Brad Paisley Brings Out Guitar Legend Albert Lee On His Return to C2C Festival in London

Brad Paisley has always felt like a very British kind of country singer. His dry, self-deprecating wit, his refusal to take himself seriously and just his out and out silliness all feel like peculiarly British traits for a West Virginia-born boy.

After making his C2C debut back in 2014 and then headlining again in 2017, Brad Paisley has been making time for UK audiences whenever a tour comes around and the fans devotedly taken him to their hearts as one of their own.

Playing a main stage set on Saturday night at the o2 Arena in London, it felt almost like a homecoming show for the court jester of country music. With an adorably irreverent DIY approach to his jumbotron graphics, Brad Paisley has a punk spirit that revels in joyfully poking fun at the quirks of conformity and conventionality.

Above all else, Brad Paisley writes about being a man better than any other country singer. In anyone else’s hands, the ideas behind songs like ‘Waiting on a Woman’ or ‘I’m Still a Guy’ would be turned into lumpen MRM manifestos, but Paisley has a softness of touch that makes them feel like tender disquisitions on traditional gender politics.

Paisley has been hilariously wrestling with the meaning of modern life ever since Mud on the Tires, with songs like ‘Celebrity’ and ‘Online’ humorously pondering the absurdities of late capitalism and social media. He took a moment to capture a selfie of his own when he borrowed a phone from an unsuspecting member of the audience and posted it to her Instagram. Unsurprisingly, @jodes_16 suddenly picked up a few hundred new followers, even if the moment was interrupted by Brad taking a Facetime from her friend Chris calling her from a few rows back.

Strapping on a different guitar for every song, Paisley paid tribute to the contribution of British musicians to country music when he brought out guitar legend Albert Lee for an extended jam through ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, before the night ended where the early afternoon had seemingly begun for a lot of the audience; with alcohol. Plus, an impromptu conga around the floor of the o2 Arena.

Welcome home, Brad.

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