More From the House of Blues

The Thrills of Dallas No Frills

Keith did 6 private small venue “No Frills” concerts this month to promote his upcoming new album and tour. Tickets were only available to those who won them from the fan club, the radio stations near the 6 venues or contests sponsored by Verizon. I entered and entered and downloaded Verizon music and ringtones (a way to qualify for their competitions) but no luck :(. Days before I left for the Houston Rodeo show I saw a pair of tickets for the Dallas No Frills show listed on Ebay. The Dallas show was the day after the Houston rodeo and just a few hours drive away. How could I resist?? I watched that Ebay item, expecting it to be bid up to a high price, but I guess I was the only one watching it because as its time ran out I placed the lowest opening bid and won the auction! Of course it meant paying a penalty to change my return flight but I was thrilled to death. Who knows if I will ever again get the chance to see Keith Urban in a small club setting ??

I was relieved when the envelope containing my Dallas House of Blues No Frills tickets actually arrived at my Houston hotel. Wednesday afternoon I had an uneventful drive from Houston to Dallas, caught sight of the parked Keith Urban-Verizon bus when I filled up my gas tank and found my rather seedy hotel. it was a bad sign when there were no bulbs in any of the lamps and no lamp shades on two of them, but who would think one would have to worry about something listed as a Hampton Inn?

I made contact with Kathy, another ardent fan who was going to use my extra ticket. She and her hubby offered to pick me up at my hotel so Kathy and I could catch an early dinner at the House of Blues restaurant. What fun to meet a new online friend and find you have so much in common! We managed to stop talking long enough to eat our sandwiches, then used our receipts to get into the restaurant’s “Pass the Line” waiting area which would allow us to be admitted to the venue before the folks in the outside line! There were quite a few who took advantage of this option and we had about a half hour wait before the doors opened at 8:00, but it was definitely worth it, We made some new friends in line - lucky Monkeyville winners and another pair who had simply lucked out by arriving at the HOB box office before 6 and were handed a pair of tickets! While in line verizon folks shot small group photos of “Keith’s fans waiting in line” and then showed some of these on the screens inside while we waited for it to be showtime (9:00). Verizon also had their other promotions from last tour active - text messages flashed on the venue screens (“Linda came from Iowa!”), the opportunity to do a green screen video “with Keith” was advertised, encouragement to use our phones to video Keith singing Sweet Thing and then submit the videos to be included in a video collage which perhaps they will use in the tour, info on downloading music and ringtones, a chance to win a guitar signed by Keith. It helped to pass the time as we impatiently waited for the man we so wanted to see.

I forgot to mention that after they checked our IDs and tickets and let us into the venue, Kathy and I temporarily parted ways. She was determined to score a spot upfront on the floor (and did so!!) while I knew from experience that, since my knee surgery, I could not stand continuously for long periods of time. I asked whether I could sit in the venue seats (upstairs) and the fellow graciously took me up in an elevator and pointed out the only places I couldn’t sit (saved for Verizon bigwigs). I sat in the 4th row center of a balcony (behind the Verizon folks) probably not 20 feet from the stage. I had an unobstructed view of Keith most of the time and was happy to sit even though I couldn’t be quite as up close and personal. If only I were younger or hardier!

Keith was back in a teeshirt tonight - grayish but with some kind of red curlicues or marking near the left side of his waist. Really skinny leg jeans. The more muted lighting at HOB didn’t show up his golden highlights as much as at the Rodeo. He and the guys seemed to be in great spirits and thanked the venue and Verizon for making the concert possible and all of us for coming out and thanked Texas for always making them feel like family. They began with the usual favorites - Days Go By, Better Half (no flub tonight), and Stupid Boy. Keith just burned up his guitar solos and interludes time after time (Stupid Boy, Raining On Sunday, Once InA Lifetime (yes - it was back after nearly a year!) and in songs from the new album: Sweet Thing, Kiss A Girl, Til Summer Comes Around) last night. I think he was really intent on rocking the House of Blues and rock he did!! I overheard the admiring comments of several guys sitting around me who obviously had been unfamiliar with our ‘guitar god’! Wow - he was so smoking hot and introduced some special new flourishes here and there for the No Frills crowd. No Frills was a misnomer when it comes to their performance! Lots of special performance “frills”!!

Kiss a girl was the first new song to be performed and it was so much fun. I’m really enjoying it although each time I hear it I wonder whether Keith is a Modest Mouse fan because the chord progression reminds me so much of one of their (very different) song Blame It on the Tetons already engrained in my brain. Does anyone else think the variation on the chorus “Make a little magic baby” has special meaning? A little bit later he did a new ballad "Only you can love me this way."Very sweet, with a very interesting guitar intro. I just love the refrain “And you’re always in my heart, always on my mind...” But of course it was ‘Til Summer Comes Around that was the real thriller, giving me goosebumps all over, I just love that song. I don’t remember this being mentioned about Valdosta, but last night the song was accompanied by the sounds of waves crashing on the beach. And that made sense of some more new video excerpts on the stage backdrops in Houston last night - ocean beach shots that didn’t connect for me since last night he didn’t sing this song.

A few of the funny spots last night - Keith singing a few lines of Deep in the Heart of Texas. Keith telling us that “the pollen in Dallas was kicking his a$$ (and the pollen in Houston and Nashville was kicking his a$$ as well). But we’re here and we’re gonna rock anyway!” and he apologized if he consequently sounded like a 70’s lounge singer (tee hee) (fat chance!). He did get a little hoarse at times at the end of the night but as always Keith gave it his all. He kept encouraging the crowd and calling upon us to sing (and we did - much more so than in Houston) - “Here we go!” “Don’t let us down now! “ “You’re sounding good tonight!” “We’re cookin’ now!”

Before Raining On Sunday he gave a bit of a tribute to all the great singers/songwriters that cam from Texas - Van Sant, Crowell, Jennings, Holly, Whitney, and the writer of this song Radney Foster and brought back the electric guitar solo in that song. In Sweet Thing he shouted out “Come out and meet me mama!” (but we never caught sight of Nicole if she was there). We had the unique treat of hearing Tonight I Wanna Cry done on acoustic guitar because they had no piano last night. During You Look Good In My Shirt he did not leave the stage but did move to each stage end, which he hadn’t done earlier, and performed near the stage edge as fans patted his boots and reached for his legs. A couple times during the night he lead us in his “Yeah, yeah, yeahs” but our favorite was when the follow-up line to the yeah-yeahs was Keith singing “Wanna stay a little longer?” Of course that elicited screams and Keith said in the cutest matter of fact voice - “Oh, okay!” Then he teased us by saying but he knew it was a school night and he would really understand if we wanted to go home! HA! So they kept going and later confessed that they were supposed to end at 10:30 but they really wanted to do a couple more songs - okay?

When they finally did have to go Keith again said “I appreciate you guys coming out so much!” The applause and screams were just thunderous for such a small crowd - my ears were ringing from the audience response! When I couldn’t scream and clap anymore I just had to shout out “Thank you, thank you, thank you” at the top of my lungs. I hope Keith really knows how much we appreciate him. Yes there were some 1200-1500 hundred people there but, as I said to Kathy as we left, it felt like Keith was playing in my living room. A very special night!! (videos to come)

More From Houston

Houston We've Got A Problem!

Houston we've got a problem! Keith Urban is WAY too good to limit him to an hour concert!!! It was wonderful to see him live again - it seems like forever since I last saw him perform two shows at the Grand Ol' Opry last September! But I was SO not ready to have him say goodnight when his hour (apparently the standard concert length for all the stars featured at Houston's huge spring rodeo) was up! :(

It was nice to start my spring break with a trip to Houston. Although there are signs of spring in Iowa we aren't yet in the 70's like Houston and certainly don't have flowers in full bloom! I can see Reliant Stadium (huge!) from my hotel window and found some good Texas BBQ and fresh gulf seafood in the short time I've been here. I spent the sunny afternoon at the Houston Zoo which was packed with families also on spring vacation. At rodeo time I walked over to the stadium and found my front row centerfield seat (thanks Monkeyville!) almost next to a cameraman filming both rodeo and (later) Keith action. My seat was called an "Action Seat" because it was so close to the action that we caught a little flying dirt during some of the rodeo contests. They keep a fast pace with the different types of competitions so 2 hours flew by faster than I expected. Suddenly they were moving out the concert stage to the center of the arena. They were really fast and efficient - in 15 minutes it (and all it lights, speakers, motors, stairs, etc) was in place. (Right in front of me but in the center of the big dirt floor). So I was in a great spot although the stage slowly but constantly rotates so that all sides of the stadium get a good view at some point, while those on the opposite side then have to rely on the big video screens while the stage is facing away from them. Security guards stood about every 30 feet or so between the audience and the stage) in case any of us tried to rush the stage : ). It almost seemed as if the band members came out with the stage equipment because suddenly there was Brad, and Brian and the Chrises on the completed stage (but not their fearless leader).

The stadium was darkened and a brief display of indoor! fireworks began the show with a bang. Meanwhile, in the dark, a SUV pulled up next to the stage in front of me and a shadowy Keith got out and ran up the stage stairs, breaking immediately into Days Go By when the fireworks ended. At this point I realized another problem - no one in the audience was standing up! :( and they really did not for most of the show. (How anyone can sit still during Keith's music mystifies me!) A couple of times a few of us could not help but stand and get into the music, but we were scattered in this audience of rodeo fans and ended up sitting down again at the end of a song until we were overtaken by Keith's music once again. I missed feeling free to participate completely and fully live the concert experience!

Keith ended DGB with huge "Yee Haw! Alright!" and then they went into Better Half. But I guess, as at the show in Valdosta, the guys are still a little rusty because Keith began the second verse a bit too soon, got a case of the giggles from his mistake, and ended up singing "I don't even know my own song!" : ) At least 4 times during the show Keith asked "Are you ready to sing Houston" or "Are you in a singing mood Houston" and told everyone to sing extra loud because they could not hear the audience up on stage (partly due to bad acoustics, partly due to rather scattered singing). I was singing my heart out! Keith said that they were so glad to be back in Houston for the third time. He also said it felt good to be on the fancy new stage (and he definitely looked glad to be playing!).

Did I tell you how good Keith looked? Oh my. White or cream plaid shirt, sleeves rolled up above his elbows, at least 3 buttons undone. Those lovely raggedy jeans with the frayed pocket flaps, I'm loving the new haircut and blond highlights - he looks like a sweet young thing!

Next up was I Told You So and then Stupid Boy with his voice sounding oh so clear and sweet. That guitar solo I have been missing live - I felt like that parched desert plant finally getting a sweet drink of spring rain. Yes! I needed that! Keith asked those in the nosebleed seats"How is everybody way up high? That's a mighty long way up!" And then thanked everyone for making them feel so welcome.

The rotating stage was interesting. The backdrop behind the band was not solid - it was made of mesh or grillwork that you could see through, yet it had enough substance to serve as a curved video screen kind of like Keith's big screen but not in high definition. Because it was not solid the pictures of Keith and the band projected on it almost had a hologram like quality. I think we got a preview of some of the new video backgrounds that they might be using the new tour (like an interesting backdrop of winding country roads during Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me).

Sweet Thing was the only new song of the evening and the crowd loved it. Keith dedicated the song "to everyone here tonight who drove a long way to get here." How about those of us who flew? I know there were many of us - one gal flew from Boston. Another pair held a sign that they had traveled 2697 miles to see Keith. He ended ST with "We're cookin' now!" (and they were!).

I'm sure Keith intended to introduce all the guys, but time got away from him so he only made it through Chris M and Brad. You Look Good In My Shirt drove the audience wild. Keith came down off the stage and, starting just a bit to my right, circled the arena perimeter, slapping hands or playing while the crowd reached out to touch him. On the opposite side from me he actually climbed through the bars into the first row of seats and played a bit absolutely crushed by fans. I then thought he might be giving away a guitar but he was simply having someone hold it as he slipped through the rails again back out onto the dirt floor. He continued to circle this huge stadium and I could see he was getting a little winded from the run. Sadly it was taking too long so he dashed back to the stage before he completed the trip and there was an audible moan from the last 20% of us. But it was a really valiant try!

Back on stage he put on his best Irish brogue and wished us all a happy St. Patrick;s Day, and continued on to say that there were a whole lot of Irish on the side of the arena he had climbed into (he came back ladened with green necklaces). He then dropped the brogue and joked "I'll just take off the whole city of New Orleans now!" and hung all of the necklaces on his mike. Making Memories Of Us and You'll Think Of Me were up next.

There was only time for a tiny bit of guitar jousting before Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me and then a rousing Somebody Like You and - oh no - it was over! Keith circled the stage, bowing and thanking each side of the stadium, frequently placing his hand on his heart to show he was touched by the screams and cheers of the crowd, flashing a peace sign every now and then. And all too soon a truck backed up to the stage just in front of me, collected the whole band in its truck bed and drove out of the stadium at 10:00, with all the guys waving at the crowd. Another burst of fireworks and the Rodeo Houston concert was done for another night. I think they must have been required to end at that time, because as the audience filed out I overheard the 2 camera guys next to me saying "I thought he had one more song on the list?" and the other said "Yeah, but it is 10:00". Probably the YLGIMS run took longer than expected. I bet they had Better Life or Everybody planned as the closer. Great show Keith but you just wet our whistle! Just barely an appetizer for the concert season to come! But so good to feel that Urban high again as I wandered back to my hotel singing to myself! (videoclip to come)

Great Big Sea!

Had front row seats to see a great Irish/Canadian band from Newfoundland called Great Big Sea the night before last. A lot of their stuff is contemporary rather than classic Irish tunes and reminded me, in both theme and melody, of some of Keith's music. They will be coming back to town for our third annual Irishfest in downtown Waterloo, IA the last weekend of July. They definitely got the audience up on their feet and participating and were easy on the eyes too! I'm looking forward to seeing them again when they are in town this summer! Don't miss it!