One of our readers, Christy, was lucky enough to attend the two shows at the Mohegan Sun arena that kicked off Keith Urban’s Escape Together World Tour.  Sounds like she had a great time…

The two shows at Mohegan Sun feel like they were so long ago yet I’m still in the midst of the ‘post concert’ blues and experiencing serious Keith withdrawals/ DTs.

Keith’s opening nights of the Defying Gravity Tour in Uncasville, CT on May 7 and 8 were well worth the wait. The crowd was pumped and the electricity in the air was evident as soon as the pre-show music was cranked and the lights went down on Thursday night.

Moments later to the thunderous sounds of applaud and screaming fans, the ceiling high curtains came down, the lights came back on and Keith Urban suddenly appeared on stage, guitar in hand, rockin’ to Hit the Ground Running- a befitting song to begin the ’09 Tour. (as in previous tours, he came thru a whole in the stage but this was much faster- if you blink this time you’ll miss it!)

New this tour were 5 monstrous vertical screens, lots of smoke and flashing lights, 2 short ramps down to the floor and a shorter catwalk jutting out from center stage. The screens alternated single and multiple shots of Keith and the band with various images and graphics during the concert- not a bad seat in the house and everyone loved them! It was quite a production!! Keith made use of the short ramps on both sides of the stage at least a half a dozen times throughout the shows and really seemed to enjoy getting closer to his adoring fans.

The small satellite stage at the rear of the floor is back this year, but instead of getting there via catwalk, he made his way through the crowd on the outside of the aisles much to the delight of the fans who were lucky enough and able to touch him. (myself included!) It was just Keith and his guitar, the band stayed on the large stage and played back up for him there.

Keith took the opportunity at the small stage to apologize to his fans for being nervous on the first night of the tour. What Keith Urban nervous? WOW- hearing that makes him even more endearing! He also thanked the sold-out crowd for being right there with him and sharing their love which helped get him through the first few songs. He felt the love. Ahhh… can we possibly love him anymore??!

Keith and the band rocked hard for over 2 hours and no-one in the arena left dissapointed. At least 5 songs from the new album and lots of old favorites that rocked the place and everyone sang along with!

I listened to a brief conversation of 2 fans on their way out and it was their first show- they were both blown away by Keiths performance and said that he deserves to be Entertainer of the Year forever! (something all of us Monkeys agree wholeheartedly with!!!!)

Both nights were pretty much identical, except for the addition of Jamey Johnson on Friday night who made a special appearence and sang ‘In Color’ with Keith playing guitar right along with him and harmonizing. Awesome!! I believe he was playing inside the casino that evening and accepted the invitation to join Keith on stage.

Unless I win the lottery in the next few months, my next show won’t be until Boston at the end of July. It’s going to be a long 2 months!!

 

Thanks for the awesome review Christy!!!  I know you had a great time and I’m looking forward to my first show in 2 weeks!

Got some country music gossip and don’t wanna be a tattle tale?  Email me, Tawny Tucker, Tawny@countrymusictattletale.com