Unique Paisley delights

When Brad Paisley last played in Charleston in November 2007, his big radio hit at the time was "Ticks."

That tune featured the country artist singing about the benefits of checking his loved one for the parasites named in the song's title.

On Saturday, Paisley brought the final night of his American Saturday Night tour to the North Charleston Coliseum for a rip-roaring performance that seemed to delight the crowd of nearly 8,000.

Paisley's set opened with the artist strolling onto a catwalk that extended into the crowd where an acoustic guitar and a replica of the microphone from the Grand Ole Opry waited. Acknowledging the cheers, Paisley performed the song "Start a Band" solo against a black backdrop. At that song's end the black curtain dropped to reveal Paisley's band and a high-tech stage setup that included several huge video screens.

Paisley, now armed with one of his many trademark paisley Fender Telecaster guitars, kicked into the title track from his most recent album, "American Saturday Night." Paisley is a performer who knows how to have fun with his audience, and he did so in quite a few unique ways Saturday night. During "Celebrity," Paisley played a game of "Guitar Zero" against country stars such as Little Jimmy Dickens and Taylor Swift, who appeared on the video screens as they racked up points on plastic guitars (Dickens soundly whipped his younger opponents).

"Waitin' on a Woman" featured a video with Andy Griffith. Later in the show, Paisley played another acoustic set that included snippets of James Taylor's "Carolina in My Mind" and Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love," and also featured Paisley singing "When I Get Where I'm Going" while black and white images of Johnny Cash, Ronald Reagan and even late Olympic luger Nodar Kumaritashvili flashed on the screens.

Other hits included "You Do the Math," "I'm Still a Guy," "The World," "Ticks" and "Online." Paisley's encore included "Welcome to the Future" and "Alcohol."

A gifted guitarist who writes many of his own songs, Paisley definitely seems to have it all when it comes to musical talent, which likely explains why he was able to fill up the Coliseum just over two years after doing so the last time he came to town.

His big-budget stage show, which requires a half-dozen tractor trailers to carry, is clearly designed to give the fans their money's worth.

Prior to Paisley's performance, the crowd saw another one of the hottest stars in country music these days. Since finishing third in the country music talent contest Nashville Star in 2003, Miranda Lambert seems to have made conquering the country music charts her primary mission in life. Saturday night's performance demonstrated why most would agree that she is well on her way to that goal.

Sporting a pink acoustic guitar and platform high-heel boots, Lambert prowled the stage, belting out hits such as "Famous in a Small Town," "The House That Built Me," "White Liar" and "Gunpowder & Lead."

Justin Moore kicked things off. The up-and-coming country star seemed to impress the crowd with a short set of songs, including his hit, "Small Town USA," but it was clear the local crowd came to see Paisley and Lambert.

Contact Devin Grant at chucktowncritic@yahoo.com