Brad Paisley @ The Olympia Theatre, Dublin 19 August 2011

Brad Paisley onstage with Darius Rucker (inset) using a local beverage bottle to good advantage.

If there was ever any doubt that a healthy market for Nashville’s country music existed in Dublin it would have been blasted out of existence Friday night. It was a first come, first served downstairs-standing-up gig and the crowd was queuing neatly for 150 metres down Dame Street at twenty past five. And the doors didn’t open until 7.

I can’t say much about the Darius Rucker gig as I was stuck backstage for most of it, but from what I did hear he was in amazing voice, had a tight band – he’s far too experienced for anything else – sang some of his hits and the crowd loved his show. And it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy – he’s a sweetheart with a fabulous voice and is a great songwriter who loves what he does.

Brad Paisley was instantly at home with the crowd and if they loved Darius Rucker, they adored Brad, singing along with every word of every song. He played for roughly 2 hours with two acoustic solo numbers to break up the almost overwhelming power and sound of the band. The solo numbers were Whiskey Lullaby and When I get Where I’m Going To and showcased his acoustic playing and voice.  Brad is known for his amazing guitar playing and his reputation was thoroughly burnished, not tarnished by the gig. It’s true: he is a spectacular guitarist and in regard to his other talents, songwriting and singing he fully deserves his CMA Entertainer of the Year title. The band are versatile and very, very good, particularly Kendal Marcy on keyboards and banjo and the flamboyant Ben Sesar on drums, although to be fair, the steel player (Randle Currie) sounded great when we heard him, but the sound varied from place to place.

Working on a Tan was dedicated to a sun-starved Ireland – and we need it! Other highlights were  This is Country Music, title track to Paisley’s most recent album, Celebrity , I’m Still a Guy, I’m Gonna Miss Her (aka The Fishing Song), and the night’s climax was a full stage – crew and Darius Rucker included – rave up of Alcohol.

Enterprising promoters take note: the audience is there, even in these parlous economic times we have the time and the money for good music – just bring it in and we’ll be there.

Review by Sandy Harsch. Photography by Ronnie Norton

Comments

[marc jacobs replica handbags]

alexander wang replica handbags
-alexander wang replica handbags
That is very good comment you shared.Thank you so much that for you shared those things with us.Im wishing you to carry on with ur achivments.All the best.

[swiss replica watches]

Remember what replica breitling bentley watches
should be remembered, and forget what should be forgotten.Alter what is changeable, and accept what is mutable。panerai submersible replica watches

[cool grey 11]

Referring to one pair of sneakers, we have to think over their capacity. It is no exaggeration to say that cool grey 11 is the most suitable for wearing casually and playing basketball, jordan 11 cool grey were eventually released in 2001 and re-retro'd in 2009 with the nickname "jordan space jams". Another version of the XI's were released on December 23, 2010 called the "jordan cool grey".the jordan cool grey 11 has very strong ground control. which is also one of the best capacity with perfectly understandable. If every pair of shoes has its own soul, undoubtedly, the jordan 11 concord is the most respect ones for me. jordan retro 11 was released in 2010 and had patent leather. which appeared in the playoffs firstly in early 1994. At that time, there are two version of this pair, one of which is the black / white color way, and we called it Jordan 11 Space Jam for being worn by Jordan playing movie.