Currently, country rocker Keith Urban isn’t doing what you call a “traditional” tour but he is doing some scattered dates around the USA and Canada this summer. One of those dates landed him at the OLG stage this past Thursday night. This was his 2nd time appearing at the venue in a three year span (also performed there in June of 2024). There was no opener as it was just Urban and his band ready to kick some ass.
Urban took to the stage at about 8:10pm to a sold out crowd. With his latest release “Flow State” in tow, he mixed in songs from this record along with other choice cuts from his storied 35 year career. The appropriate “Long Hot Summer” off of the 2010 ‘Get Closer’ album led off the evening’s festivities. This was the perfect choice to wet the crowd’s appetite and brace them for what was about to come for the next 90 minutes. Urban talked about his latest record ‘Flow State’ (released in June of 2026) and was impressed that a lot of crowd knew about it. The album is mostly a collection of covers from what people now refer to as “Yacht Rock” music. He even was wearing wristbands with the name of the album on them. Some cuts that he played off of it were “Steal Away,” “Summer Breeze” and the Player classic “Baby Come Back.” Urban enjoyed a lot of playful interaction with the crowd. After he did “Steal Away,” he brought up a couple who held up as sign that said that they wanted to get a photo with him. He also talked to others who held up signs as well. He even got a pair of huge binoculars to see the signs in the back of the crowd too. The video guys get an A+ for their on stage close-ups as Urban was dazzling the crowd with his work on the 6th string for the entirety of the performance. I couldn’t help but notice drummer Jimmy Paxson throughout the show. He was hard hitting but yet precise and was spot on the originals and covers. In fact, the entire band was really locked in and it made for Urban to go off script some. Which he did here and there. If you have ever seen Urban before, you know he always goes into the audience, plays a song, then signs that acoustic guitar and hand it to a lucky fan. That song ended up being “You’ll Think of Me.” He closed the set with “Wasted Time” and integrated the Johnny Cash classic “Folsom Blues” within it. Right before the last chords were strummed, a rainbow of confetti sprayed all over the audience. At the ever end, Urban stayed behind to sign a couple of few items for a few lucky fans.
Urban is considered country, but he is every bit of rock too. Not many artists (in any genre) can play extraordinary lead electric guitar like Urban. It’s one of the reasons that I keep getting drawn back to his live performances. This show had everything and then some. It was one of the most entertaining shows I been to in 2026 so far. The acts that BackstageAxxess’ take in for the rest of 2026 have a lot to live up to match this amazing performance!
Setlist:
Long Hot Summer
Straight Line
Steal Away (Robbie DuPree cover)
Kiss a Girl
Cop Car (Sam Hunt cover)
We Go Back
You Look Good in my Shirt
Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts cover)
Days Go By
Purple Rain (Prince cover)
Somewhere in my Car
The Fighter
Baby Come Back (Player cover)
Somebody like You
One Too Many
Thank God I’m a Country Boy (John Denver cover-snippet)/You’ll Think of Me
Blue Ain’t Your Color
Wasted Time/Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash cover)/Wasted Time
We would like to thank Erin Stitt from the Fallsview Casino for the credentials to review the show.