Keith Urban makes no secret of his fondness for The Colosseum. The four-time Grammy winner had to discontinue his Keith Urban Live—Las Vegas shows due to the pandemic, but was back at the Caesars Palace theater, which has the option of converting the area in front of the stage into a standing-room pit he prefers, for five concerts in September. Urban was happy to make up for lost time by adding March and April dates to his long-scheduled May performances.
He followed up announcing his revised schedule with the debut of a video for his latest single, “Wild Hearts,” and a date with wife Nicole Kidman at the Feb. 27 Screen Actors Guild Awards, where Kidman was nominated for her role as Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos. She lost to Jessica Chastain, but the black-clad couple was arguably the most popular subject for the paparazzi.
Urban’s profile is as high as ever in a career that began in earnest when he released his debut album in Australia in 1990. Born in New Zealand, he began playing guitar at an early age and found formative influences in his father’s record collection. Glen Campbell, Charley Pride, Merle Haggard and Don Williams were in heavy rotation at home, and Urban learned from the liner notes of their albums that the recordings were made in Nashville, Tenn. He got his first taste of how audiences react to a performer when drummer Dad took him to a Johnny Cash concert.
A move to Nashville in 1992 led to songwriting for the likes of Tim McGraw, playing guitar with Garth Brooks and forming short-lived band The Ranch. Urban released his self-titled U.S. debut in 1999, and his career quickly took off on the strength of No. 1 single “But for the Grace of God” and follow-up “Where the Blacktop Ends.” His sandy, blonde-streaked hair and sandblasted jeans made him a heartthrob, but he had the confidence of knowing he had already paid his dues.
Urban made regular appearances in Las Vegas at Academy of Country Music Awards ceremonies, picking up a slew of awards and expanding his following beyond the country scene when he became a judge on American Idol. He also strove to blend country music with other contemporary music styles and drum programming. His 2020 album, The Speed of Now Part 1, features Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Pink as well as “Better Than I Am,” a collaboration with Adele producer Eg White that features guitar licks that would make Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler proud.
That song was part of his 20-song September setlists, which skewed toward newer material. He fingerpicked some scorching lead on a blonde Telecaster during “You Gonna Fly” at his March 1 gig at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, singing a few lines from Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See” during the interlude. Expect Urban to dig deeper into his song catalog for The Colosseum, and maybe an appearance in the VIP section by his better half.
Caesars Palace, 8 p.m. March 25-26, 30 & April 1-2 starting at $99 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
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