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.
Thanks for leaving a comment Betty!
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