The Coliseum itself is nice for hockey games, but for a concert it feels a little crowded and the seats are uncomfortable. We stood up most of the time, so the actual seating had no effect on the concert experience. The music is played very loudly, but inside the Coliseum, which is not very big at all, the performers sounded pretty clear and well practiced.
The audience including myself cheered a lot and took part in singing along to most of the songs. The performers would sometimes sing a few lines then hold the microphone out to the crowd for us to finish, which is not uncommon at a rock/country type of concert. It was clear to tell that all of the audience were fans of Chris Young and Brad Paisley, but not much for Danielle Bradberry, who is a young singer and is just starting out. She has a really nice voice though. The people of the audience were all ages from young children to older folks with gray hair, who still like to have a good time. For the most part, everyone wore jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt, but many others had on their cowboy boots and hats with flannel shirts to fit in with the style of music. Of course, beer was served, but they were $9.50 each so no one got too rowdy. Other country concerts I have been to, the crowd was much more wild and free.
Danielle Bradberry is only a teenager still and new to the stage, so she did not interact or get the crowd going like Chris Young or Brad Paisley. She got up, dressed kind of flashy and just stood with the mic and sung her songs, and was very surprised as I could tell at how much the crowd enjoyed her performance. Chris Young I said could have been a stand up comic as well as a singer because he told jokes and drank liquor up on stage like it was a regular thing for him, which it is. I could tell he had a good time and really got the crowd dancing and singing along with his attitude.
Brad Paisley played last and of course was the star of the whole show. He played about 10-12 songs and many, many guitar solos; he is an extremely talented guitarist. The show was originally supposed to be the Thursday before, which was Valentine's Day, but was moved because of the snow we had. Brad started off by saying things like, “Damn, you Long Islanders are some real country freaks to want to still come and wouldn't let a little snow get in the way, and I didn't know they made country fans this far north.” I could tell he was a good performer just by how comfortable he was up on stage and how he could really communicate with the audience and make us feel like he knew us personally. He was also dressed with his American Flag t-shirt, boot cut jeans with cowboy boots, and of course, the white cowboy hat:
Brad played all over the stage and even played while walking around the Coliseum floor. There were lights and a projection screen to show signs or animations of things that went along with the songs he was playing. The songs differed a little from the album, but I was not going to complain; it all sounded great.
Each performer sang and had guitars, bass guitars, and drums on stage and even electric fiddles. Most of the words were clear and easy to understand, but it’s country music, so of course, there was some slang, such as “gunna and cause.” The songs were about breakups, alcohol, mud on the tires of a truck, love songs, all the fun stuff and upsetting stuff that you would expect to hear in a country band. There were some slow songs sung by Danielle Bradberry and a very soft dynamic song by Chris Young called “Gettin' You Home” about coming home with his girlfriend and just having some fun. And the songs by Brad were all over the board: happy songs, slow songs, fun songs, dancing songs and drinking songs. One song called “Mud on the Tires” is about buying a new truck and grabbing his girl and taking it down a back road to get it all dirty and broken in: “I've got some big news / The bank finally came through / And I'm holdin' the keys to a brand new Chevrolet / Have you been outside / It sure is a nice night / How about a little test.”
They each have their own sound, and with the instruments, they make the music and their lyrics sound like one. With songs about working hard, coming home to relax after a long day, cracking open a beer and loving your baby, this concert was awesome and I would definitely go see Brad Paisley and Chris Young again. I really enjoyed the show- my girlfriend and I had an amazing time.
-Matt Chepinskas, Spring 2014
