Walking into Staples Center, located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, and seeing cowboy hats, boots and floral dresses abounding on a Saturday night had an ironic “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” twang. The last time I went to a concert arena was to see Muse and before that, Usher. Keith Urban gave an entirely different—given the country genre—but equally well-done performance as any rock or hip-hop concert.
There were some technical flaws. Urban’s voice could barely be distinguished from the music throughout most of the show. Echoes and too much volume on the guitar made it difficult to enjoy his distinct, smooth pop-meets-country vocal quality. Urban himself had a strong stage presence however, and it was easy to enjoy the overall experience.
His set list started strong, including fan favorites like “Put You In A Song” and “Long Hot Summer.” There was a good mix of his upbeat happy-go-lucky tunes (“Better Life,” “Jeans On,”) and his slower heartfelt hits (“Without You,” “Tonight I Wanna Cry.”) During his ballads, especially, Urban was able to croon and woo the audience, as the screams of fans died and the noise of drums and bass came to a halt and all that was left was a guitar and the rawness of a Keith Urban ballad.
Urban really knows how to bring his shows to a personal level. Fans jumped up and down, sat and swayed and clapped their hands in equal measure. “Kiss A Girl” was especially memorable as he brought three fans on stage to sing with him, and then gave them time to sing individually while he clapped and stood in the background.
From beginning to end Urban proved his showmanship, not only singing and interacting with the crowd but also showcasing his prowess on the guitar with several elaborate solos, particularly during “Sweet Thing,” when he grabbed his electric guitar and improvised various riffs during the chorus and bridge, much to the crowd’s delight. “Hot damn,” one audience member said. “Never knew he could play guitar like that.”
Sometimes a concert isn’t meant to show the world the talent an artist possesses. The audience already loves Urban, they know he’s good. Instead of focusing on performing an exact, perfect live rendition of his albums, he deviated a little. He jumped up and down, he talked to the crowd, he brought people on stage and let them take the lead. Jack Black made a guest appearance in the encore. Girls screamed, guys drank their beer and bobbed their heads and Urban catered to it all. He brought a quality, entertainment experience and fans ate it up.
Photograph by Heather Tanji
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