Brad Paisley's thrills fans in Toronto Thursday night. (Craig Robertson, QMI Agency)

TORONTO - There might have been a lot of alcohol being downed, but the crowd much preferred getting drunk on Brad Paisley's music.

The country superstar, who performed at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre last summer, played to a sizable but far from sold-out crowd Thursday night at Toronto's Rexall Centre supporting his new album This Is Country Music.

And although he can't be compared to the likes of Hank, Johnny, Willie and George, Paisley has created a string of strong radio-friendly keepers few in today's country can rival.

With his band and a large video screen behind him, Paisley kicked off his nearly two-hour show with Mud On The Tires, a short but steady number that had all crammed near the stage raising beers and singing loudly to. From there the singer – sporting a t-shirt featuring a young Johnny Cash and a white cowboy hat – wasted little time with small talk aside from a stream of statements showing his love of Canada.

“Nothing like summertime in Canada,” Paisley said before later adding how his band mates thought the leaf on the flag referred to a certain drug.

Paisley also seems to genuinely have fun on stage, with a broken guitar string or a slight monitor tweak not getting him flustered. And he can certainly play a decent guitar solo as he extended a few closings quite nicely when not adding a subtle O Canada riff at the end of She's Everything.

But most of the night Paisley was happy to dole out each hit with the video for that song appearing behind him. For Celebrity, a “good looking muppet” with a giant Paisley head arrived and glad-handed those in front which also got the crowd going.

Songs like Welcome To The Future, the toe-tapping Water, Ticks and the traditional country hues of I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song) meshed well with the tender ballads Letter To Me, Then and Waitin' On A Woman. However the real highlights were This Is Country Music which featured images of the old (and new) country stars and I'm Still A Guy which included some of Hank Williams Jr.'s A Country Boy Can Survive.

Some of the new tunes such as Working On A Tan and Camouflage came off as hokey but the galloping Eastwood – resembling the score to a spaghetti Western and featuring the legendary actor's voice – shone. The Good, The Brad and The Ugly video was also amusing, with Paisley saving Sugarland, Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood from certain death.

Opening for Paisley was Eric Church whose knack for quality country rock hooks made the 50-minute set go swimmingly. The singer also got a rise from the crowd by surprisingly soaking those on the floor with a water pistol before chugging two large cans of Busch near the end.

Choosing an American beer in a Canadian city might have been the only sticking point on what was otherwise a great honky tonk evening.