Keith Urban rocked the Bridgestone Arena Friday night (Oct. 7) surprising Nashville with a duet with reigning CMA entertainer of the year, Luke Combs, and a heartfelt tribute to Country Music Hall of Famer, Loretta Lynn.
The night was one to remember with a nearly 30-song set list and a 2-and-a-half hour performance for Urban’s Speed of Now Tour stop in Music City. Beginning with his new album cut “Tumbleweed” and venturing through his 11 studio albums during the evening, the country legend gave fans a taste of the last three decades of his musical career.
Urban followed his opening act by dedicating the show to Nashville and all of the hardworking performers on Lower Broadway, sharing his gratitude and appreciation for the city’s help in his career. He even played footage from his 1997 set of his former trio, The Ranch, playing at Jack’s Guitar Bar off Nolensville Road in Nashville.
“I started playing in the clubs when I was about 15 years old, four hours a night, five nights a week,” Urban told the crowd, “all the way up until the late ‘90s when I was still playing the clubs … so tonight we are going to be highlighting the journey from places like that to those who play Nissan Stadium.”
He even invited his Academy Award-winning wife, Nicole Kidman, onstage to say “hello,” gracing Nashville with its favorite local superstar couple.
While the locals know that anything can happen at a Nashville concert, fans were eager to find out which one of Urban’s superstar friends were invited to share the stage that evening. Urban joked that Eric Church was unavailable, so he welcomed Luke Combs to duet “Raise Em Up,” the 2015 single collaboration between Church and Urban.
The 13 consecutive number-one hit-maker also sang “When it Rains it Pours,” with Urban singing back-up-vocals and playing guitar alongside Combs.
Urban also included a tribute to the late Loretta Lynn, who passed away on Tuesday (Oct. 4) at age 90. He performed an acoustic rendition of “Blue Eyed Kentucky Girl” and “You’re Looking At Country,” incorporating a montage of images of Lynn, including the same photo of Urban and Lynn that he posted on Instagram after the news of her passing.
“There’s unique artists, and I mean truly unique artists, and then there’s the very rare ‘one of one’ unclonable originals. That was THE Miss Loretta Lynn. Bold, fearless, unfiltered, hilarious, smart as a whip, trailblazing (all with a glint in her eyes), and gold in her heart.” he said in an Instagram post last week.
He ended the performance saying, “We love you, Loretta,” as the crowd paid homage to the iconic country singer.
The rest of the show consisted of old hits and new hits, “Days Go By,” “Never Comin’ Down,” “Somewhere in My Car,” and “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” as well as a brief acoustic set on the other side of the arena (for fans in the nosebleeds) including “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” “Better Life” and “You’ll Think of Me.”
Urban is continuing his Speed of Now tour throughout the rest of the year, with opening acts Tyler Hubbard and Ingrid Andress.
Ticket information and tour dates can be found on his website www.keithurban.com.
