Kenny Chesney and Friends in Detroit

Jen and I decided to make it a full weekend, so after spending my birthday with Keith Urban on Friday night, we drove up to Detroit for the Kenny Chesney concert at Ford Field. I had not been to downtown Detroit in years and was favorably impressed with what they have done to make the downtown inviting. I had made a hotel reservation based on closeness to the venue and didn’t realize I had selected a huge skyscraper of a Marriott hotel at the Renaissance Center. We had to circle the block that the Center is on three times before we figured out where to park and enter. The hotel lobby was a couple floors up and OMG there was a line of over 100 people winding through this huge hotel, waiting to check in!!! The majority were probably there for the concert. I tried to use one of the automatic check-in kiosks but they had switched them off for some reason. I must admit the hotel was pretty efficient so moved the line along faster than I expected and moved in a $2 beer cart to help smooth the ruffled feathers of the guests.

But it still took about 30 minutes to work our way up to the front and get our room.

The Renaissance Center is one of the stops on the “People Mover” train that circles through the downtown area. We hopped on that train to get us closer to Ford Field. We arrived about 20-30 minutes before the starting time printed on our tickets but - oh no!! - faced another line hundreds of people long waiting to enter the stadium!! I have been to about a dozen of Kenny’s big summer concerts over the years and have never seen such a back-up! We had to wait over an hour to enter and totally missed Lady Antebellum’s performance as a result! I was p.o.ed that a venue that must routinely deal with large crowd’s could not better plan the staff and number of entrances to handle the arriving audience.

We had what would be considered “good seats” - 26th row of the floor just a few seats from the fence that surrounded the “Sandbar” area. So I’m sure we could see better than most. But I have been spoiled by Keith Urban’s arena shows and found even “good” seats in a stadium are so much more unsatisfying than even “bad” seats in an arena. We caught a few glimpses of Kenny on his catwalk but watched 90% of the show on the video screens. I don’t know how Kenny keeps winning ETOY when the majority of his audience don’t really EXPERIENCE the show. Maybe they are voting for the party of the year rather than the performer.

I was so sorry to have missed Lady Antebellum because I really enjoyed their set when they opened for Keith at some shows over the summer. I am not much of a Montgomery Gentry fan. We did like what we saw of Miranda Lambert’s performance (we missed a good part of her set too, because of the terrible lines to get in) - she is a real pistol of a performer!

While waiting for Kenny’s set to begin I told Jen I was suspect of the wires running above our heads. Knowing Kenny’s penchant for making a grand entrance at his concerts I said “I bet Kenny is going to “fly” in”. And that’s what he did! He sang a great collection of songs - although a somewhat shorter set than last summer’s Pirates and Poets show. His music certainly does have wide appeal. But it is sort of telling that, in that stadium setting, I was not inspired to capture hardly anything other than Kenny’s entrance on film. Even from row 26 I was not ‘involved’ in the show as I have become used to at Keith’s concerts. I hope and pray that Keith will never go the stadium route for his regular tours!!

Classic Keith Urban in Cleveland

Just woke up in Cleveland after sweet dreams of last night’s concert at “the Q”. Keith was definitely right on his game and Cleveland was lovin’ him!!  And I am so glad I finally got to see Sugarland after missing them a couple times earlier this tour due to cancellations. It was a terrific night!

But it was an extra special night for even more reasons!  #1 - because I got to share this weekend with my daughter Jen, whom I see far too seldom since she is a grad student at the University of Michigan. Jen was the one who first introduced me to Keith’s music (thank you Jen!). Cleveland is just a few hours from Ann Arbor so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a little roadtrip with her. #2 - it is the last weekend before the new school year starts for me and I love to do something fun to top off the summer. Last year all my girls and I saw the Counting Crows, Sara Bareilles, and Maroon 5. Too bad we couldn’t get everyone together this time. #3 yesterday was my birthday and I can’t hardly think of anything that I would rather do on my birthday than see Keith perform! I actually got a notice from my hospital that my annual CT-scan was scheduled on my birthday (come on now - who wants to spend their birthday drinking yucky things and getting up close and personal with that big donut shaped machine!!??) So I called and told them “No way Jose! I’m going on a KURT!!

Sugarland was a great opener - they had the audience on their feet nearly the whole time and were a lot of fun. I had watched their TV special not long ago and their set last night was quite similar. They have some fun staging elements that add to their performance. I was kind of sorry that they chose not to include “Stay” - I love the way Jennifer sings that. My daughter told me their song “Night Swimming” is actually an old R.E.M. song - I hadn’t realized that.

The lines and crowds out in the lobby during the break were pretty brutal so we just barely made it back to our seats for Keith’s introductory music and the whisking away of the black curtain. We were about 6 rows beyond the end of the catwalk tonight so had a pretty nice view all evening. For some reason security remained pretty tight all night at the Quicken. They stayed in position in each aisle and continued to check tickets and turn back those who tried to move forward (except for those very front rows between the runways). I was a little sorry about that because I thought Jen might enjoy spending some time near the front stage (Mom too!). But we had a blast anyway!

Keith looked quite stunning in black on white plaid last night and dark jeans. Kind of reminded me of his highly favored black button-down shirts in the past, but short sleeved and plaid these days, Although my first shots of him singing Hit the Ground were close-ups of him with those several buttons undone, I had to back off to include his fetching stance, swinging hips and those amazing thighs keeping time with the music (first clip).Oh my! Tonight was a night for some major flippage of those bangs and lots of those sexy little body moves that make it impossible to look away. Keith is so fluid and feline when he moves. Other male country singers seem so stiff compared to him.

In Stupid Boy Keith really stretched out the “Long gone, long gone” so we were kind of holding our breath!(3rd clip) The fiery guitar solo was terrific as usual. He was all smiles and gave some lucky person a nice thumbs up in the middle of Where the Blacktop Ends (see clip). When chatting with the audience Keith mentioned several of the dives or bars where he and the Ranch had played in Cleveland in the early days. He also poked fun at the VIP boxes again tonight although without quite as much flourish as earlier.

Although I had realized that Security was sticking around more than usual before Keith made his move to the small stage, I decided to take Jen back to that location anyway, since this was her first show this tour. We made it back there by a rather circuitous route  to avoid security, but arrived to find that the stage area was surrounded by a rope and one needed a special wristband to enter (perhaps these were “general admission wristbands”?). So Jen and I were turned away but we decided to stay in a more distant position in the aisle outside of the ropes. Keith-mania came to our aid once again - as Keith slowly approached the back of the arena the excited chaos within that general admission area (with many people rushing out to approach Keith) was enough to both totally distract Security and empty some spots near to the small stage and we slipped under the rope in the confusion! Sweet success! So we got a half dozen good clips back there (with the occasional hairy head from the eventual pressing crowd). Look at those smiles and dimples in the second Making Memories segment! He ended Only You Can Love Me with an emotional “You know its true baby!” and a little  more (“My love is true.”?) - see if you can tell the last few words he sings.

We tried again to approach the front stage afterwards but our tickets were checked and we were guided back to our seats. Keith was at his best - both musically and physically in Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me (sorry that heads blocking my view lead to a premature end to my video). Tonight I noticed the video screens were lowered to their horizontal position in WWWBM - is that usually the case?? I’m usually not quick enough to catch some of the little interactions or collaborations between Keith and the guys but I did capture he and Chris R. playing the introduction to Sweet Thing. Don’t you just love the little hand gestures Keith throws into his songs?! I think it may have been during Sweet Thing when Keith accepted a gift of some sort from someone up near the stage. He certainly is a master of inserting those little behaviors or gestures with no apparent break in his performance. The guitar solo in Til Summer Comes Around was just heart-stopping, gut-wrenching - I felt just wrung out by its intensity, Wow!

No song was improvised for Cleveland, but Keith had fun hamming it up with a rhythmic introduction to Raining On Sunday. Just look at the expression on his face! He looks like the cat who ate the canary, delighted with the effect he was having on the audience. And in fact he told us “I love you Cleveland!” before he actually went into the song itself. The ROS guitar solo lent itself to more dramatic flipping of those bangs to add emphasis to what he was fingering out of that guitar.

I was so excited when Keith announced he wanted to bring out Sugarland again so that they could do a little song together. He indicated that they had only had a brief run through before the show, but they harmonized beautifully on the Eagle's tune Seven Bridges Road. What a treat!!

I also loved watching that face and the gradual build up of emotion during You’ll Think of Me. At one point for an instant Keith had a rather Elvis like sneer of that upper lip and gave us another very powerful ending. His music had us going from one emotional extreme to the other all night. In You Look Good in My Shirt he could hardly contain his giggles and interactions with the audience - both his laughing and his moves in that song were oh so sexy. How can he - after nearly two hours hours of vigorous performing - look so damn gorgeous and delighted as he plays out in the risers?? (see clip)

I caught a couple bits of Keith and his fractured mirror guitar in Somebody Like You, but far too soon I got that dreaded flashing message “Memory Card Full” so pardon the withdrawal before the climax! During Keith’s end of the show thank yous he got good participation by his crew tonight with dozens of them showing up on stage at the appropriate moment. During Days Go By Jerry caused a bit of a commotion by heading off stage and wandering a bit among the audience in front while he played (following the lead of the master : )  )

I learned later from hubby that my daughter Sara had actually written to Keith a week or two ago, sending him what she called “a heartfelt plea” that he wish me a happy birthday at this concert. I know Keith doesn’t do that sort of thing but it was so sweet and thoughtful of her to try and make it happen. She certainly knows her mom and what would tickle me!! But it was a wonderful birthday as is - one I will be remembering!! 

A couple longer clips that I've put on YouTube:

Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me

Til Summer Comes Around

Only You Can Love Me This Way

Keith and Sugarland Singing Seven Bridges Road

You'll Think of Me

You'll Think of Me Part 2

Urban in Columbus Gives a Stellar Performance!

I did the drive between Pittsburgh and Columbus at a leisurely pace, arriving in late 

afternoon. 

I had learned from Monkeyville that a radio station would be holding a pre-concert party at the Frog, Bear and Boar right next to Nationwide Arena so I headed there about 5:00. The station had front row seats and backstage passes to give away so I got my little raffle tickets and hung around until the best of the prizes had been awarded.

My seat at Nationwide was at the far right of Row V of the floor. Sounded good when I bought it in the pre-sale but I could tell during Jason’s set that it was going to be hard to see through the sea of heads in front of me. Once again I really loved Jason’s rendition of Bryan Adams’ Heaven. Has that Crossroads episode aired yet? Here, as in Pittsburgh, the fragrance of patchouli was wafting from stage, contributing to the ambience. During the break, after they had drawn closed the huge black curtain, they briefly mistakenly turned on bright lights within the stage area. With those on you could see clearly through the curtain - kind of an eerie view, like looking into an illuminated screen porch on a summer night, of all the crew hustling around readying things.

At most of the shows I have been to this tour security has been visible through the break between opening act and Keith, and it has varied with the venue who they later allowed to approach the stage (sometimes just the first dozen rows or so, sometimes just the front floor sections). Well in Columbus it suddenly became clear DURING the break that security had essentially vanished on the floor (except for the runway guards). People from all over the floor started to move towards the front stage, So I did too, as well as a couple from Michigan I had met way back at Keith’s special charity concert at the Chicago Theatre. We scored some prime spots near the right hand runway! We loved our great view of Keith and the guys (except for when he went back to the small stage, and even then he went right down our runway). 

Keith wore gray plaid in Columbus (he always looks good but I preferred the sunny yellow plaid in Pittsburgh). The gray shirt did, however, seem to be a tad shorter so we were treated to flashes of skin all evening as he held out his guitar. Keith’s hair is getting a little longer in back! And look at that grin in Days Go By! 

We were standing right beneath Brian as he strummed the opening strains of Stupid Boy (see clip). I’ll include the SB guitar solo because the sound is okay but my automatic focus went a bit crazy trying to decide what was figure and what was background each time someone’s head snuck into my frame). I captured his teasing of the VIPs again - this time he actually went down on one knee! LOL I also some shots of the big green guitar he played in Pittsburgh. If you watch the first Blacktop clip listen carefully - does Keith get his "Colo--'s) mixed up? I swear he sings that he is visiting " all my Colorado friends instead of Colombus fans!The ending of Blacktop, played on the runway right in front of us, was fantastic! (see clip). Then Better Half and the sexy look on his face as he began his stroll into the audience (what do you think was going through his mind then?) to the back stage.

After Once in A Lifetime and Making Memories Keith caught sight of a little boy holding a little guitar and invited him up on the small stage. His name was Owen and Keith said something about the fashion statement Owen was making with his great big protective headphones. Once on stage Owen, with the honesty of a child, ‘fessed up that he didn’t play the guitar! : ) So Keith says “So its just a prop?” He asks Owen if he would like him to sign his guitar and Owen said yes (see clip of this exchange). They then high-fived each other before Owen left the stage. Too cute! Funny thing was that moments later Owen and his mom were standing right next to us by the runway so I got to see his signed guitar up close.

In Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me Keith did a “silly walk” (silly hop?) across the stage and I got to see his backbend from a new, sort of underneath perspective! Whew! Throughout the show we got the best smiles from this obviously happy man. In Sweet Thing he did a little scatting at the end (see clip). 

The video walls were once again lowered to a horizontal position during Til Summer Comes Around so I’m not sure if the change we saw in Pittsburgh was a fluke or not. Keith turned out an absolutely searing guitar solo. As you listen to his amazing playing watch Keith’s expressive face.

No impromptu song before Raining on Sunday tonight but Keith did do some dramatic strumming and drumming on his guitar and then held that final note before the first ROS chorus for the longest time I’ve ever seen (see clip). He just loves to play to and play with the crowd. Sadly my bad knee began to tell me I had stood for too long, so when Kiss a Girl began I had to give up my spot by the runway and sit for a bit. Just a bit! But, because of all those standing up front there were plenty of empty seats in the rows just beyond the catwalk so at least I didn’t have to go far.

I was up again and right beneath Keith for I Told You So, so I really felt like we were singing together. There was a bit of technical difficulty during the filmed intro to You’ll Think of Me. At first we had some clips of fans singing with no sound, then they got the sound to come on but there was no video. But Keith more than made up for the shaky intro with his passionate singing with the addition of “Take your space and all your messed up reasons” and the “I hope when you see my face it gives you hell, it gives you hell” ending (see clip). A goosebump song for sure!

I was on the aisle to encounter Keith both on his way to the risers on his left and upon his return during You Look Good in My Shirt - got me my “Vitamin K” but gosh he moves too quick there to catch a photo!

In the third of the Somebody like You clips is Keith’s favorite singing along with Day-o, Day- ay-ay-o joke. He is just like a little kid sometimes!

Well I did get as far as Tonight I Wanna Cry before I ran out of camera memory tonight, but still missed the grand closing Better Life. Tonight there seemed to be a veritable blizzard of confetti. I even found some in my bra when I showered back at the hotel! Keith thanked us for “a stellar, stellar night!” and said that "all of the stars must have been lined up just right tonight," That includes our favorite star Mr. Urban! He was definitely just right!

Videos to come.....

_________________

A few longer clips that I put on YouTube:

Somebody Like You

Keith Teasing Audience

Tonight I Wanna Cry

Keith Urban Rocked Pittsburgh!!

It was sunny and warm in Pittsburgh and my hotel ended up being a bit farther from Mellon Arena than I had thought. But I still walked the mile, stopping for sushi on the way (no famous sushi eaters there) rather than having to deal with parking and downtown traffic. There were some tailgaters in the parking lots and lots of earlybirds sitting in the park around Mellon Arena waiting for the doors to open. I tried my luck at the radio station booths (only gor a “Froggy” tattoo for my trouble) and chatted with those sitting outside by me. We lamented that someone was missing a big opportunity to sell beverages or ice cream to all the waiting fans - I was parched by the time I got inside! We could look down into a lower level parking lot and see the buses as well as an open motorcycle trailer but one of Keith's staff chased us away from the railing anytime we got too close fearing, no doubt, that someone would leap down or throw something down. I was pretty sure Keith was already in the arena anyway so I wasn't thinking about leaping : ) although stowing away in the bus is rather tempting!

Mellon Arena is one of the oldest venues I have been to and it looks a bit worse for wear. It also has old free-standing chairs on the floor (more about that later).  Got my fan club stamp and signed up to win the autographed guitar, then headed down to find my seat on the floor. I had Seat 1 in Row O of the left floor so I expected to be on the far aisle. I was pleasantly surprised that seat 1 was on the aisle towards the middle here, so I would have a great view of the catwalk - yay! A couple new additions to the before-show Verizon offers on the arena screens - you could send in your photos to KUPIX@mozes.com to be shown on the screens. Also now each text message you send in to be shown on the screens earns you an entry for a “merchandise package” ( Keith merchandise I guess). I finally managed to film a little bit of the before show video with Keith on his motorcycle and then pulling off his helmet to reveal “helmet hair” LOL - I love that but I’ve never been quick enough with the camera before.

Although I enjoyed his hits, my favorite of Jason Aldean’s songs was one from his CMT Crossroads show with Bryan Adams --- Heaven. He did a really beautiful rendition. Although his rocking songs get the crowd going, I guess I prefer his slower numbers. They still seem to have his sound set too loud for the rowdy songs for my taste.

As I sat in my seat during the break I noticed for the first time the complex web of hundreds of wires above the stage that suspend the lighting semicircle, the speakers, the curtains, the screens! Wow! What a job it must be to attach all those to the supports in the arena ceiling. And how in the heck do they take them all down without getting them tangled in a knotted mess? I have trouble keeping the cords on my earphones straight!!.

Once again Keith came out a little earlier than usual but you’ll get no complaints from me about that! I managed to catch on film the dropping of the big curtain to reveal our man and his guys - what screaming that triggers! My oh my - was he gorgeous tonight!! A real “golden boy” in a sunny yellow-with gold thread on white plaid tonight, with his hair also looking golden too in the lights. Mmm-mm good! And when he started Days Go By he had what looked to be another new guitar!! Golden blond wood with a white, ivory looking faceplate - looked like he picked it to match his outfit -LOL! (see clip) Keith and all the guys were wearing black “LP” armbands around their biceps but I didn’t realize their meaning until late in the night. A few songs later yet another new guitar (or one not seen in quite a while?) - a  quite large, ornate and woodsy green one! My gosh, I thought, that guy buys more guitars than I buy shoes (and I have a bit of a shoe “problem”!)!! And then I noticed that each of the guys seemed to have a new guitar tonight too - all resembling the blond wood one Keith started out with, but in different woods. What’s up? I began to wonder whether Keith might have bought guitars for everyone. (more conjecture later)

It was great being reasonably close to the catwalk. I get carried away and use my camera so much early in the night that I never can record bits of the end of the show. Just don’t know how to pace myself. Maybe I need 2 cameras or an extra memory card! The Stupid Boy solo was particularly hot tonight (see clip). Wow! After Stupid Boy Keith chatted with the audience. He must have enjoyed the audience’s response to his comments about the VIP boxes in Kansas City because he is REALLY hamming it up about that now, giving them a royal bow and thanking the VIPs for allowing the band to play for them LOL (see clip) while the audience generally boos the fat cats! 

Since I had an aisle seat I decided to make the dash back to the small stage at the appropriate moment. I got a good spot while everyone was distracted by Keith’s approach. But then a huge crowd of fans surged in on the small stage, crushing us together, body to body, so you couldn’t budge. Okay by me if I can be a few feet from Keith! But some in the crowd made me mad because they weren’t really interested in the music and talked loudly about their beers and other things while he was singing Making Memories (you can’t help but hear some on my videos). How rude! Once in a Lifetime had the “wild winged dove, just on the edge of seventeen ending” today and Only You Can Love Me was just beautiful.

Meanwhile apparently it wasn’t just the small stage crowd that had been active. When I headed back to my seat in Row O I couldn’t even find Row O! Since the seats were not attached to each other like in so many newer venues, they had been pushed all over the place - bunched together and even stacked in piles to make more standing room near the front stage!! Apparently floor security had almost completely left. Many of the rows closer to the front were nearly empty, abandoned by those who stood near the ramps and stage. So I moved up even closer to the end of the catwalk : ).

During Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me Keith, at one point, used the microphone to press down his guitar strings, and he gave us a really deep backbend on the catwalk at the end (see clip). There was a new or modified background for Til Summer Comes Around - a blue and white floral/somewhat paisley like background while the screens remained vertical instead of being lowered to form a ceiling over the band (see clip). Pittsburgh got one of Keith’s impromptu songs before Raining on Sunday : ) Generally the same lyrics as we have heard (Are you feeling good tonight, do you feel as good as you look, I’m just making this up as I go along, now I have to find something that rhymes with along,) “Take me home!” (Keith repeating a rhyming suggestion from the audience at his feet)). “That’ll do” he says. “Of  course this will be the oonly song with 12,648 co-authors. It will be a publishing nightmare!” Tee hee. Those folks must have said something else (raunchy?) to him because Keith then said “You guys started drinking way too early in the day!”

During Sweet Thing I noticed a little guy perched on his dad’s shoulder in maybe row 6 in front of me. Mom was holding “his” sign, saying “I got Keith Urban tickets for my 4th birthday.” I didn’t happen to see if see if Keith a acknowledged the little boy waving at him (I’m sure he would of if he noticed him), but Brad Rice sure did, and was making all sorts of funny faces at the little kid. You know those faces that only guys who are dads themselves really master? Fun!  You’ll Think of Me had the dramatic “I hope when you see my face it gives you hell - it gives you hell!” ending. Powerful.

After playing a bit with the light up guitar Keith again went to the risers on his left during You Look Good in My Shirt - probably right around the “Igloo Section” seat I sold to another Monkey. Oh well, I certainly can’t complain about the floor seat another gal sold to me (thanks Holly!). At the start of Kiss a Girl C-Rod, who has described himself as extremely flexible (in a physical sense), proved it by doing the old "kissing" joke (where you wrap you arms around to your back so that from behind it looks like you are making out with someone).

The audience clapped and screamed their heads off after Somebody Like You, with lots and lots of cell phone lights waving throughout the arena. Keith thanked us (“You’re too kind!”) when he came back out. But then he said “Before we go any further I want to say that today a great man in music passed away - Les Paul - he was 94. We want to send our prayers out to his family and to all the guitar players who are mourning this loss, and want to thank Les for his extraordinary contribution to music. This one is for you Les!” And as Keith went into Tonight I Wanna Cry I think I heard his voice catch just a bit with the emotion of the evening. So all of a sudden the black LP armbands made sense. Perhaps even all the ‘new’ guitars I saw made sense. I don’t know guitars myself but maybe, newly purchased or taken out of storage, possibly they were all Les Paul guitars. That sounds like something Keith would do.

On a lighter note, when Keith asked us to put our hands together for the hard-working road crew that puts together the show each night, he kind of looked around him expectantly, as if he thought there would be a rush of crazy crew like there was in Kansas City. No rush tonight (I only saw one gal come partly onto stage) and Keith kind of muttered humorously “Very enthusiastic tonight.” (most of audience probably had no idea what he was talking about)

During the final Better Life Keith did the usual round of yeah-yeah-yeahs, but in the final round, to the joy of this audience, he switched it to “Steelers rock”. Lots of handslapping, a few autographs, bows and signing, and a wonderful night drew to a close. I was tired but happy as I walked the mile back to my hotel. 

The first few are very short video tidbits.

Two longer clips that I put on YouTube:

Til Summer Comes Around

You'll Think of Me

Backstage with Keith Urban in Kansas City

I have been so inordinately lucky as a Keith Urban fan and blessed with what they call Keith Karma in terms of getting decent seats at concerts and winning meet and greets. Almost makes me feel guilty but, then again, I attend more shows than most so percentage-wise it probably all works out!

I think I got lucky this time because of the recent change in the fan club website management. I believe the diligent new staff is working hard to get things right and to tie up some loose ends from the previous echomusic management. I am a member of the fan club “Street Team” and periodically the former Street Team Manager Fiona would send out “missions” for us to complete to promote Keith with the possible reward of a Street Team Backstage Experience (BSE for short). I completed one of those missions way back about the time that Defying Gravity was just coming out, and sent the required “proof” of my efforts to Fiona. I also included information on this blog and sent her the link to look at it. She thanked me but then I never heard another word in all the months since, so I just guessed that-was-that and someone else had won for that mission.

Barely 48 hours before the Kansas City concert I got an email from the new Street Team managers apologizing for such a late invitation, but did I want to go to the Meet and Greet (their phrasing) at the Sprint Center? Did I!!?? Hell yes! Apparently they are going through Fiona’s old files and making awards that she did not get around to. Over at Monkeyville it looked like quite a few people won Street Team BSEs this last week for various upcoming concerts. Another new rule that may have played a role in my last minute invite - you now must respond to the invitation email within 24 hours. If you don’t you are out of luck and they invite the next person on their list. So maybe I benefitted from someone else not responding in a timely fashion.

When I arrived in Kansas City I stopped at the Sprint Center about 3:00 before going to my hotel to see if the backstage passes were at the box office. They were!  (good sign because previously they often weren't available until about  5 pm). We were instructed to enter the arena via a special VIP door and to be sure to be there by 6:15. Nervous about finding the right door etc, I arrived at 6:05 and got right in. But lo and behold when they took me to the BSE room about 70 people were already there!! I guess I wasn’t an early bird after all. Luckily most were more interested in the BBQ buffet than I was so I still was able to find a stool in the second row in front of Keith’s little stage. By the time things got going there must have been 100 people there - 50 of them with seats, and another 50 standing around the edges or by tall BBQ tables. I guess the size of the BSEs has grown because of all the different groups served. They encouraged us to eat before Keith arrived (I was too excited so I only grabbed a bottle of water). When it was just about time they had everyone line up in the hall and divided us by category for photos, grouping together those related to the fanclub, those who were Verizon winners or guests and those who were Kingsford Charcoal  winners or guests. The Monkeyville line (about 40 of us) got to go in for photos first, but I was near the end of that line. I could tell from the way they were counting us off that I would be at the end of a group of about 10, so I probably wouldn’t be close to Keith in the photo. Oh well - I had a plan. (I figured a plan might help me avoid something like last time’s “Can I smell your neck?” LOL) I wasn’t sure whether to wish he might remember or recognize me as familiar or not! 

As usual there was a sense of time pressure with 100 people to meet, greet and photograph. They had things set up a little differently - we had to pass through a curtain to get to the photo set-up. Keith was on the other side of that curtain, greeting each person as they came through (rather than working his way down a row of 10 people like before). Luckily since I was the last in my group there was no one behind me waiting for their turn.

According to my plan I would not extend one hand for the handshake - I’d put out both arms for a hug. And I did have my wits enough about me to do so, saying “Could I have a hug? This has been a tough week for me.” ‘Of course baby” he said. At which point he wrapped his arms around me in a tight bear hug and held me, I swear, for a count of 10. No quickie squeeze - a big long bear hug. Only problem is that he apparently squeezed the brains right out of me! Because I remember almost nothing but the feel of those arms around me. Like where were my arms? I know I stuck them out on either side of his waist but then what? Did I squeeze him? Or was I frozen in my initial position by the feel of his touch?? I know he was squeezing me against his chest but were we pressed together all the way down?? Was my cheek against his hair? His shoulder? His face? What did he smell like? How could I not know these things when I went in so intent on remembering every second. My memory has betrayed me!! But at least I can still feel those strong arms wrapped around me.

When he let loose a little bit of brain function returned and I prattled on, thinking that now that he has a daughter he could relate “I just moved my little girl, my youngest into her very first apartment.” Keith expresses empathy with something like “Oh that’s a tough time.” And I continue “And she’s moving in with “the boy” as my hubby calls him. We’re worried he might end up being a ‘stupid boy’!” “ He replies “ Well, let’s hope not - we already have a song about one stupid boy, we don’t need another.” Ever the good host he remembers now that despite our clinch he hasn’t properly met me tonight. He takes my hand and says “What’s your name sweetheart?” I manage to say “Linda” before my brain disappears again. He slips into the middle of our group and they take two photos (I think). As the group exits to make room for the Verizon folks I turned back to him once more and just said “Thank you”. He smiled and said “you’re very welcome baby.” I made it back to my stool and just kind of grinned and swayed in my seat (yes there was music playing, although I was also in my own private reverie) until all the photos were taken and they turned on the terrific funny video about the band and the tour.

After the video a staff person introduced Keith. He sat down on his stool and looked us over saying something like “Gosh you all look familiar.” The basement room we were in was rather stark, with a ceiling of concrete beams. So first Keith says he feels like he is playing in a bunker. Or, he then suggests, maybe it is an underpass and we are some of the best-looking ‘homeless” that he has ever seen. He asks for requests and gets at least a half dozen suggestions (I called out I’m In) (“Sounds like we are going to be here two hours!” he says)  He settles on Grace of God and does a terrific job, with lots of guitar flourishes. We please him by singing along on the choruses and he even asks for an extra chorus at the end. He then took 3 questions. First a teacher asked what he thought was the most important thing he could teach his daughter Sunday. “To listen to her mother.” was his reply : ) The second person simply asked “Could I have your pick?” and he complied. And the last was “Are you going to play your new guitar tonight?” and Keith said “Which one? - I have several” The woman was interested in the mirror guitar and Keith confirmed he would be using it. (we didn't know yet that Keith had added yet another beauty of a guitar to the several new ones being used in the 2009 tour). By that time it was 7:35 and we could already hear Taylor Swift singing above us, so he thanked us for coming and said he hoped we would enjoy the show. And how!!

I hadn’t had the chance to ask my question so when Keith’s assistant Randy came in I decided to try asking him. “Are there going to be 2010 tour dates added?” I asked. First he said something like “I would imagine so” then he sort of corrected himself by saying “I can’t confirm (wink, wink, wink, wink) or deny that there will be 2010 dates.” So I’m pretty sure we are in for some new dates after the holidays!! Yay!

A Crazy Night With Keith Urban in Kansas City

     Holy cow what a wonderful and crazy night in Kansas City!! As my section of the arena was filing out tonight they started chanting “Entertainer of the Year” if that gives you some sense of how it went! : ) (and it was a couple guys that started the chant). I haven’t stopped grinning yet. Some other guys returning from the show high-fived me in the elevator, with a “Wasn’t that great!?”. EVERYBODY seems to be feeling that Keith Urban high and singing his praises.

     I must admit I didn’t give Taylor my full attention tonight. A couple shows was enough - now I’m kind of tired of her dramatics, hair-flinging and pandering. She is sweet to her little girl fans and I enjoyed seeing one little guy, about 9 years old, nearly swoon when she hugged him - LOL. But Taylor, get over yourself! Maybe some of Keith’s modesty will eventually rub off on her? Or maybe not - tonight was their last show together. 

     There was a shorter break than usual between Taylor and Keith. Taylor ran a little late (8:35) and Keith started early. Kind of caught the audience by surprise I think, so lots of people were still out in the lobby when the introductory music that precedes Hit the Ground began at about 8:50! But once they were back in their seats it was an absolutely full to the very high brim of the Sprint Center crowd (I saw people being turned away at the box office earlier and didn’t even see any scalpers out there with tickets). An amazing crowd that just went crazy when that big black curtain was whipped out of sight and Mr. Urban moved out front and center for Hit the Ground, swinging those hips and tearing up that guitar! (see clip)

     Keith had another new guitar tonight (new to me at least) in Days Go By and Better Half. The body of the guitar looks like polished ivory and the face plate is red or reddish brown (I think I caught it on video). He was looking extra fine in those dark jeans and brown sparkly plaid shirt. He has a nice tan and I noticed that even his chest looks quite tan (yes, I was close enough to inspect his chest : ) )- maybe they spent some time on the beach in Italy?

      Tonight Brian had some sound problems as he was playing the introduction to Stupid Boy. They had to scramble and attach new cords to his guitar. Maybe they overcompensated for the poor sound at that mic during that number because later in the evening C-Rod’s playing from that position was so loud that he nearly drowned out the sound of the audience singing Raining on Sunday.

        When Keith greeted the audience and asked how we were feeling, he puzzled me when he gave a special shout out “Hello to everyone in the VIP box seats!” And with a jaunty bow he continued “Pleased to be with you my lords.” I didn’t know what to make of it at the time since he presumably almost always has some VIPs and sponsors present at his shows. A little bit later, however, on the small stage, Keith dedicated a song “ to my wife, who happens to be here tonight!” So perhaps the greeting was being directed to a family group up in the VIP box? I’m just guessing.

I had originally bought a rear floor seat in the pre-sale but later decided it was too far back so sold it, and bought instead a nice 7th row aisle seat in the risers close to the stage from someone in the fan club. But when I pulled out my Kansas City KURT materials yesterday, I found I still had a copy of my original Ticketfast floor seat ticket. I didn’t want the seat but I confess I did want floor access when Keith went back to the small stage. So I (with that ticket) came down from the risers briefly and headed back to the small stage (yes, I’m guilty of “stealing” extra close-up peeks of Keith, what can I say...). There was a huge crowd there already with fans lined up 10 deep around the small stage, so the situation didn’t look promising. But the excitement of Keith coming off the main stage and slowly walking to the rear of the arena has a strange effect on many. Even though they have been holding their place by the small stage for some time now, when they see Keith coming down the far aisle they rush over in that direction, abandoning their position! So suddenly I was not behind a huge crowd, I was just 1 person away from the stage - yay! Of course moments later the crowd is back so we are packed together like sardines, and everyone seems to be screaming at the top of their lungs - LOL. So pardon the elbows and jumps in my videos as I got jostled this way and that - but it was so worth my little “breaking and entering”!! Stayed there for those 3 songs (and the chest inspection) and then headed back to the risers (see clips) 

Somehow beachballs, which can be fun at a Kenny concert, just don’t seem right at a Keith concert. There is just too much mastery on display and no silly ball should distract from that! But someone brought out a beachball during Sweet Thing and they were batting it right around the catwalk, sometimes even hitting Keith as he played! I thought that was disrespectful. (Did you happen to catch Miranda Lambert’s twitter re: beachballs - something like she has a switchblade and she’s not afraid to use it (on the beachballs)!)

I was dumbfounded once again this evening when suddenly, during Kiss a Girl, Keith was totally surprised by the appearance of a KISS-like band in full regalia (as well as two giant Hershey kisses), playing and singing around him. He nearly fell to the floor in hysterics. At first I thought it might be real KISS members, but that didn’t make sense. Then I thought they were drag queens, but that made even less sense. Then I heard one sing in a very feminine voice. It was silly and bizarre and it didn’t dawn on me until a few songs later that Taylor and her band were punking Keith during their last show together!! What craziness!

During I Told You So Keith used his very deepest bass voice to sing “better together”. My brain must have been all fuzzy with Keith intoxication because he again befuddled me when he shouted out “Sing it for me Casey!” I’m thinking Casey? A relative? A friend? No stupid girl - it was “Sing it for me K.C.!” (and that doesn’t stand for Kenny Chesney). Its all Keith’s fault, I swear - no alcohol since I received champagne at my hotel at 3 pm! (The Aladdin Hotel gives every guest a glass of champagne when they check in! Also some of the towels in my room were arranged in the shape of a goat :) )

Keith playing his light-up guitar on the catwalk in the darkened arena was a big hit. He didn’t do too many playful riffs tonight - just a few - and then went to his left for a change when he went out into the audience. He had fun leading his competitive sing-a-long of

the chorus (I think my side was the loudest :) ) and didn’t seem to have any major tussles as he moved through the audience. He did get a few kisses on the way though!

Taylor came out in black sequin fringe to sing Somebody Like You with Keith on her last night out with him. Alas my camera memory card once again was full before the last few songs, but I’m sure somebody caught it on tape.Unfortunately she can’t control herself even during such a special duet opportunity - she was flinging her hair all over him at the end of the catwalk and her voice did not really stand up to the song. I kind of wish Keith had invited her out for a love ballad or something and saved SLY for himself - it is one of my favorite songs.

When the band left the stage after SLY the audience pretty quickly started chanting “Keith! Keith! Keith!” And Keith we got, with the encore also starting more quickly than usual. Maybe Keith and Nic are on a tight travel schedule after the show? After the beautiful Tonight I Wanna Cry Keith gave his usual thank yous. But the craziness was not quite over yet. When he asked us to put our hands together for the hard working road crew, about 40 of the crew ran out on stage helter skelter and began flinging out picks to the audience. You might think it was the last show of the tour - but its not! Maybe Little Rock, Tulsa, Kansas City was a particularly tough show trio and they are all going a bit batty??

Of course Better Life was the closing number and every bit of the audience was still with Keith, singing and dancing. The confetti guns were a bit off - one suffered a premature ejaculation of the confetti early in the song, the other during the usual last moment. Keith incorporated an “I love you Kansas City” into the closing lyrics of the song. He didn’t rush the goodbyes - graciously bowing deeply to each side of the arena, signing to the audience, saluting and blowing kisses, slapping hands with those along the stage and runway before the band took their final bow. Even the band was a bit crazier than usual - for example Chris M. tossed drumsticks way back to mid-arena! Must have been something special in the air last night and I’m sure glad I got to experience it.

I put a few longer ones on YouTube:

Stupid Boy

Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me

You'll Think of Me

Kiss a Girl Prank (with Nicole in background)

A Few Fest Memories

Idyllic Iowa Irish Fest

The Third Annual Iowa Irish Fest had the best weather and highest attendance ever for its three day run - sunny, a little breezy and just the right temperature. Add to that great Irish and Celtic music on 3 stages, the Trinity Irish Dancers, Irish food and other fair fare, ancient Celtic sports like hurling big rocks and telephone poles as far a one can, lots of Guinness and Harp, a busload of Irish in-laws in town from Chicago and it was QUITE a weekend. I also went to a terrific Irish cooking class where we learned how to make (and sampled) nine yummy dishes including Jameson's sauced ribeyes and Guinness ice cream! Yum! How fun to see thousands of folks wearing green like it was St. Pat's Day. My favorite band of the fest, playing both Saturday night and Sunday, was Gaelic Storm, who had everyone up on their feet dancing and singing gleefully ("I brought the whiskey!" "I brought the light!").