Keith Urban performed at the amphitheater at Sunset Station Casino in Henderson, NV, which is about 10 miles south of Las Vegas, on August 20, 2004. No opening act, just Keith, for nearly 2 hours.
I had 8th row seats, however they were off to the side, and my view of center stage was more like 20 rows away. I usually take digital photos, with better quality, but being so far away, none of them came out, so luckily I had my film camera with me so I have some pictures from the show.
Keith was looking good as he hit the stage in a black t-shirt and jeans. He opened with "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me," then "Raining on Sunday," which although the day of the week was wrong, was prophetic to what the night would entail.
Keith has a new album coming out on September 21st entitled Be Here, and he played a song from that album. He said the song is dedicated to everyone in the audience who has a better half, whether that be your wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, your higher power, or your Schnauzer. The song is called "You're My Better Half," and judging from that and the current single, this album is going to be just as good, if not better than Golden Road. I can't wait to hear more.
As I mentioned above, the rain was indeed coming down, and it just started with a light sprinkle, but varied from sprinkles to solid rain. Keith joked "Well at least it's a dry rain," referring to what everyone says about the heat in Las Vegas as being dry.
Keith sang a Johnny Cash song, and I can't remember which one it is now. If someone that attended the concert remembers, let me know and I'll post it. I think it was "I Walk the Line," but I'm not sure.
During "But For the Grace of God," Keith and fiddle player Jason traded off solos. Maybe that's not the correct term. What they did was Keith would play something and Jason would duplicate it on the fiddle. Then Jason would play something and Keith would duplicate it on the guitar.
Next was the acoustic part of the show where Keith pulled out a stool and sat center stage. He said he was going to wing it and mentioned he used to be in a band called The Ranch, and would like to play a Ranch song. He said it's a "white trailer park trash love song."
I think it was here, before he sang "Homespun Love" he started reading some signs. A girl in the audience had a song that mentioned "being down to my last dime and I need a hug." He said "Ok sweetheart, come on up." She was lead to the stage by a security guard and got her hug from Keith. I'm so jealous! :)
Keith sang Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved," and some of the old 70s song "I Hear You Knocking" by Dave Edmunds. Then, he sang a song I've always loved, and he did it so wonderfully. He sang Meatloaf's "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad." Fantastic!
A show wouldn't be complete without my favorite, "Your Everything," and the fan favorite "Jeans On."
The rain kept on falling, and in the distance you could see lightning in the sky. Yet not a person felt like they should go inside out of the rain.
Keith added "You'll Think Of Me," his new single, "Days Go By," plus he covered Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" and ended with "Somebody Like You." For an encore he came back to play "Where The Blacktop Ends," then he dedicated his final song to all the troops overseas, and he thanked everyone for coming, especially those that drove or flew great distances for the show. The final song was "You're Not Alone Tonight," which I've always loved.
Totally great show, and has me hoping Keith will be back to Vegas in December during the rodeo so I can see him again. He's one act that I can never see too often. Always entertaining and soooo easy to look at. ;)
Song List:
- Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me
- Raining on Sunday
- You're My Better Half
- I Walk The Line (I think it was this song)
- You Won
- But for the Grace of God
- You Look Good in my Shirt
- Homespun Love
- She Will Be Loved
- I Hear You Knockin'
- Two Out of Three Ain't Bad
- Your Everything
- Jeans On
- You'll Think of Me
- Days Go By
- Free Fallin'
- Somebody Like You
Encore:- Where The Blacktop Ends
- You're Not Alone Tonight