By Ed Townsend
BETHEL — We have often heard of country music fans falling for this star or that star, but seldom do you see the star falling for his fans.
Such was the case Friday evening, Aug. 10, when 2011 American Idol Scotty McCreery, while belting out his version of Travis Tritt's “T.R.O.U.B.L.E.,” took a wrong step near the end of the stage and fell right off.
The crooner was opening for the Brad Paisley show at Bethel Woods and hardly missed a beat while singing, immediately getting back up on the stage. It was rumored (but could not be verified) that some fans caught him as he fell.
He reportedly had a great sense of humor about the embarrassing incident, as he took to Twitter saying, “Paisley pranked me again ... He narrowed up the stage on me for my last song.”
McCreery won Fox’s “American Idol” contest last year at the age of 17, and he is fast becoming a fan favorite, as was very evident with the reception he received at Bethel Woods.
Since winning the Idol title, he has put his talents and that baritone singing voice to work on his album “Clear As Day,” which sold more than one million copies in the first month.
Last December, he won New Artist of the Year honors at the American Country Awards and then joined Brad Paisley’s Virtual Reality Tour.
The outstanding musical group The Band Perry with lead singer Kimberly Perry followed McCreery and opened with their major hit “If I Die Young.”
Brad Paisley then took the stage with an array of background video displays that many deemed outstanding.
Paisley also displayed his great musical talents on the guitar. Highlights of his portion of the show included his hit “This Is Country Music,” “I’m Still A Guy,” “Waitin’ On A Woman,” a tribute to the late great Andy Griffith, and one of his top hits, “Alcohol.”
Paisley left the stage in the latter part of the program and went up to a small stage closer to the crowd on the lawn. The audience appreciated getting a closer look at him.
During the show, he mentioned Woodstock and Jimi Hendrix, ultimately performing Hendrix's famous Woodstock rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.”