Paisley commands attention in ‘greatest event’

If you’ve never seen Brad Paisley at RodeoHouston, are you even a country music fan?

Saturday night was more than all right for Paisley. His 15th performance drew 74,577 fans, the second-highest tally this year. Earlier in the day, he was inducted into the Star Trail of Fame for his “significant impact” on RodeoHouston and the community. Paisley is the 10th performer to receive the honor.

“Favorite day of the year right here,” Paisley said onstage. “Isn’t this just the greatest event anybody puts on anywhere?” Paisley has a carefully laid RodeoHouston formula. But there’s just enough variety in there, and he does it so well, that every time feels different. Saturday’s show included an onstage military tribute and beer (or water) toast and an appearance by U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw on tambourine during “American Saturday Night.”

Paisley is a sprightly stage presence, and it serves him well at RodeoHouston. He’s the best at closing the huge gap between crowd and performer. He was also in too vocal form.

“River Bank” kicked off the set. “Perfect Storm” was built on a chorus of Coldplay-esque oh-ohs and sent Paisley offstage the first of several times. He crooned a bit of “The Love Boat” theme song before launching into his own “Water” between hugs, handshakes and selfies.

The show’s mid-stretch was a perfect encapsulation of Paisley’s unique live appeal. He moved effortlessly and instantly from sweet (the ballad “Then”) to satirical (“Celebrity”); threw in a bit of the “Stranger Things” theme to lead into his own wistful nostalgia ("Last Time for Everything”); and finally shifted from Prince classic “Purple Rain” to country group Alabama’s “Mountain Music” as a lead-in to his own “Old Alabama.”

Soon enough, Paisley was back offstage, interacting with a crowd he called “a beautiful mix of Budweiser, cow sh— and Brut cologne.” He grabbed one woman’s phone, snapped a selfie, then uploaded it to her Instagram account with the caption “Sexy man.”

“Let’s see what else is on this young woman’s phone. I bet Aurora has very interesting social media on here,” he said.

“Right now she’s got 130 followers. I bet we can beat that.”

By midnight, @aurorafernandezsordelli had more than 3,000 Instagram followers, and the photo had 1,500 likes.

That’s the power of Paisley.

Karen Warren/Staff photographer Brad Paisley called his performance Saturday at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo his “favorite day of the year” as he thrilled the NRG Stadium crowd for the 15th time in his career.