Down and Dirty With Keith Urban in Greeley!

Seeing Keith’s concert at the Greeley Stampede was one slippery, slickly sensual, toe-curling experience unique among my Urban journeys!

I’ve been in Colorado since Thursday and it has been hot, hot, hot and dry - dusty dry - so that every day I have had to scrub off a layer of Colorado dirt that adhered to my sweat-damp body. Happily, because it is dry and breezy here, the 95-100 temps haven’t been nearly as oppressive as they would have been in more humid environs.

I had repeatedly checked the weather report for Greeley and every time sunny to partly sunny skies were predicted. I even checked again an hour before driving north from Denver and sunny skies were still in the forecast. But as I drove the skies grew dark and it began to rain. I would have welcomed rain on one of those 100 degree days but didn’t want rain to dampen my Keith concert!! It rained for about an hour, then the sun reappeared and it looked like we were going to luck out! Lucky that there would be no ongoing storm, yes - but not so lucky to be seeing Keith in the Greeley outdoor rodeo arena. An arena with 6 inches of dirt on its floor - which was now the consistency of mashed potatoes. And our floor chairs were set right in this brown slurry! OMG you should have seen it!! Silly me (and many, many others) tried to walk carefully, daintily through the muck, but no such luck - it was slippery, oozy, and deep enough so it sucked at your shoes like quicksand. My wedgie sandals were hopeless and I had to abandon them before going 20 feet. So I and hundreds of others on the floor went barefoot with squishy mud coming through our toes with each step! And we danced in this goop all night! Once I gave into it it wasn’t half bad (don’t the spas charge for mud baths and mud packs??) until I faced the clean-up after the show!! Best Western’s bathtub may never be the same...

Another thing that made Greeley unique: No opening act before Keith!! Since Craig Morgan had been mentioned in the promotions, I was totally surprised when, shortly after the 9:00 starting time, we heard the strains of Kiss A Girl! There he was - in that deep rosy-red plaid shirt and oh-so-nice jeans! His longish locks had been trimmed a bit, but that didn’t keep Keith from flipping the heck out of his hair tonight.

Another thing that distinguished Greeley from most of the summer lovin’ tour stops - since Keith was the only act we were treated to almost a regular full length concert (he played about an hour and 45 or 50 minutes)! It was great to hear songs that had been omitted in the shorter sets (but I’m still missing Raining on Sunday).

Poor Keith was noticably hoarse on some songs but, as always, was a trouper. Although he didn’t reach for those high notes and often turned to the audience for vocal help, he seemed to be trying to make up for it with physical exuberance on stage, hair flippage, and some extra guitar interludes on songs like Better Half and Sweet Thing. So no complaints from the crowd I am sure but I am praying his voice will survive another concert in Grand Junction tomorrow night.

Greeley had a “standing room only area” about as deep as the very front section in a regular arena and as wide as the rodeo arena (so much wider than the stage). People were packed in there like sardines but I bet over half of them couldn’t see a thing because they were off to the side or buried next to taller individuals. I was glad I opted for the seats a bit farther back, although I too was way off to the side (seat 97 in a row of 100). When I could peek between heads I had a decent view but sometimes tall cowboys and stetsons completely blocked my view. The side video screens were small and not great and did not film well at all tonight. Here's a bit of Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me and I'm In. 

Keith told us he had asked Nicole to come to his Manhatten, KS show so they would be together for their anniversary, but that she had some Nashville engagement today so had scheduled a flight home. But he and she went out on the motorcycles in the morning (before the rain) and enjoyed Colorado so much that she canceled her flight.  She will be even more impressed if she continues on to Grand Junction because western Colorado is really gorgeous. In fact the entire 240 mile drive between Denver and Grand Junction is really special (I’ve made that trip 3 times in so many days!) Keith then dedicated Making Memories to Nic. Here's Only You Can Love Me This Way.

I was surprised when, after some extended guitar play before You Look Good in My Shirt, Keith braved the dreadful state of the arena floor and made a short trip offstage. Although the tall folks around me blocked my view of where exactly her went, I believe he was in the standing-room only area. What a man - putting up with a little “mud on his tires” for his fans. When he returned to stage he ended the song playing flat on his back, waving his muddied boots in the air at one point : )

He paused several times during the show to check in that all the areas of the arena were still doing good, complimented the audiences singing and how great we were not to let a little mud dampen our spirits. He briefly read a couple audience signs (something he hasn’t done in quite a while!). He accepted a few strands of beads and a rose from fans along the edge of the stage.

Tonight besides the usual “echo rounds” of yeah-yeah-yeahs and Day-o’s, Keith did an echo round of Sweet Things. He really enjoyed our willing responses and closed with a big ol’ “I love you Colorado!”. He made all his usual thank-yous and also went over and thanked the woman who had been “signing” the show at the edge of the stage. 

He asked her to show him how to sign “This is a totally awesome audience!”

The audience loved both Brian’s and Jerry’s little solos and the applause and screams were deafening after Keith’s first “goodbye” after Better Life - so much so that he almost looked a little embarrassed when they returned for the encore and repeatedly thanked us for making it a special night. Somebody to Love was the only encore song and then it was time for him to sign his thank yous to the audience again, tapping his heart in thanks many times, then the final bow with the guys, more waves goodbye and he was off. Rest that sweet voice Keith and see you tomorrow!

Postscript: The floor audience inching out in the mud was another show in itself. The tough part was walking up the graveled ramp or drive out of the arena, with the thick mud on our feet picking up all those little stones so that each step was like Chinese torture. We had to seek our rainwater puddles and wet lawns to begin the cleaning process but I still was worried about getting into my rental car so my rain poncho became a floor mat to protect against my earthen feet. One gentleman next to me quipped that now I could claim to have been down in the mud or down and dirty with Keith Urban, Guess I have!