Keith Urban in Gilford, NH - the 30th State in my Urban Journeys!

Sunday morning I headed south out of Bangor for the four hour trip to Gilford, N.H.  It was a pretty drive although I wasn't always sure that my GPS was taking me on the most direct route or the best roads. I enjoy the highway signs one never sees in Iowa: "Bear Crossing" and "Moose Crossing". My daughter Jen was driving up to Gilford from Providence, RI to join me for the concert. Between Labor Day travelers and the concert audience the limited hotel offerings the Gilford area had more business than they could handle and I was happy that I had reserved a room ahead of time. We had to circle downtown Laconia (next to Gilford) several times before we spotted the oddly positioned hotel. Once inside we were distressed to find we were in a "smoking" room with no other rooms available but opened the windows wide and vowed to spend as little time there as we could.  We had a fun dinner at Patrick's Pub (and ran across several other Urbanites there), then on to Meadowbrook.

The Meadowbrook Pavilion was definitely upscale compared to most summer concert venues, with nicely manicured grounds, mostly paved walkways and a nice roofed pavilion. No "pit area" here and in fact the ushers were ever vigilant and kept most people out of the aisles during most of the show. I was a little off to the side but much closer to the stage than in Bangor, which was great whenever the 6'5" guy in front was away getting beer. Other times I had to make use of the video screens : (   (but at least there were videoscreens).

Being closer I was much better able to enjoy David Nail's great voice (and good looks!) - he is quite talented but it may be that his style and song choices will keep him a small venue/club performer. Here are a couple of his songs:

David Nail Red Light   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LME1f80JshE

David Nail http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnGmMgU9AwI

Keith again treated us to Your Everything. Unfortunately since it was close to the start of the set the guy in front of me kept blocking my view, but here it is on the video screen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT0AwatSYXg

Happily, when Keith came over to my side of the stage I had a much better line of sight for 

I Told You So http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lDXjjYx_vI

Is he pointing at me?? 

Then back to the video screens for the guitar solos from Georgia Woods http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNPmH2dGIuo

and also Til Summer Comes Around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnGLceVTedY

It was great fun having Keith bring back David Nail for a duet of Brand New Man!!

Keith and David Nail – Brand New Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVqTqI9t13A

I was sitting next to a young lady and her mom and tried to encourage her to approach the stage when it was time for Kiss a Girl. She did stand up on her seat and her mom and I kept pointing to her, trying to catch Keith's attention as he picked his audience participants, but she was probably too short for him to see well.

Anyway, here is the sing-off 

Kiss a Girl Sing-Off http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd2cxbEccJo

I was captive in the center of a long row both times that Keith went out into the audience. Jen's seat, however, was on the aisle (I had to pick up a second single ticket when she decided to join me in NH).

She said she gave him a little rub each time he passed her - "just for you Mom" she said. Thanks Jen, but somehow getting a rub by proxy just isn't the same! : )

A lovely Without You  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVuWxkGHnEc

And during the encore: Tonight I Wanna Cry  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0lmRUyr8O4

So my "double header" of Keith's concerts was a great pleasure but my fun Labor Day weekend wasn't over yet. Monday morning I returned my rental car to the Manchester, NH airport and joined Jen in her car for the trip back to Providence - my first trip there since she moved from Syracuse University to Brown University for a new post-doctoral appointment. I got to see her new apartment and where she works and she introduced me to some of Providence's bars and restaurants before I had to head back home for work.

Now we need some Mohegan Sun or Boston concerts so I can head back east to see her again!