging behind the stage was a sixty-foot screen that became vibrant with pictures and color throughout the evening. With guitar in hand and singing his first song of the evening, ‘Riverbank,’ Paisley’s drive and excitement never waned throughout his twenty one-plus song setlist. For two solid hours, the crowd stood on their feet enthusiastically singing the words to all of the songs.
We were treated to several of Paisley’s hits from his albums. From ‘Moonshine in the Trunk,’ we heard it’s title track, as well as ‘Perfect Storm’ and ‘Country Nation.’ During the chorus from ‘Country Nation,’ Boston College’s mascot, Baldwin the Eagle, and Jonathan, the UConn Huskies’ mascot, joined the band on stage. Paisley introduced his next song, ‘This is Country Music,’ with a statement which set the crowd to cheering. “You talk funny, so we are going to play some country music for you beer drinking, Bostonians. This is for what I do, and what people do for a living. This is what it’s all about.” That’s all the permission the fans at the Xfinity Center needed to keep the venue hopping for the rest of the evening.
Justin Moore joined Paisley onstage for a song appropriate for the two married men, ‘I’m Still a Guy.’ Their camaraderie was evident by the ease they had around each other while performing and by the way Brad referred to Moore as “Little Justin Moore.” Paisley and Moore even had a friendly game of duck shooting on the big screen using their guitars as rifles. Paisley also had no trouble reminding Moore that he had beaten him again. Paisley next sang ‘She’s Everything,’ but before he performed a medley of songs that included, ‘Foxy Lady’ by Jimi Hendrix, ‘Heartbreaker’ by Pat Benatar, and his own song, ‘Ticks,’ the infamous sense of humor Paisley is known for made an appearance. He decided it was a great time to take out his phone and make a Snap Chat movie. Paisley’s multitasking was very impressive. He was able to hold his phone up, pointing it to himself, and then out towards the audience, all while moving around the stage and continuing to sing.
During Brad’s next song, ‘Whiskey Lullaby,’ Mickey Guyton joined him on stage to sing the female harmony part, originally sung by Alison Krauss. Mickey’s strong voice was the perfect match for Paisley’s, and their rendition of the song was amazing.
Even though the calendar said the season was fall, Paisley was not going to let that stop him from singing about the summer’s warmer weather. “Well, it’s fall, according to the weather channel, but dang gone it, we are going to play like it’s the last night of the summer. I hope this is the best of all y’all’s life this year.” That was all that Paisley had to say before he broke out into ‘Beat This Summer.’ “Baby I know that it ain’t over yet. So let’s make the most of what we have left, but it’s hard living for this moment we’re in and knowing it’s all gonna end…”
Like many artists at the Xfinity Center have done before him, Paisley got down off the big stage and headed up to the small stage which was set up in front of what Brad inferred to as the ‘cheap seats.’ “It’s good to be back with the folks that sit where I used to sit.” While on the small stage, Paisley performed ‘Waitin’ on a Woman’ and his famous duet with Carrie Underwood, ‘Remind Me.’ After Paisley left the small stage singing ‘Southern Comfort Zone,’ he sang ‘I’m Gonna Miss Her’ and as he was doing so, he handed the microphone to a young man in the audience who helped Brad out with the song. That young man was local talent, Timmy Brown, and the fans LOVED what they heard from the local artist with screams and hollers with the notes that he hit.
Back on the main stage Paisley sang for us, ‘I’m Gonna Miss Her,’ Mud on the Tires,’ and before singing ‘Crushin’ It,’ Paisley had more to say. “I don’t know if you hate Monday’s, you probably do. You probably hate your boss. Whatever kind of week you had last week, it’s over.” These were the last three songs that Paisley performed to end the main part of the concert, after which he exited the stage for a break. Returning a short time later, Paisley performed for us a three-song encore that included, ‘Online,’ ‘Then,’ and the song Paisley has been ending his concerts with since the song was first released to country radio in 2005, ‘Alcohol.’ The song was quite fitting for those who were there to enjoy the end of the 2015 summer concert season at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA.
See you next year, Brad!
Concert recap conducted by Lorraine Frigoletto, contributing writer for NECM. You can follow me on Twitter.