Let’s talk about a super fun night at the Bradley Center with Brad Paisley!   Our night of awesomeness began with my friend Jenni and I having the opportunity to meet the young and so very talented American Idol winner Scotty McCreery.  This was extra special for me because I was the lucky person who sat down and interviewed Scotty McCreery when he was here in August for the American Idol tour, so it was my second chance to meet him and have my picture taken with him.  The best part…he remembered me!  Not only did he remember the exact seat he sat in for the Idol auditions, he remembered talking with me five months ago. I felt very proud at that moment.  It was one of my personal highlights of the evening.

 
After meeting Scotty McCreery we headed back out into the lobby and got in line for our chance to meet The Band Perry.  How cool is that – two meet-n-greets in one night, back to back.  This is one of the fun parts of being the FM106.1 Official Concert Correspondent because the personnel working that night notices that we are going backstage again and conversations strike up which makes the wait enjoyable and go fast.  So backstage we go for our opportunity to hug each member and get our picture taken with them.  All three of them were so kind, sweet and very personable - and seemed interested in each and every person they met.  It’s neat to catch that vibe from someone you’re briefly meeting for just a minute or two, but you catch it.  The coolest part for me…I received a compliment on my sweater from Kimberly Perry!  Oh yes I must say that was a great feeling.

 
Now we’re off to grab some food and drink and find our seats, which just happened to be in the same row as Radar and his family.  I must admit that was kind of cool, although it also meant Radar saw me in full concert mode…I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.  Anyway, we no sooner sat down when the Mr. Scotty McCreery came on stage and started our night of wonderful music with “You Make That Look Good”, his first single “I Love You This Big” and “Dirty Dishes”.  Wow, what a way to get the crowd going.  Scotty McCreery seemed really comfortable and at home while on stage.  There were three catwalks that came out and he used each of them so everybody got a chance to enjoy his performance a little bit closer.  Scotty was full of energy and looked like he was having a great time.  We also enjoyed “Write My Number On Your Hand”, his current single “The Trouble With Girls” and “Walk In The Country”.  I was very glad to have the chance to see Scotty McCreery perform.  He is a talented young man that I think will be around for a while.  I look forward to his future. 

 
There was a short intermission between Scotty McCreery and next up The Band Perry, so we headed to the hallway to meet up with some other friends Annette & Kaileigh and Cassie & Jacob who were also at the concert.  It was nice to hang out and chat between shows, but it made the time seem to go really fast because next thing we knew the crowd got loud so we rushed back in for The Band Perry.  It is obvious that these three are extremely connected with each other because the way they play and sing together is absolutely awesome.  It’s as if they were born to perform together, so lucky for us that’s what they do.  We received a full line up of great songs starting with “Gone”, one of my personal favorites “Hip To My Heart”, “All Your Life” and “Bustin Out”.  By now the audience is pumped and ready for more.  The Band Perry also made full use of the three catwalks and seemed to cover every inch of the stage.  Next was one of my favorite things about Country music concerts – the unexpected as we rocked to “Free Falling” and “Fat Bottom Girls” which were fabulous.  Our time with The Band Perry finished up with “Come Around”, “If I Die Young” and “The Way You Lie”.  The Band Perry gave a tremendous performance that I will always remember. 

 
As we were walking to the spot where we were meeting up with our friends again during intermission, this woman recognized me as the FM106.1 Official Concert Correspondent and requested a picture with me.  The list of highlights of my evening was growing.  I was surprised and honored – that felt pretty nice.  After some fun conversation we grabbed fresh drinks and went to our seats ready for the amazingly talented, not to mention good looking Brad Paisley.  If you’ve never been to a Brad Paisley concert, you need to go!  This was one awesome show.  His performance was so full of energy and life that is seemed to infect each of us as the night went on.  The lights were totally awesome - loads of lasers and lights flashing everywhere and several huge screens displaying a variety of colors, pictures and videos throughout the night.  Brad Paisley came out and instantly had us all on our feet with “Camouflage”, “You Are The World”, “Welcome To The Future”, “Ticks”, “This Is Country Music” and “Waiting On A Woman”.  Brad Paisley also made full use of every inch of stage and each of the catwalks.  He was all over the stage and very interactive with the audience.  There was another mini stage set up in the middle of the Bradley Center that he walked through the crowd to get to.  Talk about really up close and personal!  There were a lot of very happy people that received high fives and handshakes as Brad Paisley made his way through.  We also rocked out to “When You’re A Celebrity”, “Everything To Me”, “Online” and “Thank God I’m Still A Guy”.  Next he sang “I Thought I Loved You Then” and during the song I couldn’t help but notice a couple sitting across from us.  The man had his arm around the woman and they both looked lost in the song. 

Now I’m not sure exactly where during the show it happened, but very casually and quietly during one of Brad Paisley’s catwalk performances he knelt down and handed down a guitar to one very lucky fan.  I couldn’t really see who received it, but I found out after the show that it was a young girl by the name of Abigail.  It was obvious she was the winner because she was walking out with the guitar in hand.  I stopped her, congratulated her and asked her parents if I could get her picture for the website.  What a lucky little lady!  Some more great songs we enjoyed Brad Paisley sing were “A Letter To Me”, “Get A Little Mud On The Tires”, “Working On Her Tan” and “Whiskey Lullaby” which Kimberly Perry came out to sing with Brad Paisley and she did a magnificent job.  We also jammed out to “I’m Gonna Miss Her”, “Old Alabama”, “Water” and “American Saturday Night”.  Our next experience explained the title name of this tour of ‘Brady Paisley Virtual Reality Tour’ because it was Brad Paisley singing “Remind Me” with Carrie Underwood – except Carrie Underwood wasn’t really there!  It was a hologram of her on the stage.  Well I must admit that I was fooled – I really thought she was on stage with him.  It looked very real.  Our concert experience with Brad Paisley ended with “Alcohol” which many people came on stage with Brad to sing along…now how cool is that!  It was a fun night full of energy, but fortunately for Jenni and me our night didn’t end there.  Of course there was one more major highlight of this evening.  After the concert we went to the spot where we were some of the first people in line waiting for our turn to meet Mr. Brad Paisley up close and personal.  Yes, he was very nice and happily gave hugs before putting his arms around us for a picture.  As we were leaving we received an autographed picture to take with us.  Another night that I will never forget thanks to FM106.1.  I am so very lucky.