Recently just discovered Keith Urban.

[lucidlydreaming]

Stumbled upon his Crossroads CMT show with John Mayer and more recently his acoustic live request video on Youtube.  Man, this guy is probably my favorite guitar player right now and I'm not even a country music fan.

[Stadler]

Stumbled upon his Crossroads CMT show with John Mayer and more recently his acoustic live request video on Youtube.  Man, this guy is probably my favorite guitar player right now and I'm not even a country music fan.

My wife is a big fan (for obvious reasons).  I've seen him now four times live.

GO!

First, as a guitar player, he's the real deal, and there's always about three spots a show where it's all guitar chops.   But even beyond that, it's a fun time, and he (and his band) play every note (except a couple drum loops in certain songs), sing every note, and otherwise engage in a loose performance.

He's also very fan-friendly.  He does a spot - usually about three, four songs in - where he picks out signs in the crowd and will talk with the audience.  Twice now he's brought people on stage for their "moment in the sun", and while it sounds cheesy, he's so genuine that it works.    We try to get "pit" tickets and so twice now I've been within the first two rows, and both times he's engaged the people around me (I just stood back).  Once, during the show, he came over and played and sang to my daughter, and after the show he walks along the front of the stage singing stuff, so he signed her ticket, and she asked for a selfie; he said "sorry sweetie I can't sign and pose at the same time" so he instead held her hand while he signed the posters and tickets around her (and I got a picture from behind her).    I know this isn't about the music, but the knock on "new country" it's that it's plastic, pre-fab and calculated, and to me, having seen over 300 shows in my life, Keith Urban smacks more of older rock shows than anything else.    It's really a fun time.   

(As an aside, if you watch the Dan Rather Big Interview with him - and it's worth it - it was taped at Mohegan Sun, the afternoon of the last time I saw him live, and the night that my daughter had her "moment".)

[Stadler]

So, just saw him again in Great Woods, MA.  Wonderful show.  Two hours and 15 minutes and it was fun from start to finish. The guy is a fantastic guitar player, and he knows how to put on a show.   These tix were a present for my wife, so we were third row on stage right and at one point he came and stood right in front of us and ripped off an amazing solo.  As he was walking away, he turned, looked right at me, pointed and winked; my wife was pissed.  The lady next to her said "what was THAT?  Do they know each other?"   Haha. 

He did the signing thing again; after the lights went up, he just signed stuff.  We waited about twenty minutes and he was still signing as we walked out.  Really fan friendly, really sincere, really does things the right way.  I get it if you don't like the "country music" part, but he's still the real deal. 

My wife was also... exasperated with me.  He was wearing a black leather studded belt, like Paul Di'Anno used to wear in Maiden, and he had a Fender Telecaster with the cracked mirror motif like Paul Stanley.  At one point he ended a song with a little riff and he sang "and party ever-y day!"   I kept telling her Keith was a closet Maiden/Kiss fan, but she wasn't buying it.     

There was a lot more piped in stuff this tour; three songs were duets where they had the other person on the big screen.  I'm indifferent on that, because he's still singing, he's still playing the shit out of his guitar, and it's only on certain songs, so the spontenaity of the show is still there.  Plus, each member of the band had a little solo moment where there was nothing played behind, so you saw them "naked" so to speak.  You knew you were watching real musicians perform, it's just that part of the act was using sampled sounds.

Really fun night.

[hefdaddy42]

Keith Urban is pretty badass.  I don't like a lot of current country stars, but he's right up there.

[Lowdz]

So, just saw him again in Great Woods, MA.  Wonderful show.  Two hours and 15 minutes and it was fun from start to finish. The guy is a fantastic guitar player, and he knows how to put on a show.   These tix were a present for my wife, so we were third row on stage right and at one point he came and stood right in front of us and ripped off an amazing solo.  As he was walking away, he turned, looked right at me, pointed and winked; my wife was pissed.  The lady next to her said "what was THAT?  Do they know each other?"   Haha. 

He did the signing thing again; after the lights went up, he just signed stuff.  We waited about twenty minutes and he was still signing as we walked out.  Really fan friendly, really sincere, really does things the right way.  I get it if you don't like the "country music" part, but he's still the real deal. 

My wife was also... exasperated with me.  He was wearing a black leather studded belt, like Paul Di'Anno used to wear in Maiden, and he had a Fender Telecaster with the cracked mirror motif like Paul Stanley.  At one point he ended a song with a little riff and he sang "and party ever-y day!"   I kept telling her Keith was a closet Maiden/Kiss fan, but she wasn't buying it.     

There was a lot more piped in stuff this tour; three songs were duets where they had the other person on the big screen.  I'm indifferent on that, because he's still singing, he's still playing the shit out of his guitar, and it's only on certain songs, so the spontenaity of the show is still there.  Plus, each member of the band had a little solo moment where there was nothing played behind, so you saw them "naked" so to speak.  You knew you were watching real musicians perform, it's just that part of the act was using sampled sounds.

Really fun night.

He’s Australian isn’t he? Kade apart (we won’t see him in this thread 😁😁) they all have to be KISS fans. It’s in their DNA 😁

[wolfking]

He sure snorts a great line.  I can't stand him, but he's a decent player.  I'd like to hear him on another style though.

[wolfking]

So, just saw him again in Great Woods, MA.  Wonderful show.  Two hours and 15 minutes and it was fun from start to finish. The guy is a fantastic guitar player, and he knows how to put on a show.   These tix were a present for my wife, so we were third row on stage right and at one point he came and stood right in front of us and ripped off an amazing solo.  As he was walking away, he turned, looked right at me, pointed and winked; my wife was pissed.  The lady next to her said "what was THAT?  Do they know each other?"   Haha. 

He did the signing thing again; after the lights went up, he just signed stuff.  We waited about twenty minutes and he was still signing as we walked out.  Really fan friendly, really sincere, really does things the right way.  I get it if you don't like the "country music" part, but he's still the real deal. 

My wife was also... exasperated with me.  He was wearing a black leather studded belt, like Paul Di'Anno used to wear in Maiden, and he had a Fender Telecaster with the cracked mirror motif like Paul Stanley.  At one point he ended a song with a little riff and he sang "and party ever-y day!"   I kept telling her Keith was a closet Maiden/Kiss fan, but she wasn't buying it.     

There was a lot more piped in stuff this tour; three songs were duets where they had the other person on the big screen.  I'm indifferent on that, because he's still singing, he's still playing the shit out of his guitar, and it's only on certain songs, so the spontenaity of the show is still there.  Plus, each member of the band had a little solo moment where there was nothing played behind, so you saw them "naked" so to speak.  You knew you were watching real musicians perform, it's just that part of the act was using sampled sounds.

Really fun night.

He’s Australian isn’t he? Kade apart (we won’t see him in this thread 😁😁) they all have to be KISS fans. It’s in their DNA 😁

Fuck KISS too. 

[Dublagent66]

He's got some pretty catchy tunes and is a great guitar player.

[Stadler]

He sure snorts a great line.  I can't stand him, but he's a decent player.  I'd like to hear him on another style though.

You're brutal. 

[wolfking]

He sure snorts a great line.  I can't stand him, but he's a decent player.  I'd like to hear him on another style though.

You're brutal. 

Its a me problem.  But cut me some slack, there was a compliment in there.

[TAC]

He sure snorts a great line.  I can't stand him, but he's a decent player.  I'd like to hear him on another style though.

You're brutal. 

Its a me problem.  But cut me some slack, there was a compliment in there.

He's a great snorter?

[wolfking]

He sure snorts a great line.  I can't stand him, but he's a decent player.  I'd like to hear him on another style though.

You're brutal. 

Its a me problem.  But cut me some slack, there was a compliment in there.

He's a great snorter?

Nah, a decent guitar player! Lol.