http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/columnists/jane_stevenson/2009/05/11/9427751-sun.html
Keith Urban wows lucky fans
By JANE STEVENSON, Sun Media
Last Updated: 12th May 2009, 3:30am
Country music superstar Keith Urban's Escape Together arena tour, which kicked off last week in Connecticut, was scaled down for a select group of about 1,000 contest winners, music industry guests and fan club members at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Monday night.
In truth, Urban's hour-and-15-minute show was taped for an upcoming CMT special to run in the summer followed by an online version at Sympatico/MSN as part of their Live @ The Orange Lounge series, thus the presence of cameras on cranes and tracks and major lights throughout the small club.
"We're breaking some fire codes tonight," joked the cute Aussie, who makes his home in Nashville with actress-wife Nicole Kidman and their infant daughter, Sunday Rose.
Kicking off the 12-song concert on a major upbeat note with the older tune, Days Go By, Urban and his ace five-man band seemed thoroughly warmed up and were genuinely having fun even if their frontman was slightly punchy at times.
Urban laughed when he forgot the words to Better Life, the final song of the night, and even spontaneously broke away from the planned set list to perform a solo acoustic version of Once In A Lifetime.
"I got to get centered," said Urban by way of explanation as he cleared the stage of his musicians. "We started this tour a week ago and it feels like we've played every night."
Still, Urban managed to bring out the best in almost every song he played with some great guitar work, particularly as he wrapped up older songs like Stupid Boy, or with the triple guitar attack of him and fellow axemen Chris Rodriguez and Brian Nutter, on You Look Good In My Shirt and Somebody Like You.
"Yee haw!" he yelled at the end of Shirt. "Hell, yeah, Toronto! You guys must have started drinking early," added the musician, who got clean and sober not long ago.
Urban's latest trek, in support of his new No. 1 album, Defying Gravity, doesn't arrive in Canada until mid-September when he will travel to seven cities (including an Oct. 3 date at the Air Canada Centre).
But the quality of the new tunes played by the charismatic and lively 41-year-old singer-songwriter and gifted guitarist bodes well for what concertgoers can expect.
Among the new tunes sounding even better in a live setting were the first single, Sweet Thing, the ballad 'Til Summer Comes Around, again with some exciting guitar playing by Urban, and Kiss A Girl.
Urban also made "Lindsey from Kitchener" one happy fan, when he pulled her up on stage to sign her copy of Defying Gravity, among other things she had in her purse, and finished off the encounter with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
---
WHAT KEITH PLAYED LAST NIGHT:
SET LIST:
Days Go By
Sweet Thing
Stupid Boy
You Look Good In My Shirt
'Til Summer Comes Around
Once In A Lifetime
Making Memories Of Us
Only You
Kiss A Girl
Somebody Like You
ENCORE
Tonight I Wanna Cry
Better Life
---
Sun Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Keith Urban
The Phoenix Concert Theatre
Monday Night
18 comments:
You ignore everything good about the show.
We said it, you won't.
Yeah, forgetting words to his songs seems to be a habit with the orb...no doubt a lack of prep...or rehearsal put into the presentation. Oh yeah, but pulling out a fan from the crowd onto the stage is so spontanious though...dont tell me... even if they were just "Dancing in the Dark!" So tell me, will the orb make it to the end of the tour?
So...a little breaking kidman news...
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2007&jump=story&articleid=VR1118003504&cs=1
Kidman bolts from Woody Allen film...so kidman is in, then immediately out of woodys next flick...not very surprising if it is in fact true...but what is surprising of course is the circumstances...I was predicting actors already involved would start to bolt when kidman became involved. But apparently no one bolted...so I surmiss that actors threatened woody with leaving when kidman was announced to be attached...so now kidman is out. It seems kidman's short jaunt into LAX last month, you know where both GG and JJ hooped it up online...was as I surmissed...kidman flew into lalaland to plead for a role in the flick...but it seems woody, and clearer minds (probably the producers and and the studio) prevailed...so all she's left with, perhaps, is "Rabid" Hole...with it's 6 producers...2 no name bankrollers...with a future price tag placed on it and hawked at cannes...and 1 failed actress.
...ps...
...hey just had a thought...perhaps the true reason kidman "droppped" out of woody's film is so that she and baby sunri can go out "on tour" with the orb...HA!...that's a good one! In fact, what up?... with that? Anyone heard whether kidman is washing and ironing the orbs "rhinestone" shirts on the tour bus with a portable iron and makeshift ironing board made out of backup electric guitars... while the orb fiddles? Any hide or hair... a spotting of her swollen lips or itchy fingers anywhere near that busses sewage waste emptying switch? Or is she too busy desperately trying to rustle up an ever seemingly elusive film role to keep her anywhere but on that tour bus?
"We're breaking some fire codes tonight,"
"You guys must have started drinking early,"
If I had a buck for every time I heard those lines from him. Different venue - same show folks!
No doubt Nicole will use Keith's tour as the excuse for reneging on her promise to Woody Allen. Which makes me wonder:
1. Did she bolt because she was in over her head or
2. Is there trouble at home already? I'm curious about the "fatigue" quote Keith made.
Truly, maclen, actors don't threaten Woody. He simply has too much cachet and influence with actors. Trust me: nobody said, "Her or ME!" And because Woody plays it close to the vest, we probably won't ever hear the real reason for this parting.
Be that as it may, now Nicole has NADA to do this summer but accompanying her exhausted husband.
This is really getting interesting, and it's early days yet!
As for his fatigue, it has been a while since he toured and stayed up late so I'll give him some slack there. He needs to get back in the groove of it. The fact that he forgot some words, eh? Whatever, not sure he's got his show solidified yet - BUT, he better soon because this really isn't all that many cities this time out. He's about 30 shy and I'm not so sure he will be adding anymore to it.
And yeah Keith, hire a writer to give you some new lines.
The last time she pulled out of a movie it was the Reader, and we know why, do you think it's the same reason?
She was seen falling asleep sitting up at the nail salon, and this is something she did a lot of the last time around?
A440 said...
"Truly, maclen, actors don't threaten Woody. He simply has too much cachet and influence with actors. Trust me: nobody said, "Her or ME!" And because Woody plays it close to the vest, we probably won't ever hear the real reason for this parting."
Yeah, certainly A440, the actual reason may not be revealed...they'll just put out the typical..."scheduling conflicts". And naturally, I'm inclined to believe that in her current state of irrelevence, kidman was non essential to the quality of woodys film and her years old tendency of being a financial and critical buzz kill certainly didnt help her one bit. And as for your point, hoosier...I say, if she is opting at this point for another PR baby...whatever keeps her off another movie set, more power to that! But again, my bet is on basically kidman being a failed actress, and the roles will not be piling up or falling easily into fruition in the near future...
...boy...now this kidman story is running rapid fire over the nets...over 70 articles on a google news search...certainly vastly more buzz than kidman's recent impotent photo ops...or the orbs just started tour. And the titles are not what inept team kidman would have hoped for....kidman..."pulls out"..."walks off the set"..."ditches woody"..etc...
http://news.google.com/news/more?um=1&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=d6oQ-rtQ3QpNCDMH0zaYZolBnZZ_M
...again, whatever the actual reason...not a popular move amoung the industry pundits...even the fansies at NKU are in disbelief and very disappointed. Again proves my point...inept team kidman are lousy PR strategist's. Sure, just one film...but for someone who I believe has been in trouble for years now...not unsurprising.
When they are disappointed at NKU, you have really done something, I'll admit. Cannot wait to see what the fallout is from this, what our little Nic has up her sleeve. . . .
The longer I read this the more convinced I am that it's not a PR machine, it's her. No one in their right mind would pay someone to consistently make "shoot me in the foot" decisions with such precision. She is doing this all on her own, and she is either too full of herself to admit she is wrong or too stupid to see it.
Unless she's pregnant again, that is the only thing that would make this a little understandable.
Did she swim in that waterfall at Easter?
what if she isn't preggers?
What if there is another reason behind her not working right now?
Who knows? But something is off.
Possibly a scheduling conflict with filming of "The Rabbit Hole"???????????????
Bravo Joy for being a poster here that uses their brain!
http://www.accesshollywood.com/nicole-kidman-exits-woody-allen-film-due-to-scheduling-conflict_article_17880
right. . . .
heard that before. . . .
but if you want to think it, ok, I'll idulge you.
have fun with it!
Yeah, hoosier, the typical excuse... which I pointed out in an earlier comment to A449...of "scheduling conflicts" can be easily verified by the actual events. Will kidman be shooting her film when woody is filming his...something to keep an eye on! As for the events of both films if they do make it to fruition...I can see it now...woody's and kidman's films, and I always like to stress about kidman, IF her film makes it onto film...( I always expect that her film will fall apart at any minute)... I expect to hear when kidman's film makes it out to the public, "She passed on woody's film to make this?" Imagine the reaction...an indie flick starring kidman..ie: dogville...human stain...birth....fur...margot...or a woody allen flick starring current awards darlings brolin and pinto. While woody's flick more than likely makes it once again to awards buzz, kidman lays another rotten egg in another "starring gig" in another of her patented angst ridden indie yawners...
Again maclen your lack of basic industry knowledge is showing through. Simply lining up the time when WA films and RH is filmed just won't work. How would you know when exactly Kidman would have been needed for the WA shoot and for how long? It is doubtful that any actor in a WA film would be needed for the entire production period. Actors don't just show up on the set on Day 1 of filming and say I'm here. There is alot of prep work. There's meetings with hair and makeup, costume fittings. Rehearsal time which varies from director to director, and also because of budget constraints. Locations...where will this be shot, multiple locations? and travel time for actors? And most importantly Kidman is a producer on this. So she is going to have even more on her plate. This is all on top of having to learn her lines, do her character work, etc.
maclen is one of the reasons why people think actors just show up on set, say their lines and go home. It doesn't work that way.
So go ahead and make your calculations....if it makes you feel better.
Post a Comment