Country music has its dedication and loyalty amongst its fans like almost no other genre of music. There could be a lot of debate on who is the hottest act currently. Maybe it’s Jason Aldean? Could it be Eric Church? Country’s darling Taylor Swift perhaps? Well, if you answered “yes” to any of these you wouldn’t be wrong. However, I witnessed, for the first time at the Fallsview Casino, a country artist that has looks, charm, a stage presence, and most importantly over all of the aforementioned, talent beyond most in the business. The artist I’m speaking about is Keith Urban. Urban and his band have a 2-night stay in Niagara Falls, Ontario’s premier concert venue (Avalon Ballroom inside the Fallsview Casino) and BackstageAxxess was lucky to seize the opportunity to take in the first show.
What makes Urban different from all country artists is that he primarily is an electric guitar player. Most country artists play acoustic and you rarely see them play electric and when they do, it’s usually for a song or two, and its rhythm not lead. Urban was lead guitarist for the entire night and a very fine one at that. He held his own for solos at the end of “Stupid Boy” and “Till Summer Comes Around.” For “Making Memories of Us,” Keith took the spotlight alone with just him and his acoustic guitar (the only time he played one all night). Urban showed his range and versatility on the song as it was one of the many highlights of the show. He also remarked how he can cross off playing Niagara Falls from his bucket list!
Urban not only dazzled with his musical proficiency, but made sure the audience felt a part of the show the entire performance. During “I’m in,” he went to one of the balconies to sing and during “You Look Good in my Shirt” went to the opposite balcony to sing and handed a lucky fan the guitar he was playing and also signed it for her. Wow, what a gift! He also brought up 3 folks to sing a chorus for “Kiss a Girl.” It was funny to watch the one guy he pulled up who kept on going around taking photos of him and the band and wanted to get one of him and Keith so he posed for him and then laughed it off. This happened again during the last song “Best Life” where he brought up a woman who handed him a rose, then before she was to walk off stage, noticed her friend didn’t get a photo of it, proceeded to walk back to him while performing. Urban took it all in stride though. What a professional!
I personally love the shattered mirror guitar look and have never seen a performer use it except Kiss’ Paul Stanley who has used different versions of it since the 1970’s. Well Paul, you finally got company as Urban used a fender version on the song “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me?”
I have been told by fans for years who have witnessed Urban in a live setting that there a few better. After taking in this show, I would have to agree with them. Seeing Urban in an intimate setting of this type doesn’t get any better; not for just a country fan, but for any fan of music in general. Hey Urban, is it too late for this new recruit to hop on the fan bus yet?
Train Set List:
You Gonna Fly
Put You in a Song
Long Hot Summer
Stupid Boy
Making Memories of Us (solo)
I’m In
Days Go By
Till Summer Comes Around
Sweet Thing
Kiss a Girl
Without You
Somebody Like You
Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me?
With or without You (U2 cover)/ American Girl (Tom Petty cover)/ It’s a Long Way to the Top (AC/DC cover) medley by backing band
You Look Good in my Shirt
Encore:
Better Life
We would like to thank Jamie Simone from PFA Media for allowing BackstageAxxess to review the show.
