Saturday Night: Brad Paisley At RodeoHouston

Photos courtesy of Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

Aside from the fireworks, there was no grand entrance for Brad Paisley, who practically ran to the stage later than usual for a Saturday night at RodeoHouston. He had no time for chit-chat as he dove right into "Water" in his signature white cowboy hat and blue glittered guitar. Although strapped for time, Paisley performed 14 songs, perfectly balancing his ballads and upbeat hits with enough time for a few guitar solos.

After the opening song, he switched his guitar to an appropriately decorated red, orange and pink paisley electric for "Online," an amusing track about the anonymity of the Internet and how everyone is "so much cooler online."

Paisley is known for his satirical songwriting and sense of humor; even though the set felt a bit rushed, he managed to make us chortle quite a few times.

Besides the comedy, Paisley's guitar playing was what truly stood out. Not only did he change guitars almost every song, he played solos in every one and utilized each runway to show the crowd that he was serious about that all-American country music.

He slowed it down for the ballad, "She's Everything" and got the ladies behind us all kinds of worked up. Paisley shut his eyes for his very soulful electric guitar outro, and suddenly we realized just how single we are.

Before getting into "Celebrity," Paisley introduced it by dedicating it to Charlie Sheen. During the song, a bigheaded, costumed Brad Paisley (from the video for the song) walked around the perimeter of the stadium, shaking hands.

During the second ballad of the night, "Waiting On a Woman," we saw a few older couples in the crowd dancing and holding one another. We held our popcorn as close as possible.