Little Big Town in a Little Big Town (Davenport)

I really enjoyed Little Big Town when they opened a half dozen or so Keith Urban shows I attended a few summers ago. When I saw that they would be performing at a small Iowa theatre, I jumped at the opportunity to see them on their own tour. I originally hoped that my youngest - whose school is just 90 minutes away from the venue - would join me. But it turned out that her big sister had made plans to visit her that weekend and take her to the Hawks game, so mama was out of luck. So we changed up our plans - hubby agreed to come to Davenport with me and we would meet Annie and Sara and Sam for brunch the morning after their football game and victory pub crawl : ).

Jim and I stayed at the lovely refurbished historic Blackhawk Hotel just a couple doors down from the theatre. We had a nice Italian dinner at Antonella's, then (not being a country music fan) Jimmy headed to the Davenport Celtic Fest while I went to the Adler Theatre. Iowa born Jake McVey opened for LBT. He has a decent voice - here is his first single Carry On - but I was wishing that he would venture off his stool and show us a little more of his personality. I did appreciate it that he told us he was the only Iowan who had had a CMT Top 10 video and that he had successfully beat Keith Urban in one of CMT video challenges ( the KU fan club must have been sleeping that day! : ) Here he is singing Waylon's Luckenbach, Texas with a bit of an impersonation of Willie Nelson singing this song.

Little Big Town was full of energy and fun to watch, but gosh darn it a four person group is hard to videotape because they are so spread out on stage. So I only caught a few clips: Bring It On Home , a bit of Good as Gone, and then their cover of Lady Gaga's Born This Way .

In the morning two daughters and a beau came to Davenport to have breakfast with us. I searched Yelp and Urbanspoon for something a little interesting and found a homey local place called Riefe's. Loved the fresh homemade cinnamon sugar donut holes that they placed on the table before we even ordered! Tasted very much like the donuts my father used to make us.

Then Sara and Sam headed back to Chicago for a White Sox Game while Jim and I drove Annie back to Iowa City and helped her hang a bookshelf in her new apartment before we headed back home. A nice weekend - a little travel, good music and a little family time!

Goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City Here I Come

Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come! I headed out towards KC fairly early in the morning, hoping to arrive there in time for the A,T & T contest. I made pretty good time and arrived 60-90 minutes before contest time. There were already several dedicated Monkeys lined up on the sidewalk in front of the store, including a few I had been hoping to meet for quite a while.

I went into the store to add my name to the sign-up list, then joined the gals out front. We had a good time chatting and sharing stories and the line grew little by little. We were all excited when the familiar staffers drove up with their bag on envelopes and one signed CD. I came SO close to a BSE today I was really bummed afterwards. The women on either side of me in line won BSEs!! : ( I realized after the fact that if the pair of Texas gals in front of me, who were traveling together, had not told that little white lie “No, we’re not together,” so each of them would get a prize envelope, the BSE envelope would have been mine. No fair!

I hadn’t gotten Christmas presale tickets to Kansas City so just relied on the regular Ticketmaster presale. I got a single in the center floor which I estimated would be reasonably close to the small stage. As an afterthought I spun the Ticketmaster wheel again and bought a second ticket in case my daughter could come with. I couldn’t get another floor seat but did turn up a row 2 seat in the risers next to the stage. When later I discovered that Annie couldn’t come that day I tried to sell my extra for several weeks on Monkeyville without success, so I thought I might move back and forth between the 2 seats tonight.

Jake was wearing a pale purple button down shirt tonight. He gave a bit of an introduction before his song A Place Call Heaven.

Early in the tour the Keith’s silvery curtain had been ‘featured” before his opening song, with rosy lights and fans to make the curtain ripple in a visually interesting way. But that seems to have been discontinued in recent shows - kind of a shame because it looked pretty neat. Guess it went away like Keith’s a cappella “I wanna put you in my car” before the band joined in that we saw earlier.

As all of the guys came out together to sing Put You in a Song Keith looked gorgeous, as usual and it looked to me like Brian had trimmed his hair a bit shorter as well.

During I Told You So Keith shouted out “Do you want to sing KC?” and then had a bit of fun with the end of the song. He followed the “And I won’t say I told you so,” with “I ain’t gonna say it, I ain’t gonna say it, I can’t bring myself to say it, but... oh, here it comes!”

“I told you so!”

Tonight was a great Raining on Sunday Night. The steamy guitar solo at the end is different from the one in the ROS video. I get the sense that not everyone in the audience is familiar with ROS however - the audience singing of this song does not seem to be as strong as it was in earlier tours, when I recall one male reviewer describing how he had been wowed by 20,000 women in the audience singing ROS. I think the audiences today contain many very young women for whom ROS, like Jeans On, is ‘before their time’.

Keith had fun playing with his spotlight on the upper risers crowd. He read quite a few signs, thanking fans for their positive comments on the tour, how he is ‘making summer hotter’ and how they want to get closer. He read one that said “ Spank me Keith - its my birthday!” and said I’ll take a raincheck on that. Another said “Pick please!” and Keith gave the guy a pick. And then one that provoked a regional response saying “The only KU we love is Keith Urban!” which made the Kansas State supporters cheer and the University of Kansas (KU) supporters boo. “Because we need a little controversy!” said Keith. Finally he read one that said “Brandy’s last fling before the ring,” and he invited her up on stage. He followed his invitation with a rendition of few lines from that old 80’s song “Cause Brandy’s such a fine girl...Such a fine girl!” When she arrived on stage he noticed she was wearing a bachelorette crown and joked “And gentlemen this is the final rose...” then asked her about when she was getting married (Sept 19) and wished her a happy marriage, happy love and happy life.

Keith then continued “So the idea tonight is that it is ts all about liberation, no fences, no security down here - it is complete pandemonium! We don’t need you to be polite, we don’t need you to be well-mannered. We want you to be uncouth and unruly. Whether you are up top, back there, down front - we are all under the same roof. Its not me and you - its us and we’re here to have a great time.” and then went into Long Hot Summer.

After Stupid Boy, when Keith strolled out on the catwalk with his acoustic for Silly Love Song, he preceded it with the first few lines of “Going to Kansas City” and sang “kansas City here I come” with a bit of a sexy growl. He then changed the next lines to “Got a lot of crazy women there and I’m gonna play to some.” A little later we got a little extra special acoustic playfulness before Without You.

Although I sat in my second row riser seat for Jake’s set and the early part of Keith’s set, when I knew it was getting to be time for the trip back to the satellite stage I made way down to my seat in Row 15 of the floor - just 2 seats away from the stage!! I got in a little “vitamin K” shoulder rub as Keith made his way to the stage and then thoroughly enjoyed being up close in my very own seat for a change, rather than in the masses that crowd the aisle just behind the small stage. Here is I'm In and Jeans On. Enjoy my view! : )

There was no Little Big Town excerpt after You’re Gonna Fly tonight! Instead they went straight to Keith’s story introducing Georgia Woods. Now the guys have added a little slide guitar emphasis to Keith’s story line, definitely giving it a little extra “down home South” flavor.

I was glad to be back in my second row left risers seat when Keith came over to the left platform just feet away from me for Sweet Thing. But despite my waving and hooting, I didn't have any luck getting picked for the Kiss a Girl Sing-Off. The first girl to sing said she felt like she was going to pass out (understandable!) : ). Keith decided it was a tie between the 2 female contestants.

We had the special treat of having Jake and Keith perform Jack and Diane during the encore.

I made it back to my hotel just fine but shortly after that severe thunderstorms moved into town, waking me up several times during the night with thunderclaps and driving rain. So driving, in fact, that even though I ws in a highrise hotel, the driving rain cam in through the air conditioner vents and a good five feet of carpeting next to the windows was soaked when I got up in the morning. The storms had also knocked out the functioning of much of the downtown traffic lights as well, so it was a bit of an adventure driving out of town!

My Augusta Adventure

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My journey from Knoxville to Augusta was one of ups and downs both literally and figuratively. I got a bit a of late start since I somehow had reserved my rental car for a noon pickup rather than an earlier hour. I gave my GPS my destination and let it pick my route. The day was sunny and the drive was so beautiful that I was singing to myself:

Oh the sun is shining

And this road keeps winding

Through the prettiest country

Tennessee to Georgia.... (doesn’t have quite the same ring to it)

And then I added, as Keith would:

And all the way through the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina!

(my GPS chose and eastern route rather than going to Atlanta before Augusta)

Loved driving up and down those pretty mountain roads! I had consulted Roadfood looking for somewhere in Asheville, NC for lunch. The spot I picked must cater to office folk because I discovered it was not open on weekends. SoI tried another address in a very hopping collegiate neighborhood but it was so busy I couldn’t find a place to park. I gave up and no sooner had re-set the GPS for Augusta than someone pulled out of a parking spot. I pulled in, and saw that it was in front of the Bouchon Creperie. So I had yummy crepes for lunch in a shaded brick paved courtyard - quite lovely. Thunder began rumbling as I paid my bill and by the time I left Asheville there was a veritable monsoon. It rained so hard that there was nearly zero visibility and the highway was flooded with rainwater. I and many other cars and trucks pulled off on the shoulder to wait out the storm. The gusty wind buffeted my little rental and pelted it with leafy debris and I began to wonder if this was tornado country! A little scary but it eventually stopped and I made my way to Augusta but a little later than planned. I considered venturing into the "Georgia Woods" that lined the road much of the last hour of my drive but the only place where those Georgia pines actually looked inviting were in the woods that bordered golf courses where they had trimmed off the lowest 10 feet of branches! Now if Keith were in those woods it would be a different story!

Unbeknownst to me there was one more challenge during my journey. When my GPS guided me to my hotel address I was sitting in front of a vacant lot in a rundown industrial area!! Where was my hotel?? I double checked the address, then dug out the phone number for the hotel and was told “This number is no longer in service.” Was I homeless in Augusta? I hadn’t written down the arena name and address so I couldn’t even drive there at the moment. I found the complaint number for the online hotel reservation service I use. They said they would research the problem. They called me back in a few moments and had no explanation for the hotel address problem, but gave me a different phone number and told me the hotel was located by Red Lobster, which I did remember passing. So just about an hour before show time I found the missing motel - a rather seedy place that I might not choose again - but better than being homeless!!

My Christmas presale ticket once again was an excellent center section seat in what was effectively the 3rd row. The James Brown Arena is a small arena - in fact I chose this show in part because it may be the lowest capacity arena of the tour. Although it is smaller in depth, it does have some pretty steep and high risers (more about them later). As I awaited the show I was so pleased when monkey SueAnn came over to introduce herself, followed by Mickey a few minutes later. I’m sure we have seen each other at earlier shows, but we had never met.

One thing about the James Brown Arena (and several other arenas this tour) that irked me is how uptight they are about using the elevator to get to the floor if you are not in a wheelchair or on crutches. I had looked at the arena stairs first, but half the descent had no railing to hold onto. With my funky bad knee which gives out unpredictably I am deathly afraid of long stairways if I can’t hang onto a railing. The stairway security guy actually took me to the elevator but once it traveled down to the floor level, the security guy there was absolutely uncompromising even after I explained my knee situation. His stance was “No wheelchair, no crutches --- no entry via the elevator.” (I had a similar experience in Cincy). I asked if there was a manager I could speak to and luckily just then she arrived. Happily she said “Sure- no problem.” Sheesh - not everyone who struggles with stairs or has some physical disability that causes them problems uses equipment. Do I have to carry a crutch for show??

Jake was looking cute as ever in a black shirt tonight. He is garnering more fans all the time, so there are more “Jake” signs out in the audience and more clamoring for his attention during his set. Last night he received two gifts: One gal gave him a teeshirt which he read and laughed at, but I couldn’t see what it said. Then a bit later in the show someone threw Jake a large, long, brightly colored stuffed snake. He was certainly surprised by this weird offering and wore it around his neck for a bit, commenting that it was probably near the top of the list of “weird things fans threw on the stage - right after ‘a prosthetic leg’!”

In the last few shows Jake has referred to his new album song “Alone With You” as ‘a booty song’. (I take it to mean a song about drunk girls making booty calls to him.) He mentioned that if we pre-ordered his album (to be released August 29), we would get “Alone With You” this week. (He must have an Itunes deal similar to those that Keith had.)

Whereas both Jake and Keith had commented that the Knoxville crowd was on the quiet side (“And its freaking me out a bit” Keith continued), that was definitely not the case in Augusta!! The crowd was definitely loud and supportive all night long including some of the loudest cheers and other indications of wonder at Keith’s seering guitar solos (here is the end of Raining on Sunday (with Brian doing a bit of a spin in the background) and Stupid Boy)that I have heard. Keith was loving it and expressed his gratitude to the audience at the end of the night.

Another indicator of how “into it” Augusta was was the very large number of signs present. Keith read or acknowledged quite a few during his first conversation with the audience. I personally was a bit dismayed by the many large signs in the front floor area because I too had brought a sign (but a rather puny half-poster size one) saying “This is my 100th Keith Urban concert!! Can I Get Closer?” but it was totally blocked by the larger signs in front of me. Oh well. Actually Cincy was my 100th but I forgot my sign in the hotel that night. The “winning” sign tonight was one by a bride-to-be saying that she was having her bachelorette party there at the concert. Keith brought her up on stage and chatted with her a few minutes. She said “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to meet you!!” and Keith quipped “Well apparently you’ve

Keith is having a bit of fun with a spotlight at this week’s shows, saying he wants to get a better look at the people sitting way up high and then proceeding to pick up this huge spotlight and shine it on each area of the upper risers in turn. It is a cute way to show that he is thinking about the fans no matter how far away they are sitting.

Keith stuck with the setlist he has used the last few shows which includes Raining on Sunday centerstage, I Told You So over on the right platform and You're Gonna Fly from centerstage.

I was a bit surprised by the choice of contestants for the Augusta Kiss-a-Girl Sing-off. There were 2 young people in the 2nd row in front of me- a darling 9 year old girl with long,long brown hair who said she had been practicing the song with her dad, and a somewhat older boy (maybe 12?) who was dying to be chosen. Both were with parents who were obviously invested in having their son or daughter chosen, so they came with multiple posters each to hold up during the show (“My daughter’s first ever concert....” and “Making memories with my son....”) The girl and her dad were up by the stage all night, so must have been visible and the young guy stood on his chair and waved his poster when it was KAG time. Perhaps it was just that that resulted in them not being picked. Maybe Keith prefers the more spontaneous, not planned or prepared for participations. For whatever reason these cute youngsters, who I had thought would be a shoe-in, were not selected and 3 adults were. Tonight Keith decided that there was a tie between the 2 female contestants, one of whom had ended her song with “I wanna kiss a boy” and the other with “I wanna kiss Keith Urban!”

We were again treated to some fancy finger work on the acoustic guitar before Keith went into Without You. When it was time for Keith's trip to the small stage it seemed Augusta was more than ready. Although I have been lucky in the past following right behind Keith and his bodyguard, there was just a swarm of fast moving fans trying to follow Keith here. So I ducked into one of the rows of seats leading up to the small stage to try to get out of the mad rush and still have a bit of a view of the small stage. I guess I ducked too fast, however, and caught a toe on one of the chair legs and down I went!! Luckily a nice young guy caught my right arm so I only hit the floor with one knee (ouch!) rather than both. I'm still balck and blue : ( I had to peek through heads to see the small stage songs, but had a better view once the stage ascended for You'll Think of Me.

The “snake” person had apparently brought TWO stuffed snakes to the show to give to the performers. Unfortunately that person chose to fling the snake at Keith when he was on the catwalk in the midst of playing a song (a little disruptive) so Keith kind of ducked and snuck in a reference to the movie “Snakes in a Plane” between the lyrics of his song.

Amazingly at the end of the typically strenuous show Keith actually climbed up into the UPPER risers toward the rear of the stadium for You Look Good in My Shirt. I can hardly imagine how shocked and pleased the fans up there must have been!!

Brian and Danny had to play quite a while as Keith made the long congested trip back to stage.

We had two special treats during the encore. First Keith and Jake sang Jack and Diane, with Jake more confidently involved than in Indiana. Then Keith gave us a bit of Blister in the Sun - with his acoustic guitar now rather than the piano accompaniment that he did two tours ago. He still did the usual Tonight I Wanna Cry and Better Life as well.

I’ve forgot to mention that Brian obviously has been practicing the “backbend move” and is getting pretty good (although not bending as low as experienced Keith of course). So at many shows including Augusta they (Brian and Keith) end the night, face to face, doing a dual backbend.

I managed to get one of Jerry’s picks tonight. I was close enough that I was hoping I might have a chance at one of Keith’s wristbands, but he must have gotten distracted this evening because he did not toss them out before leaving the stage. But it was an extra fine night that will keep Georgia on my mind for quite a while!

Keith a Knockout in Knoxville

When I arrived in Knoxville my hotel tried to convince me that I really should walk the 1.8 miles to the arena because of the expected traffic congestion before and after shows. But I knew how plum tuckered I am after a show and was sure I didn’t want to hike back to my room late that night. So I left for the concert a little early to check out the parking situation. Once on the University of Tennessee campus there were several large imposing structures and I wasn’t sure which was the arena. I pulled over to the curb and waited for someone to walk by that I might ask for directions. When I saw someone approaching on the opposite side of the street I opened my window and called out “Excuse me!” to catch their attention and only then realized I was shouting at my concert buddies Tammy and Kelsey!! (small world for us Keithers!) Tammy must have anticipated my question and pointed another half block down the street. I drove the remaining distance and looked at the cars entering a parking ramp, then also looked at the empty parking spots right there on the street. They were metered but when I hopped out and checked the meter I found that they were only in effect until 6 pm. So I was able to park by the curb almost in front of the arena door!

I had not bought Christmas presale tickets for Knoxville - attending this show was kind of an afterthought when I realized its proximity to Cincinnati. So tonight I had lower riser seats about mid-arena. I settled into my seat expecting to wait another 30 minutes or so for the show to start but was surprised when a band came out and got ready to play. It turned out that the winner of Keith’s Guitar Center Contest for new musicians was opening the show tonight before Jake Owen! I was surprised at the early start and missed the beginning of his first song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba-suMtTfQg Brandon Green and his backup band were pretty good and looked to be pretty cute (as best as I could tell from mid-arena). Here is Love Lovin’ You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P-YjXw2xwM which I think is the song Keith played guitar on on Brandon’s recording. There were some friends or family of Brandon sitting behind me who cheered especially loudly after his set.

Jake was cute as ever in a red teeshirt tonight. Here is Alone With You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GhnvQNbL9M - one of my favorites. Both Jake and Keith commented that the Knoxville crowd was on the quiet side and from my view in the risers there were more “sitters” here as well.

There were a good number of signs in Knoxville and Keith read and acknowledged several, but his favorite was one held by a fourth grade teacher which said “I promised my class no homework this year if I get to take a picture with you!” So Keith brought her up and took the picture and good-naturedly teased her about the impact on the education of her students. She said Keith was going to be their hero! Here is a clip of their interaction. ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6nxZ9x2ll0

Well, I wasn’t close to the small stage but you still might enjoy mt view of I’m In : ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TfrvjvBhJ4

I am so enjoying the little bits of extra acoustic guitar play http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJqQmkU1v9s before Without You = so beautiful and it seems Keith is having such a good time doing something a little different.

Tonight’s Kiss a Girl Sing-off http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnjab4YMoNE

was quite a hoot. The first girl said she knew the song but kind of faltered and then gave up and walked back towards Keith before getting to the end of the chorus. Keith fell to the floor in disbelief, laying on his back and shaking his head. When he got up he teased her “I asked you if you knew the song - how clear can I be???” But she did kind of know the song but was struggling with the enormity of the situation. He gave her a second chance (giving her a little push towards the front of the stage) and she did better the second time. Then there was a fellow who nicely ended the chorus with “I wanna kiss MY girl” (awww). The final gal really belted out the chorus, but it was the guy who had captured the audience’s favor and won this evening.

There was one centerstage microphone failure tonight (although I’ve forgotten during which song). Keith had to hightail it over to the right side microphone so that we could hear him. Here is Georgia Woods in Knoxville http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAb7nybfAZE

Jerry and Keith have been doing a bit of their old guitar “jousting” at the start of Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me, I had missed that little bit of play when they skipped it. I didn’t catch the jousting, but here is the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3nAFJs5mMo

At encore time Keith brought Brandon Green and Jake back out for a round of The Joker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nS0AYJVYKc Brandon does have a very good voice.

A Gleeful Keith in Cleveland

I hung around downtown Columbus until I thought the morning rush hour would be over, then moseyed towards Cleveland, stopping here and there. My Cleveland Hotel was an unusual Holiday Inn Express housed in a picturesque old bank downtown building, just a block away from Cleveland’s architecturally famous “Arcade”. Unfortunately the heat wave had Cleveland feeling like a humid oven, so I wasn’t tempted by the outdoor seating of the many restaurants on the nearby pedestrian mall.

I decided to try my luck again at another of Samsung/A,T & T’s contests at a local store the day of the show. Well, it wasn’t too local - it was way out in the burbs. I drove around a good part of Cleveland and its surrounding communities during the day and I’d have to say that the Cleveland metro area has THE worst roads of all the many cities I have visited!! Even the interstates running through town often felt like washboards! I fear that Cleveland may be going the way of downtown Detroit...

When I arrived at the A,T & T store there was a bigger crowd than the previous 2 contests I had attended (25-30 rather than 8-10). Most were sitting on the floor in a corner of the store while I wandered and looked at the various phones. At 2:00 a cab pulled up and out jumped one of Keith’s male staffers. It was at that point that one gal in the crowd said pointedly to me “You know there is a line here.” No - I didn’t realize there was a line rather than a mass of fans (I should have known that but it wasn’t obvious) - guess I shouldn’t have shopped around the store! So I joined the tail end of the mass that she pointed to. The staffer just kind of went down the line, handing out envelopes, so it looked like the end of the line would definitely be out of luck. At least one of the envelopes containing BSE passes seemed randomly distributed to a gal not far from me. The guy asked her if she was alone (and she was) - I immediately piped up that I was alone as well, in case he wanted to make us a pair, But she said she knew someone who would use the other pass. (The other BSE passes I think may have gone to the first person in line). At this contest the staffer was clever enough to ask “ If any of you who won tickets don’t actually need them, would you please give them back.” And many who had gotten envelopes did just that - and he re-distributed these envelopes to folks further down the line - including an envelope for me. So I actually won my third pair of tickets from Samsung!! - but immediately returned them to him, saying I had only been there for the chance to win a BSE and didn't need tickets.

My face must have stuck in his mind because a few minutes later when I resignedly went out to my car, he came after me and asked “Are you the person who won a BSE?” I said “Sadly no.” As he turned back to the store to find the correct person, I called out one last question “Do you have any more of those magic BSE letters?” “Sadly no” he said. “Sorry.”

So I didn’t win a BSE but I did ‘win’ with my lunch choice. During my travels I have been using the website and book called “Roadfood” to find interesting places to eat. For Cleveland one of the spots they suggested was Slyman’s for corned beef sandwichs. Growing up in a Jewish neighborhood in Chicago I developed quite a fondness for a good corned beef sandwich on Jewish rye with new pickles. When I arrived there I was surprised to see about 8 grown men literally running to the Slyman’s door. “What in the heck is going on?” I thought. It turns out that Slyman’s closes after lunch and all these guys were dreading the idea that they might miss out on their corned beef sandwich! I made it into the establishment just in the nick of time - they locked the door after me so no more people could enter and made me take my sandwich to go, rather than eating it there. But it was definitely the biggest, leanest corned beef sandwich I have ever had - nicely wrapped with an extra slice of rye. Why? Because the sandwich is so big that one can easily take out some of the corned beef and make a whole extra bulging half a sandwich and still have trouble getting your mouth around the original sandwich! (I saved a good part of my sandwich for after the concert!)

That evening I walked over to the arena trying not to sweat in the steamy weather : ). It is always a hot time at the concerts (for more than 1 reason!), but no sense working up a sweat early!

The Put You in a Song opening has changed! Keith no longer sings the mysterious sounding solo a cappella line before the band breaks into the full song. In Cleveland all the guys (except Chris of course) lined up on the front of the stage and immediately broke into the guitar intro to the rollicking PYIAS opening number. After that Keith went straight over to the right side platform for You’re Gonna Fly (no I Told You So tonight). There was a bit of right side drama: although I was in the opposite risers I noticed right away that Keith almost looked like he was going to jump off that platform into the audience! I thought to myself “Wow - is he going to sing this song from the risers like You Look Good in My Shirt??” But no, the reason he was sorely tempted to leave his platform was because he was quite upset with the security guard that was preventing the fans in the right risers from running down the steps to the foot of the platform. He shouted 2 loud “No!”’s at the security guy, but wasn’t catching his attention, so then Keith grabbed his microphone stand by its base and extended it out to “tap” the security guy on the back, yelling “Let them through brother!” All this was happening while he and the band were trying to continue to playing the song. When Keith was yelling at security, Brian scrambled to fill in the line of lyrics that Keith was not singing.

What Keith does so his fans have fun!

After Only You Can Love Me This Way, when Keith began his first hellos with a “Sounds mighty good tonight Cleveland!” and “Man, its good to be back again!” He commented that 14 years ago they played in Cleveland at Wilbert’s. “A short 14 years later and here we are! Do you remember Wilbert’s Jerry? Crazy, awesome!” He went on to tell the audience that it was their night and all about them, he acknowledged the previous interaction with “Well I think we’ve gotten all the security problems solved now. Its not rocket science - just let these people go where they want to go and have a good time!”

When Keith strolled out strumming his acoustic guitar before Silly Love Song, he improvised a bit of song:

“ Hey hey - feels good up here tonight!

Just something about playing in Cleveland

I believe!”

and then went into his little McCartney cover and Making Memories.

Tonight I had a great seat up front in line with Keith's microphone, so had to rely on the big screen to see the small stage songs. Here is a bit of You'll Think of Me on the big screen.

Sometime during Keith’s return from the small stage he received a rose from a fan and he climbed back on the mainstage with that rose clenched in his teeth : )

The guitar solos were as hot as the Cleveland weather. Here is Til Summer Comes Around. and Stupid Boy.

During the Kiss a Girl Singoff Keith once again got an ‘uninvited’ volunteer - the blond girl simply climbed up on stage behind the guy. I think Keith already had his eye on a tiny little girl, so he brought her up as a 4th contestant. She actually had a little giftbag with her for Keith. She of course was the darling of the night, winning the thunderous applause of the audience.

For the encore Keith donned a Cleveland jersey for Tonight I Wanna Cry and looked so cute. How does he manage to look so beautifully boyish after a stenuous and hot night of playing?

Postscript: O'Hare Airport in Chicago and the airline nearly did me in again! My flight home (Cleveland-Philadelphia-Chicago-Iowa) (bet you didn't know Philadelphia was in between Cleveland and Chicago!!) I arrived in Chicago late because the airport essentially shut down because of a massive thunderstorm. My Iowa flight was canceled for the same reason and I was told I would have to stay in Chicago until THE NEXT NIGHT before they could get me on a flight, or maybe 3:30 the next day on stand-by. Oh no!! I didn't accept their verdict however. I went to the gate and added my name to the standby list for that evening (#38 on the list!) and sat there commisurating with other delayed travelers. I don't know how or why but, when they were letting a few standbys join the flight, somehow they called my name fifth (not 38th). "BINGO!!!" I shouted and boarded the plane, getting home just several hours late instead of a whole day later.

One Killer Keith Urban Concert in Columbus!

I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later - through travel snafus I all but missed the start of the Columbus concert. Only with some speeding on the highways, quick, panicked parking, and hustling the remaining blocks did I make it to the Nationwide Arena just minutes before Jake Owen came on. Much as I love Chicago, my city of birth, I hate flying through Chicago for just this reason (although lately it seems almost every one of my trips had included late flights). I did make it in the nick of time but I missed out on a planned dinner with concert buddies! : (

Tonight I was in row D which, in Columbus and several other arenas, was a super-long row spanning the entire width of the arena without aisles - a row geared to slow down or block those approaching the stage from the rear. I had a very good view much of the time but several very tall males were in front of me once the floor crowd gathered, so my apologies for the occasional heads in my videos. Here is Only You Can Love Me This Way.

Jake makes many fans happy with his constant interaction - grasping hands, waving or pointing and smiling at particular individuals, coming down off the stage a few times each show. He really made one gal’s night by leading her up onto the stage and then holding her hand and singing a verse of Don’t Think I Can’t Love You, complete with going down on his knees while he sang the last couple lines. He borrowed a sip of beer

from another happy fan. He also told the Columbus audience that, although up to now the Boston crowd had been the very best, now Columbus had taken their place as his favorite.

I guess tonight was just my night for “missing things”. Jake threw a pick right at me - it hit my palm but bounced away before I could grab it. Then Jerry threw me his wristband at show’s end and once again it hit my palm but got away before I could grab it. I must have slow reflexes!! Good thing I don’t have to rely on my reflexes most of the time to catch all the musical memories they throw my way each show!

I Told You So was deleted from the setlist! I was very hopeful that that meant we might get Raining on Sunday or some other special addition, but no - that was not the case. Maybe they have just been running a bit long with the extended Kiss a Girl antics.... Here is sweet Without You.

Keith was wearing different jeans tonight - ones with a weathered look - a few ‘paint splotches’ or white spots, a few tears. Of course it doesn’t matter what kind of jeans he wears - they always look mmm-mmm good : )

I didn't have a good view of the right platform during You're Gonna Fly, but I was close to Brian Nutter on the left platform.

I was sitting just in front of the person responsible, this show, for the traveling Monkeyville sign that is making its way to every US venue (not sure if they’ve found a way to get it to the Canadian shows). I will be taking on that task in Cincinnati, but I had my photo taken with the sign in Columbus since it was convenient.

I do enjoy seeing others’ positive reactions during the show - especially the KU newbies - but I have to admit that sometimes the drunken ones get a little wearing. One very happy (because of Keith but also because of booze) gal in front of me repeatedly, throughout the night, would turn to me and in a loud voice (while Keith was singing) would say “Oh he’s so pretty!!” I concurred : ) but didn’t always appreciate the distraction! I also feel a little guilty that I am almost happy when they fall off the chairs they have been standing on. Shame on me!

For the Kiss a Girl sing-off, as usual, the first contestant was not local, but rather from West Virginia. The next - a male was - quite proudly - from Columbus. but unfortunately only knew the first and last lines of the chorus (I wanna kiss a girl) and just held out the microphone to the singing audience the rest of the time. When he returned the mike to Keith, Keith had to say “ What the hell was that??” before he went on to #3, a Ohio girl wearing a huge pink hat edged with pink feathers. (Sorry I had such a hard time catching a shot around Keith's cameraman!)

Tonight Keith went way back to the rear curve of the risers and way up in the stands for You Look Good in My Shirt. He is brave to “go the distance” near the end of the show when the audience has been thoroughly whipped into a frenzy and is totally loving him (and wanting a piece of him!). His early trip on the floor, back to the small stage, is such a surprise and shock to most that Keith doesn’t seem to get quite as man-handled. But by the time of YLGIMS it sometimes seems that it is “No holds barred!” (literally!)

I love how, even at the end of a very strenuous, hot show, Keith is still showing his joy at performing - laying on his back on the stage with the biggest grin imaginable, alternately kicking his legs up in the air or using them to spin his body in a circle, while continuing to rip away at his guitar! The joy in that man and in his music is oh so infectious and lifts the hearts of every person in his audience.

Keith Had Us 'Feelin' Alright' in Albany!

I had originally bought a pair of tickets for the Albany show because I expected it to be a convenient show for my oldest daughter, who works at Syracuse University, to attend with me. But it turned out that it didn’t fit her schedule : ( But since hubby would be traveling that weekend, I decided to go anyway and sold my extra ticket on the Monkeyville board.

I arrived in Albany the night before the concert and had a lovely dinner at Jack’s Oyster House just down the block from my hotel. That evening I discovered that Samsung was having one of their ticket and BSE giveaways in the morning at a store across the river from Albany in Renssalear. I had no plans (and also no car) but decided to cab out there in hopes of winning a Backstage Experience. I arrived about 90 minutes early and found 6 ambitious fans had beat me there - a couple had arrived at 5 am. It seems that word of these contests is just not getting out very well so that at the appointed time of 10 AM there were still only 8 of us!! So EVERYONE won a pair of good riser tickets and a randomly (sort of) selected person also won a pair of BSE passes. I didn’t need the tickets and tried to find someone to give them to, but had no success (what a shame!).

Maybe the Monkeyville board should keep a list of folks who would like last minute free tickets for each show.

I also “won” in another way in that I made a couple new ‘Keith-crazy” friends, Eileen and Marion. They were nice enough to take me in - giving me a ride back to Albany in their impressively decorated Keith-mobile. We stopped for a Cracker Barrel breakfast on the way, then went to the arena to pick up our will call tickets for the evening. We oggled the couple buses parked right next to the Box Office entrance and saw Jerry relaxing and catching a few rays in a lawn chair between the buses. We would have liked to stay and watch and look around more, but felt rather conspicuous in the Keith-mobile, so eventually left the Box Office parking.

Once I was down on the arena floor that evening I got to see other KU buddies (Leslie and Cindy) but missed talking to Corni who was higher up in the risers.Once again the Christmas presale came through with flying colors - 5th row seats in the center of the left side. But I actually only stayed there for Jake’s set - then moved to my friend Leslie’s seat on the aisle when she went up to the stage (I love the freedom of movement of an aisle seat).

Some of the Albany highlights:

Jake changed his setlist to include Wide Awake. and included some Albany lyrics in Starting With Me.

During his first conversation with the audience, Keith read a sign over in the left risers saying “We’ve got flowers for you.” So he called them down, meeting them halfway, to get the flowers and give them a thank you hug, then set the pretty bouquet where it could be seen, leaning it up against Chris’s drums. “Friendly town tonight!”

Here is Stupid Boy.

When Keith asked how many in the audience were from Albany the response was kind of middling in volume, so then he asked how many were from out of town and got an immense response. This was reinforced later when his Kiss a Girl contestants were all out of towners so he had to kind of fudge and pretend that a woman from PA had recently moved to NY so he could pretend to have a hometown contestant. : )

When he looked at those in the risers way in the back of the arena, He told them those up at the top by the railing looked “like they were in a treehouse” and that they should have a sign saying “No Girls Allowed”.

Keith gave one of his big squeals during Boondocks.

A Long Hot Summer nearly as hot as our weather has been.

Because I had been in Leslie’s aisle seat I headed back to the small stage at just the right time and scored an upfront, on the rail perfect viewing position for his songs there - highlight of my evening! Here is I’m In.

In Jeans On he personalized it for Albany with

“You and me, we'll go motorbike ridin' in the sun

And the wind in upstate New York”

and had fun with the song with his singing upside down from under the mike and giving us an extra deep “Feeling alright!” and plenty of flippage during the guitar interlude.

I must say that, up close, Keith’s blue jeans, although always looking so good on him, had a strange dark sheen like he had been sitting on coal dust. (Perhaps I should have offered to try to brush them off? : )

During Keith’s singing of Kiss a Girl he almost cracked himself up by changing the lyrics to:

“And she broke my heart

Broke it right in FOUR”

He had a silly little boy grin of satisfaction with his little joke and briefly paused in amusement.

Of course the Kiss-a-Girl Sing-off is always a highlight, but Keith must not have been impressed with the performances of the first 3 contestants, because he decided after the fact to bring up a fourth.

Here is Sweet Thing.

When Keith lead the audience in a round of “Yeah, yeah - whoa-ho’s” at the end of Somebody Like You, he encouraged us to “Raise the friskin’ roof!!”

During the final thank yous of the evening Keith thanked everyone for sticking around to the very end (much more so than at the last Uncasville show) rather than heading home, and then sort of added his thoughts, probably referring to the reciprocal feelings of love flowing between he and the audience, saying “You ARE home!” : )