http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/music/kiwi_cowboy_proves_rock_is_no_urban_Y76zXofyC0cciBu74IMGQM

Kiwi Cowboy Proves Rock Is No Urban Myth
By DAN AQUILANT
Posted: 12:51 AM, October 10, 2009

    IF you have any doubt that modern country music is the last refuge of classic rock, you should have been at Keith Urban's Madison Square Garden sellout Thursday.
         
    At this show the volume was cranked to 11, the guitars were electric, there wasn't a fiddle in sight, and the Kiwi singer hardly had a hint of twang in his pipes.
           
    Sure, there were a couple of songs that would have passed the Nashville acid test, like the encore stomp "Better Life" and the upbeat two-step "I Told You So." But what Urban played was an old-fashioned arena rock concert more Bob Seger than Bob Wills.
           
    Urban's outfit is essentially a guitar band -- and he's the top shredder, working riffs with speed and precision.
           
    His "Guitar Hero" skills were at their best in the fast ones such as "Days Go By," "Till Summer Comes Around" and "Once in a Lifetime." These were also the tunes that got the crowd to dance hard enough to make the concrete floor of the Garden bounce.
           
    The show did have lulls. The worst was the sappy midtempo ballad "Only You Could Love Me This Way," which he introduced by dedicating it to his wife, actress Nicole Kidman, who attended the show. Later, Urban dedicated another song, "Thank You," to her.
           
    The staging was simple, with a big open set, and Urban added concert excitement for those with bad seats by wandering with his guitar and doing a few tunes from the aisles and on a secondary stage at the other end of the Garden, opposite the main stage.
           
    It was during those off-the-main-stage moments that the concert's biggest flaw was accentuated. Urban was in the back of the house singing, but his voice was coming from the speakers at the other end -- it was kind of weird.
           
    Now that he's playing major venues like the Garden, it's time Urban spent some cash on sound worthy of his show. Besides, the fans deserve it.
           
dan.aquilante@nypost.com
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    Interesting, I have not heard these comments at any time during this tour.

    SmartMove  

--Last edited by smartmove on 2009-10-11 07:25:22 --

A little weird, starting with the Kiwi Cowboy thing ???  Lacks respect and authenticity ...

Dan's a dickhead !!!

Quote :

A little weird, starting with the Kiwi Cowboy thing ???  Lacks respect and authenticity ...

    The Kiwi thing does sound somewhat disrespectful. This guy is really out of his element if he thought Keith was a hat act. I hope he has been enlightened after the concert.

    SmartMove

From Monkeyville:

    Here is a review of the show in NY at the Garden and a video of Keith leaving the arena. This is interesting. I like it!  

    Madison Square Garden.... What can I say?  What a night!  I had seen this show already in Nashville, but just found so many more surprises last night in New York City.  Keith sounded amazing!  The band was awesome.  He had announced that his wife was there last night, then sang Thank You and dedicated it to her.  It was beautiful - I'll try to upload that video today.  She was standing right under where we were sitting for a few minutes at the beginning of the song - she looked beautiful.  When Keith dedicated the song to her, the cameras put her on the big screens for a second, and the crowd went wild.  

    The most surprising part for me was the ending.  My husband recorded it (it's a bit shakey, so sorry for that).  It was fantastic!  Keith started the final song Better Life as usual, then went through the crowd to the back stage.  After that, he went back through the crowd.  Fully expecting him to get back on stage for the finish, right?  Not this time!  He ran out (with many security people running too) the entrance right below our seats and disappeared.  Then, the cameras show him on the big screens running through the underground halls of Madison Square Garden, someone handing him his jacket, putting it on, running, running, until he reaches outside the Garden.  He's in the street, and the crowd inside the Garden is wild.  He hails a taxi, gets in, and we all watch him drive away.  It was totally unexpected!!  We didn't get the good-bye from him, but personally, I thought this was so exciting.  I love when they mix it up!!

    Boy, Keith must be in some shape!!  The concert just seemed so high energy (from both the band the the crowd) and in New York, nonetheless, where we don't even have a country radio station!!  I'm thinking there are a lot of new Keith Urban fans out there today!  

    Here's the shakey video of the way Keith exits the show.  Fast forward to 2:00 to watch the ending.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFGvQ4X4wfw
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    SmartMove

 
   

http://blog.cmt.com/2009-10-22/watch-keith-urban-cab-it-out-of-nyc/

Watch Keith Urban Cab It Out of NYC
Posted: October 22nd, 2009 at 3:47 pm  |  By: Alison Bonaguro

    Keith Urban left his Madison Square Garden show in a New York City taxi cab the other night. That was very cool, but all I can think of when I watch this video is, "That poor camera man." Most of the video is shot in the caverns of the Garden after he sang the last bits of "Better Life." Urban is literally running while he hands off his guitar to someone and puts his coat on and then hails himself his own cab. But the whole time, the camera man is running BACKWARDS, so the whole thing has that unintentional shaky camera vibe. (If you get motion sickness easily, this is probably not the video for you.) "The yellow taxi is synonymous with New York City, and I was trying to figure out how I could incorporate it into the show. ... I think I did it ... not to mention that I beat the rush for cabs after the concert let out," Urban said.

    SmartMove