Crowds of people sang, “Laughing all the way to the riverbank,” as they made their way into the concert to watch Country star Brad Paisley perform his sold out performance at Cruzan Amphitheater in August.

To start the night, country music artist Randy Houser led with a great performance. Houser killed a heavy electric set with a guitar and a drum solo, accompanied by an amazing light show. However, Paisley proved that he was the true country star of the night, ascending the stage wearing his signature cowboy hat, cowboy boots and white t-shirt.

Paisley’s brand of music was a refreshing change of pace. It was sweet, funny and entertaining. He gave his country music a hint of pop-rock—an addition that other country artists lack. Paisley brought back some old school songs from his earlier albums, including “I’m Still a Guy” and “Mud on the Tires.” This was a huge blast from the past to his fans.

Paisley performed mainly center-stage, dancing around as he flashed his thousand watt smile to the crowd. Nearing the end of the show, Paisley started working his way down stage toward the audience, handing out high fives and taking selfies on the phones of fans.

Paisley hardly had time to stop and breathe as he rushed to sing as many songs as possible. By the last song, the star had the majority of the crowd singing along with him. Paisley kept the whole concert country while staying modernized and showing off the bit of rock inside of him.