>The excitement of a new tour!! A new stage, new lighting, new video screen backdrop, new set list and all the surprises of a new production. But beyond all the fancy effects and technoglitz it is the music that truly reaches us. To paraphrase a wise friend “Keith could be playing sitting on a cardboard box and I would love it!” I think all but the most casual, uninvolved of Keith’s followers would agree. So when I think of my most favorite and thrilling moments of the opening show of the Escape Together Tour, most are special musical moments that did not depend much on the stage fixings. A very special completely solo acoustic performance of Once in a Lifetime, the totally rocking Hit the Ground Running, the moving acoustic guitar rendition of Tonight I Wanna Cry, the standout arrangements of the new songs Standing Right in Front of You and If Ever I Could Love, and of course those sometimes blistering, sometimes heart-rending guitar solos. I’d be hard pressed to tell you much about the fancy effects at those moments when the music and the musicianship totally sucked you into that Urban experience. But I am getting ahead of myself. For those who don’t want wait until their own concert experience to be surprised by the new details let me start at the beginning of the show.
Wow, starting a new tour must be another example of “it’s scary business, your heart and soul are on the line”! Especially when your very popular opening act has to cancel at the last minute. What panic that must have caused. I was sorry Jennifer of Sugarland was still having health problems, but of course I was at the Mohegan for our main man! But some folks had obviously bought tickets just because they wanted to see Sugarland, so there were some who returned their tickets for a refund (silly people!!) leaving a few empty seats in the arena. Jason Aldean did a good job as a last minute replacement. I was only familiar with a few of his singles and was a bit distracted (more about this next time) so I won’t say more about his performance.
The stage did look larger than usual to me and what had looked like stage ”arms” on the right and left in the Ticketmaster seating charts turned out to be ramps leading down to the floor! Interesting!! The lighting guys still made their scary climb up to their lighting chairs in the rafters. No fences anywhere so during the break quite a crowd gathered around the catwalk, the ramps and the front of the stage. There were security guards to keep anyone from climbing up (I guess) but otherwise they seemed inactive. The Mohegan Sun Arena is a nice small arena so the little (15 ft?) center catwalk extended 20-25% into the floor area. Last night there was also a small remote stage set up at the very back of the arena beyond the fenced in “Mix” area.
No DJ handling the before show and break music as far as I could tell, and that music seemed a bit disjointed to me last evening. It included, among other things, some bit of Kiss A Girl, which was then shut off, only to return a little later with the showing of the “green screen” KAG video on the right and left screens above the stands on either side of stage. Verizon also had their text messages appearing on those screens before the show like last tour. I had a good seat right on the aisle in the lower risers right next to the stage so had a great side view (but never a full head on view to appreciate some of the show effects).
The music grew louder so we knew showtime must be approaching. “Take Back the City” was the final song before the curtains opened. We’ll have to see if that continues to be the case.
“The curtains?” you ask! Yes- huge black curtains were pulled around the entire stage during the break (I’ve seen other artists hide the set up this way before to build suspense). So the opening of Keith’s show was marked by some impressive heavy Celtic like percussion/fiddle/vocal (and maybe even a little bagpipe??) lead-in, and a drawing back of the curtains to reveal the stage. Unfortunately my side stage position meant I couldn’t see until the very last part of the side curtains pulled back, so I don’t know what I missed on the opening video screens. But the Celtic lead-in turned into a really terrific Hit the Ground Running that immediately got everyone on their feet. The guys were rocking and then here comes Keith rising out of the FLOOR of the stage (not an elevated ramp like last time). A perfect opening song but one that I didn’t predict!! A sizzling guitar solo set the stage for the rest of the night.
Keith was in one of his very short-sleeved black and white plaid shirts, several of the pearl buttons undone. The back of his hair is now very short (L) so he only has the long bangs in front to flip when performing.
The five new video screens are interesting because they can either project a single image across all of them or five separate images. So sometimes each of the guys had their own screen while they played. They also continued to use the 2 regular video screens above the stands on either side of the stage throughout the evening.
Then Keith went to the familiar for those who didn’t know the new album: Days Go By! No one was going to sit down that’s for sure. But then something that we didn’t really notice (until I played a videoclip) – Keith had a little break in his voice, a hoarseness. And, as he told us later, that made him experience a total freak-out panic (“Am I losing my voice on the second song???!!” ) I think that really scared him and threw him a little off kilter for the rest of the night (he mentioned it more than once later in the evening). Can you imagine what he must have been feeling?? So he wasn’t in full voice at all times (too many practices!!!) but seemed to recover as the night went on. Early in the evening he needed us on some of the high notes and we obliged! Then Stupid Boy (Sidebar: Wow! Brian, with his longer hair was a real cutie last night and really mugged to the crowd all evening long. Since he was right in front of me much of the time I really enjoyed it!. Jerry, too, was quite the ham and a real entertainer. I didn’t get to see much of Chris and Brad up close from my position).)
Keith then took time to say hello to Uncasville, to express regret that Sugarland couldn’t be there, to thank Jason Aldean for doing such a great job and being such a professional and filling in at the last minute. He did his “Are you feeling good tonight?” questions to each part of the arena. Then Where the Blacktop Ends with one of those fastest-fingers-in-the-world guitar interludes. I thought he might leave the stage during Blacktop (like the old days) but he surprised us and instead headed down the ramp after the second verse of Better Half!! He played a really nice “BH bridge” of sorts as he made his way to the very back of the arena, thrilling the delighted and screaming audience, and climbed up on the remote stage to finish the final line of Better Half and give a big “Yee-Haw” to the back of the arena crowd. “Oh yeah - I couldn’t stay away from you guys any longer!” he told them. He began, absolutely solo, the Once in a Lifetime guitar beat but as he plucked he said “ I just gotta say I am nervous as hell tonight - its that first night back out on tour. I swear I almost my voice back in the first two songs and I am freaking out with you guys tonight. But I’m back on the track now so we’re good.” (poor baby!) The solo acoustic OIAL on the remote stage was wonderful!!! Then he read the sign of a couple saying “Making Memories For Us – Our 25th Anniversary” He invited them up on the tiny stage and congratulated them and dedicated the next song, Making Memories of Us, to them.
The rest of the band, who had been absent during OIAL, returned to stage to accompany Keith on this song. Chris, Brad and Jerry all sat on stools with their guitars and Brian played the keyboards, set for kind of an organ-like sound during MMOU.
The walk back to the main stage was done on the opposite side of the arena (more thrilled fans) with no musical accompaniment. Keith lead a couple rounds of “Hey-oh-way-oh’s” and that lead into a really great Standing Right in Front of You (love the arrangement!!). That is one of my favorites from the new album and Keith had an impressive number of us singing along during the choruses. Keith now had on a black glittery guitar strap that caught the lights the rest of the evening.
Then the arena goes dark and we hear the sound of someone flipping through four or five radio channels with the typical songs of summer. When the lights come back up to the strains of Til Summer Comes Around we see that the five video screens have moved to a horizontal position forming a lowered colorful “roof” over the band. Vapors billowing onto the stage and down the ramps give it the appearance of blowing eddies of snow during a winter storm. What an amazing song - I felt it in my heart and gut and throat!
Sweet Thing followed, then Who Wouldn’t Want to Be Me, and some really fun introductions of the guys. They showed wonderful pictures of each of them growing up during the individual introductions. Each of them sounded fantastic as they sang their little solos – I especially liked Chris’s Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and Jerry’s with Ain’t No Sunshine ( I couldn’t put a name to what Brian sang but he too has quite a voice!).
If Ever I Could Love was next and Keith’s voice was sweet as could be. This is another song I love on the album and love even more live! A Raining on Sunday to please everyone – beginning acoustically on the catwalk with lots of audience participation, and then returning to the stage for an electric guitar solo ending. Then right into Kiss A Girl with some of the music video animation in the background and a very rousing I Told You So, also with loud audience participation. Then a nicely done compilation of some of the fan-submitted You’ll Think of Me videos, with each providing about a line of the song, before Keith sang his passionate rendition.
An introduction of Chris M and his little drum solo lead into some really hot picking by Keith out on the catwalk – kind of 50’s/60’s style – reminded me a little of “Wipeout” – then going into You Look Good in My Shirt. And he headed out into the audience again – this time into the risers like last tour. I don’t think he gave a guitar away but I’m not absolutely sure – I kept losing sight of him in the crowd! Somebody Like You was great as usual with a few more “Hey-oh-way-oh’s” thrown in before the hops and turns of the joyous ending. This was the ‘before encore” closing. The audience screamed and clapped and stomped loudly on the risers. Our cheers finally brought Keith out again front and center for a totally amazing Tonight I Wanna Cry on a wonderful sounding steel string guitar. So beautiful!!
Keith paused to thank the audience “Uncasville – an amazing night tonight! I want to thank you so much – every single one of you! I was freaking out when we came out tonight and somewhere during the show you guys turned on so much love and appreciation for us – it was unbelievable!” He also thanked their amazing roadcrew, all those who traveled a long distance, and the whole audience for choosing to come when he knew it was hard times for so many saying “its especially meaningful to us when you choose to come see us.” And then “You want one more?? How about a little Better Life for you??” Better Life, with its confetti cannons and Keith-led “Yeah, yeah, yeahs” and one final guitar ending, finished off the evening. No extended goodbyes or handslaps from the little catwalk – perhaps they were time-limited by the Mohegan. But interestingly actual credits ran on the video screens to the melody of “Thank You”.About two hours and eight minutes start to end! I let feeling happily drained – I can’t imagine how Keith felt after the stresses of the opening show!
(I'll add video a bit later)
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