To paraphrase the judges on American Idol, I expected Keith Urban to set the bar for country concerts on Thursday at the X. After all, his 2007 show was the best arena concert in any genre of that year. But the new, generously long 125-minute performance lacked the kind of fun and unexpected moments of the 2007 gig, which included rock covers and snippets of guitar passages from classic-rock faves.

To be sure, this was still a very good show but not a gold-standard one. Urban was in good voice, he uncorked some memorable guitar solos and he upped the visual pizzazz from last time. He just didn’t cut loose enough; he seemed to play the entire show in second or third gear instead of revving into overdrive like he did in 2007.

Zac Brown Band offered a solid opening set, which was slightly marred by a faulty vocal mic on the first song. I interviewed Brown, a fascinating and smart guy, before the show for a preview for ZBB’s June 29 show at Mystic Lake Casino.

Speaking of American Idol, Keith Urban will be on the show next week singing with finalist Kris Allen.

Here is Urban’s set list from Thursday: 1. Hit the Ground Runnin’ (from new Defying Gravity) 2. Days Go By 3. Stupid Boy 4. Where the Blacktop Ends 5. You’re My Better Half 6. Once in a Lifetime 7. Making Memories of Us 8. Standing Right in Front of You (Gravity) 9. Til Summer Comes Around (Gravity) 10. Sweet Thing (Gravity) 11. Who Wouldnt Wanna Be Me 12. If Ever I Could Love (Gravity) 13. Rainin on Sunday 14. Kiss a Girl (Gravity) 15. I Told You So 16. You’ll Think of Me 17. You Look Good in My Shirt 18. Somebody Like You 19. Tonight I Wanna Cry 20. Better Life

What did you think of the concert?

This entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 1:18 am and is filed under American Idol, Concerts, Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.