No life jacket needed for Shaboozey

Shaboozey came on stage sporting what looked like a life jacket. He took that off part-way through his show, exposing his beater, perhaps highlighting his well-chiseled physique even more.

Fact of the matter was Shaboozey did not need any help in a well-received genre hopping show. Shaboozey offered a mixture of traditional-based country, hip hop and rap music over the course of about 65 tight minutes.

The Virginia native has been kicking around for more than seven years, but it's only this year that his star has risen through the stratosphere. Appearing on two cuts on Beyonce's "Country Carter" will do that for you. So will having the top song – "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" - on the Billboard Hot 100 and Country charts for weeks on end.

Ultimately, all good and fine to do it on a recording, but how about live? Check. Shaboozey had no difficulty making the conversion, covering the three musical styles. His mixed crowd – race, age, gender – was different for Boston, perhaps due to the varying musical styles.

Shaboozey was no dilettante when it came to the musical styles. Shaboozey showed his proficiency with each, sometimes mixing them within the same song ("Horses & Hellcats"). Shaboozey veered more towards a country sound as the show wore on ("Highway" and "Finally Over," in particular at set's end). To add to his country bona fides, Shaboozey employed Stephen Musselman on pedal steel and Dobro for most of the night. His pedal steel was ever present, perhaps not as prominent as some of those dyed-in-the-wool country traditionalists. Unlike so many other purported country singers these days, Shaboozey deserves credit.

He offered a few covers – on the country side with the Bob Seger ballad, "Turn the Page," about the lonely life on the road, and rapper Wacka Flocka Flame's "No Hands." The Seger cover would not make you forget the original though again give credit for even doing it, while the latter got the crowd going.

Shaboozey predictably and understandably concluded the show with "A Bar Song (Tipsy)." In fact, he apparently liked it so much, he did it twice, albeit in different forms. The first take featured the crowd singing, while he took control of the second. He sure looked happy on stage to have lighting strike as he danced wildly around the stage for nearly 10 minutes, clearly elated with his opportunity. It's a fun song, easy on the ears and the perfect end.

No life jacket needed.