Escape Tour - June 27th

Saturday, June 27th

Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa

Opener: Taylor Swift

The video for Keith's newest single is being shot at this show. Unprecedented..... filming a video when the single is released!!!! What a concept!!!!

REVIEW:

Urban, Swift keep sellout Des Moines crowd involved

By SOPHIA AHMAD • sahmad@dmreg.com • June 28, 2009

Take a show by country music star Keith Urban, add a sultry blond siren — country pop star Taylor Swift — and throw in a rowdy Saturday night audience, and you get a double-header big enough to be the first sellout at Wells Fargo Arena this year.

The concert, part of Urban's "Escape Together" world tour, opened with Swift, 19, riling up the crowd with an 11-song set.

Swift, whom Urban called his "soul sister," is just a teenager but proved her maturity on stage. Her songs tackled love, heartbreak and betrayal, themes ripe for some of her revenge ballads and fiery lyrics. She wove "You're Not Sorry" into a medley along with a cover of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River," complete with headbanging and some writhing on the piano bench.

Fans were in for an extra treat when Urban, 41, took the stage. A notice was posted on his official Web site four days ago saying that his newest video, "Only You Can Love Me This Way," would include footage from the Des Moines crowd.

It appeared that most of the arena knew, because the audience chorus was just as loud as Urban's sweet tenor. There were two takes of the song, with touchups in between.

Urban said he felt silly about all the fuss but he went on and thanked the crowd. "You guys are the best — thank you so much Des Moines," he said.

Like Swift's, Urban's energy was high, always dancing around stage with his guitar strapped to him. At two points during the show, he walked through the crowd to get to stages near the back of the arena. "Who's got the best seats now?" Urban asked.

Shelley Preston of Clive was among those in attendance. She took her 13-year-old granddaughter, Kalee Rinnels of Eldora, to hear Swift. Preston was there for Urban.

"I really don't have a favorite song. I like them all," Preston said.

But Kalee dished. "Her favorite is 'Kiss A Girl' — she sings it all the time."

The passing of pop and R&B superstar Michael Jackson on Thursday was fresh on Urban's mind. He introduced three of his bandmates, and each sang portions of Jackson's songs "Man in the Mirror" and "The Way You Make Me Feel" along with the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There."

Both country stars appreciated the audience.

"Mighty fine singing, Des Moines," Urban said. "It sounds awesome."

Swift felt the same: "It really doesn't matter if you didn't have friends in junior high, you have 13,000 of your closest friends in Iowa."

Close. When the final attendance numbers came in, Taylor could count on 13,620 friends.