Keith Urban Buzz Gig

Keith Urban Buzz Gig
Submitted By
Feb 17, 2007

Keith Urban had a busy day on Valentines Day last week. Instead of spending the day with his wife Nicole (where I'm sure he really wanted to be), he & his band flew up to Toronto, braving our first truly horrendous snow storm, to warm our hearts once again.

Keith arrived the day before but his band almost didn't make the flight because of the weather. Keith, vowing not to disappoint his fans, told the folks at Canada AM that he would do four acoustic songs if the band didn't make it. The band did make it, however, at 2 am and they headed right over to the Australian Biosphere (at Yonge & Dundas in downtown Toronto) to set up and do a sound check before the show started at 7:30 am.

It was a great show and Keith did four songs as well as mingling with his fans and signing some autographs. I couldn't believe it when I heard that some fans flew to Toronto from Winnipeg & Calgary just to see Keith that day. Keith even had a look-a-like there who was also at his private show at the Mod Club Theatre later that evening.

It was a busy day for Keith and I don't imagine he even had a moment to take a cat nap. He was busy doing interviews and taping a CMT show between events but the lack of sleep didn't show on his face.

When we got to the Mod Club that evening, the lineup outside was very, very long, full of fans who had probably been braving the cold (-11C) for a few hours. We went inside and listened to Keith & his band doing sound check. One thing that I was blown away by was when Keith started singing Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors". It sounded awesome. I thought he would be singing it on the show which wasn't the case at all. He truly does love music.

After the sound check, we were ushered upstairs to a room where Keith was winding up a meet & greet with some contest winners. He was posing for pictures with all of the ecstatic winners.

L-R: Charlotte Thompson (EMI), Keith, Deane Cameron (EMI Canada President) and Paul Shaver (VP of Promotion Marketing @ EMI)

When he was done, he headed over to our side of the room where he was presented with four Canadian sales awards by Deane Cameron, President of EMI Music Canada:

2x Platinum ï؟½ Golden Road
2x Platinum ï؟½ Livinï؟½ Right Now DVD
2x Platinum ï؟½ Be Here
Platinum ï؟½ Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing

Unfortunately, I brought a new camera to the event (bad move) and I hadn't shot any night or concert pictures with it yet. I ended up getting only a couple of the award shots that weren't fuzzy and none of the concert. One good thing was the fact that I was totally free to enjoy the entire private concert which was the BEST show I have seen ---- EVER! It even topped Garth in Central Park. All Keith needed was himself and his guitar.......... The band was a bonus and all excellent musicians.

Keith performed songs from his current multi-platinum album, "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing and also many hits from his previous albums. Keith also had help singing every single song ..... the audience. I don't think there was a person there who didn't know the words to ALL of his songs. Noteable was when he sang his hit, "You'll Think of Me" and turned his mic to the audience to sing the chorus .... and what a GREAT job WE all did!!!

The show lasted for 45 minutes and I'm sure Keith would have gone on longer if it weren't for another show taking place at 9 pm. It took a while for the hyped up capacity crowd to clear the club. I overheard a few conversations as we walked to the parking lot and everyone was totally mezmerized by Keith's enormous talent. Even my friend Barb from Country Music News, who usually leaves after she gets her shots, stayed for the entire show.

Keith announced during the show, that his tour begins in April and he will be coming back to our area again in September. WE'LL BE THERE WITH BELLS ON!

Thank you to Charlotte Thompson, Katie Thornton, Anastasia Saradoc and EMI Music Canada for having us......