2013 marks fourteen years on the charts for Keith Urban, and like a fine wine, the singer only seems to get better with time. His Saturday night stop at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA proved why he is held in such high esteem by critics and fans alike. The singer delivered one of the strongest performances of any country artist this year — or the past few years for that matter.
With close to 30 top ten singles to his credit (so far), Urban wasted no time in giving fans what they wanted to hear — the hits. When it came to the rock-star swagger of songs like “Sweet Thing,” “Kiss A Girl,” or last year’s “You Gonna Fly,” Urban seemingly had the capacity crowd singing every lyric of back to him throughout the evening on the Georgia hillside. He even played a snippet of Bruno Mars’ megahit, “Locked Out of Heaven.”
And, of course, no Urban performance would be complete without a show of the artist’s instrumental prowess. Changing guitars at least four times through the evening, Urban literally gave the six-stringers as physical of a workout as most weight lifters do. To say that the singer was in a zone would be an understatement. With each song, the response from the audience only seemed to grow – an unusual feat for any artist.
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As if he needed to score any more points with the crowd, he made many in the lawn section of Verizon very happy when he and his band left the stage – and took the music to the grass section. The crowd roared enthusiastically when he asked ‘Hey Georgia! Who’s got the good seats now?” He tipped his hat to Blake Shelton on the way there with a chorus of “Boys’ Round Here,” before delivering smoldering versions of “Days Go By,” “Better Life,” and “Once In A Lifetime.” The decision to take the music directly to the ones in attendance only seemed to endear him more to the audience – who were already in the palm of his hand.
Closing out his set with 2002’s “Somebody Like You,” he didn’t stay away from the stage too long, coming back to give a stark performance of his early hit “But For The Grace Of God,” and closing out the evening with take on fan favorite “You Look Good In My Shirt” before he and his band made their final bows. Playing for over two hours, he took his time in saying farewell to the audience – as if he didn’t want the evening to end. Needless to say, he wasn’t alone. There was about 12,000 people in the crowd that felt the same way.
Keith Urban Sets Date for ‘Fuse,’ Talks ‘Diversity’ of New Album
Opening up the show was Broken Bow’s Dustin Lynch and Urban’s Capitol labelmates Little Big Town – who dazzled with a set that proved just why they are starting to get the recognition they have deserved for so many years, thanks to hit records like “Pontoon” and “Tornado.” If there is a definition of “vocal perfection,” it just might be them.
Just six dates into his “Light The Fuse” tour, it’s a safe bet that fans are going to be flocking to this show throughout the fall.
Keith Urban “Light The Fuse” Tour Dates:
8/4 – Detriot, Mich.
8/8 – Baltimore, Md.
8/9 – Canadaigua, N.Y.
8/10 – Boston, Mass.
8/15 – Austin, Texas
8/16 – Houston, Texas
8/17 – Dallas, Texas
8/22 – Birmingham, Ala.
8/23 – St. Louis, Mo.
8/24 – Indianapolis, Ind.
8/28 – Albuquerque, N.M.
8/30 – Denver, Colo.
9/12 – Cleveland, Ohio
9/13 – Pittsburgh, Pa.
9/14 – Philadelphia, Pa.
9/21 – Mountain View, Calif.
9/22 – Sacramento, Calif.
9/27 – Los Angeles, Calif.
9/28 – San Diego, Calif.
9/29 – Phoenix, Ariz.
10/4 – Tampa, Fla.
10/5 – West Palm Beach, Fla.
10/18 – Omaha, Neb.
10/19 – Oklahoma City, Okla.
10/20 – Springfield, Mo.
10/25 – Tulsa, Okla.
10/26 – Bossier City, La.
10/27 – Lafayette, La.
11/8 – Kansas City, Mo.
11/9 – Des Moines, Iowa
11/10 – Peoria, Ill.
11/14 – Manchester. N.H.
11/15 – Uncasville, Conn.
11/16 – Uncasville, Conn.
11/22 – State College, Pa.
11/24 – Toledo, Ohio
12/7 – Charleston, W.V.
12/8 – Louisville, Ky.