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)

Keith Urban Dazzles in Des Moines

>Although rain was predicted on Saturday my buddy Joan and I traveled to Des Moines without seeing a drop, stopping in Ames for a yummy rib combo at the Hickory House, perhaps the most popular restaurant in that town. Once in Des Moines we had just enough time to check into the Quality Inn but then had to hustle over to Wells-Fargo Arena Will Call to pick up our tickets.

I thought for a while that it was going to be another day of ticket problems because I did something stupid back at pre-sale time. The pre-sale for Des Moines began at a time I was teaching a class, so I asked my daughter to go online and get tickets for me, forgetting that this arena does not allow Ticketmaster to mail out tickets – everything is will-call to foil the ticket scalpers. Good idea, but not when you forget that then they will expect my daughter to pick up the tickets and she lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan! Once I realized that, I called the arena, called Ticketmaster, and contacted Monkeyville, trying to get the okay for my name to be put on the ticket order along with my daughter’s. It took lots of calls and some extra paperwork, but I thought I had the situation sorted out. I arrived at the box office and gave them both of our names and my photo ID. They weren’t happy with that (despite all the calls and Ticketmaster’s assurance that my name was now on the order). So I gave the box office a xerox of my daughter’s driver’s license. Then a xerox of the credit card she used. Then a xerox of her passport. Then they wanted the order confirmation number so I dug out the Ticketmaster email with that number. Geesh!! I thought they were going to request a DNA sample next!!! Finally I think I overwhelmed them with all the papers I brought along and they finally surrendered the tickets. It was worth the struggle though to see Keith’s wonderful show. Our seats were on the left hand aisle of the floor in row 16.

I enjoyed many of Taylor Swift’s songs and the little “monologues” she does between numbers, but I could do without the dramatics (the head flinging and banging, the drum beating segment) and her behavioral beckoning for the applause and screams of her fans (maybe cute the first time but it quickly got old). I also fear she may run out of song material if she doesn’t move beyond ex-boyfriends. But I have to give her credit – she definitely warmed up the crowd and got an even bigger response from the audience than Carrie Underwood!! And she is smart enough to use many of the things that Keith has had success with. She has her own 3 panel big video screen, she comes off stage briefly during the show and slaps hands and hugs the fans in the front section of the risers, she expresses her affection for the audience, and she incorporates a couple interesting videos into her set (what does it mean to be fearless and a little interview segment).

I don’t know if Keith and his production staff keep changing things or if I just notice new details. In Des Moines the big black curtain was back, but I noticed for the first time that the curtain was surrounded, on the outside by a ring of purple spotlights shining down from the rafters, adding to its mystery. And, perhaps I’m crazy, but it also seemed for the first time, that at the moment the show started, that huge back curtain suddenly DROPPED rather than pulling back! I stared in amazement because I swear that didn’t happen before and I couldn’t imagine how that big thing came down without falling on those at stage edge (but apparently it did not since there were only screams of delight, not screams of distress!) And there was Keith ! (no rising out of the floor tonight).

We noticed as soon as we entered the arena that there was a huge video boom positioned close to the small stage suggesting that was where the music video shoot would take place. But in fact there were cameramen moving through the aisles shooting audience shots throughout the show during almost all numbers. I don’t know if they are working on another concert DVD or shooting stuff for KUTube or a special, but they were busy all night (I notice, however, that they favored the ‘sweet young things’ in the audience in their shots rather than including the full diversity of the audience). I wore polka dots so I can find myself just in case I make it into any of the shots J

Keith of course asked the audience to give a round of applause for our “soul-sister Taylor Swift” and said “It is absolutely killer having her out with us.” The audience in Des Moines was very participatory – the whole jam-packed 3 level arena was standing and loudly singing throughout the night. Keith commented on our singing several times during the evening. I thought he did a particularly hot performance of Blacktop tonight with some really wailing guitar work and a shout of “Mercy!!” to top it off.

Since the arena had sold, in the last few days, some standing room only tickets for the floor area beyond the small stage, I wasn’t sure if there would be any room for those of us with floor seats to gather close to that stage, but I was game to give it a try. So at the start of Better Half I walked back to the small stage and YES! I found a spot just one person away from the stage edge. We sometimes got shoved this way or that – by security when they wanted to make a path for Keith (right past me so I gave that right bicep a little pat) or when the cameramen wanted to get a particular shot. I didn’t notice any cameras pointing in my direction, so I probably didn’t make it into the music video, but I had a wonderful up close view for the four songs (and also for Keith’s grimacing and “I feel so stupid right now” comments as his aide Deborah tried to pat dry some of the sweat on his face and rearrange his damp bangs before he performed Only You Can Love Me This Way J. Boy, I know we would all welcome a sweaty Keith with open arms, but I don’t know why anyone would choose to shoot this sweet, romantic song while all sweaty!!?? Personally I wonder whether they will really like the footage they shot for that reason. Or we’ll see what tricks they can do with good editing.

Being up that close it was especially apparent that Keith is now absolutely all lean, hard muscle. Oh my.

Keith said that Des Moines is a very friendly city. He dedicated Making Memories “ to those who are feeling in love tonight”. Then as they got ready to shoot the video he introduced Deborah and explained how they had to pick a place to shoot and he said “What about Des Moines?” He said that because of the filming he would be playing the song twice and we were all likely to be in the video. The crowd was thrilled and had obviously practiced their lyrics (but unfortunately the screaming periodically broke out so I hope that wasn’t a problem). After the first take Keith said “You guys are the best! I love you guys!” and thanked us for being patient with this process. (We’d listen to it a dozen times Keith!!) The crowd around the small stage really sang loudly the second time around - hope we didn’t drown out Keith!). Keith threw in an "You know its true Des Moines!" after singing the line OYCLMTW. His exit from the remote stage and return up front left hoards of women who ‘made contact’ screaming, trembling, crying. I thought the gal next to me was going to pass out!

Chris, Brian and Jerry once again sang Michael Jackson tributes during introductions. Tonight Chris switched to “I’ll Be There.” and got a great response, but Brian again won the prize for getting the most audience to join in on his “The Way You Make Me Feel.” In the closing of Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me Keith switched the words to “Singing a Taylor Swift song to me – Love Story!” At the ending of “If Ever I Could Love” the audience (or at least the floor) began following Keith’s rhythmic ‘clapping dance’ providing extra emphasis to that final Celtic beat. No improvised song for Des Moines before Raining on Sunday, but Keith did give an extra “Whoo-o” of enthusiasm after the second verse and a powerful, wrenching guitar solo. He also added a few bars of a melodic deep “Whoa ah –oh – ah – oh –ah – oh” before the final “Should a known better than to leave me darlin’” in I Told You So.

I was excited that, when it came time for You Look Good in My Shirt, Keith headed down the aisle I was sitting next to. Two more gentle touches to his abs and back.. Definitely got my ‘Vitamin K’ today and it is very energizing! While high up in the risers he again got the audience to sing the chorus of this song a couple times, each time louder.

More than once during the evening Keith called out “Are you having a good time?” but I am sure he had to know the answer to that question given our whole-hearted participation every step along the way!! The joy in the room was palpable.

Tonight I Wanna Cry was back in the encore tonight and Keith’s voice was so sweet and touching – one of those chill giving moments that just make you catch your breath.

When giving the usual thanks at the close of the show he not only thanked those who traveled a long way but also said “You guys rock!” During Better Life he was either a little mixed up or multilingual because he counted off “Un, deux, tres, quattro” J And, even though tonight there was no American sign translator present, during his final goodbyes Keith signed “Thank you” and “I love you.” to the sides of the arena.

PS

In the morning my friend Joan and I were joined by a couple other concert regulars at breakfast. Joan is not quite an “urban virgin” – this was her second concert – but she certainly isn’t yet familiar with some of the fan lingo. At breakfast I said something to jean-on-gal about how she must have been tickled to have her BSE with Keith filmed and up on KUTube. Joan looked a little shocked and asked in puzzlement “Keith is involved with breast self-examinations? And they’re videotaped?!”