Keith Urban - Just a simply amazing Country / Pop show!!!

*****

Pop Country and a Stadium show at the Hammersmith Apollo!!!

Keith Urban ***** is an artist that I have been trying to get into for many years, I know the songs but he never really quite hit the spot with me. Even though I had to say he had some really big Country songs, that do get stuck in your head. With a lot of new school Country artists, I feel you have to see them live... and then you will get into them even more. This happened for me with artists like Chris Young and Kip Moore, always liked them but it was after I saw them live I really fell in love with them. So when I was invited down to see Keith Urban (Night 2) at the London, Hammersmith, Eventim Apollo, I thought why not. 

The first thing I have to say is, when I arrived at the venue there was a queue that went for miles and I was really impressed by how well the London, Hammersmith was run. We had no problem getting into the venue and it was one of the easiest experiences we have ever had at a big venue, so big thank you to the Eventim Apollo for this. We were really impressed, the second thing is how well they dealt with the crowd because their was no support and they dealt with the crowd getting a little restless with the 1hr 45 minute wait before the Country star hit the stage. But it is all worth the wait because, from the start of the performance, you are just blown away by Keith Urban. Visually the stage looks fantastic, and the musicianship from both Keith Urban and his band is just simply breathtaking.

He opens the show with the classic steady mover groover 'Days go By', which blends into the single 'Wild Heats' really nice to start the set in the right way. After the first couple of songs, he invites a girl and her boyfriend onstage for a massive discussion about the fact he is on her list, you know the list of the people that she (Britney) is allowed by her boyfriend (James) to sleep with. This is kind of funny, but a little too long because we are only two songs into the set. One of the highlights for me is the beautiful 'Parallel Lines', this is one of my favourite Keith Urban tracks it shows new dimensions to the music that he can produce. That he is not just a Country artist, he is also a chart Pop artist as well.

This is followed by the Country twang of the infectious new Country hit 'Somewhere in my Car', which is so different to the Retrowave sound of 'Nightfall' which sounds like a late 80's / 90's chart Pop song... that might be released by Nik Kershaw, The Blow Monkeys or maybe even Hall and Oates. I really like this track it is very like what Lawson tried to do, and Ollie Wride and FM 84 have managed to do. If you like this also check out a band called The Midnight, I think they will blow your mind. I really like the guitar work on this track too, it is one of the first moments you see how good a guitar player Keith Urban actually is. Actually, a lot of Synthwave and Retrowave bands are very inspired by the futuristic music from 80's / 90's games and films, so nice to see a Country artist embracing a genre that I really like.... I think he did this by adding Nathan to the band which was a great move in my opinion.

Showing off his Blues and guitar skills on 'Superman', continuing this theme with add an edge of dark and traditional Country on the brilliant 'God whispered your Name' which seemed to be a firm favourite with fans that have been into him for quite a long time. During his performance, he uses the screens very well on tracks such as 'One too Many' Feat. Pink and one of his most well-known songs 'The Fighter' Feat. Carrie Underwood has more than one hundred million streams on YouTube. 

Wow!!! that is a hell of a lot of streams, yeah you can't believe he is only playing the London, Hammersmith Apollo and not London, Wembley Stadium. He has both Pink and Carrie Underwood duetting with him on the screens, so is a very nice moment between man and machine. 'The Fighter' is most definitely a Pop song, with a few Country licks.

Keyboardist / Multi-Instrumentalist Nathan Barlowe is simply amazing tonight, he is on a device he calls the Phantom which is a kind of a light-up keyboard Esq. instrument. He performs a really awesome version of 'Sweet Dreams' by the Eurythmics, which is a mash-up with 'Seven nation Army' by The White Stripes and probably my favourite moment of the evening. I really don't like the covers of this song and Yes! that includes the Marilyn Manson one and he is one of my favourite artists. But this version really works, so I have to pick it out as one of my favourite moments, especially when Nathan's vocals are so strong.

Stadium Pop and Stadium Rock are very different from what he does next, he gets very personal with the crowd. He goes to the side of the venue, near the toilets... Yes! by the Gents toilet door, and gets all personal with the crowd, he tells the audience about not letting people stop you from having your views and it's all right to be different... a lot of people have been saying things like this on stage recently and their actions have not been like this after. So it's hard to know if Keith Urban is being truthful or if he is just talking a lot of shit. Well, he is in the right place if he is, being right by the gent's toilets. Well, I hope he is talking from the heart, because his Adele cover of 'Easy on Me' is simply beautiful. He only plays one more song on the toilet stage 'You'll think of Me', before making his way back to the main stage.

'Somebody like You' is one of the songs I know the best by Keith Urban, so it's a sing-a-long time, and Yes! that is including me. Keith keeps the sing-a-long vibe going with a crazy version of 'The Lion sleeps Tonight' which was originally recorded by The Tokens. This is kind of fun, with the crowd singing various parts. But maybe I am not so fun, because I like my concerts a little more serious than this. And I am not really a fan of things like this. He ends his set with the brilliant Bluesy / Country slow downed 'Blue ain't your Color' and a cut down acoustic version of 'Stupid Boy'. This is just Keith without the rest of the band, and on this, he really shows how powerful his voice is.

After he has taken a bow with his band, he spends a good amount of time signing autographs and having pictures with fans. But I feel this get's a little out of hand because people are trampling over disabled people to get to him. Including one poor guy on a mobility scooter, so he should have noticed this and got people to politely wait their turn. This was a great performance by Keith Urban, and what I said at the beginning of this review was very true. Sometimes you just have to see a Country artist to truly get into them. And I think this goes for Keith Urban too, I really enjoyed this performance by him. And I would go and see him again, next time he is in town.

Review by Dan Devour and Photo's by Dan Devour and Dezadie

Keith Urban - Setlist
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Days go By
Wild Hearts
Never comin Down
Parallel Line
Somewhere in my Car
Nightfalls
John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16
Superman
God whispered your Name
One too Many

(Acoustic, on the side Stage)
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Easy on Me (Adele cover)
You'll think of Me
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Somebody like You
The Lion sleeps Tonight (The Tokens Cover)
Blue ain't your Color
The Fighter
Wasted Time
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Stupid Boy

Also during the performance Nathan Barlowe did an amazing mash up cover of 'Sweet Dreams' (Eurythmics) / 'Seven nation Army' (The White Stripes).

Check Out! the Video for 'Wild Hearts' Below...