After making his Las Vegas Strip residency debut at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in 2019, country superstar Keith Urban is doubling down with an all-new show, Keith Urban: The Las Vegas Residency, just across the street. He’ll take the stage at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort for concerts stretching well into summer, beginning on March 3. And when he says it’s a new show, he means it—the GRAMMY and ACM award-winner is updating everything about his Vegas production, building an experience where anything can happen at any time.
How are you feeling about this big move from Caesars to Planet Hollywood Resort?
It feels like a fresh beginning. We had a blast over at the Colosseum, and really, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed doing a residency. I think I had a different idea of what it might be like, kind of worried it would be playing the same room, the same show, night after night. I wasn’t chomping at the bit to get into something like that, but it turned out to be different every night. I was pleasantly surprised how every night in Vegas is unique and how much I can take advantage of the epic nature of what you can do in those rooms, as well as the intimate nature of what those rooms can be.
So playing Vegas this way presented more freedom than you thought you would have?
Absolutely. You can design a stage that doesn’t have to be packed up and traveled, and that really opens up possibilities. You don’t have to think about logistics.
Zappos Theater has a different kind of energy, always ready for a party. Are you looking to take advantage of that as well?
Totally, it feels like a room built for more spontaneous electricity. Look, I grew up playing in clubs and pubs, places with a concrete floor where everybody was packed in like sardines. That’s the foundation for what I do, and over the years I’ve been fortunate to work with great production and design people that can add more dimension to that. But there’s no doubt that the spirit of what I do was born in those clubs.
It sounds like fans will witness a totally new experience.
Very much. The only thing I think will be consistent is that spirit that always happens at our shows. We’re looking for new ways to interact with the audience, and how we go about doing that is very different from anything I’ve done before. The look of the stage, the flow, and some of the musical moments are also things I haven’t done before.
With Las Vegas and some summer tour dates on the docket, you have a busy year ahead. Is there time for new music?
I’m finishing up this album I’ve been working on for the last year and hopefully it will come out in the middle of this year. We have three singles off this album out already, and we’re putting out another in a few months. And Vegas is a great opportunity to put in those new songs, and mix them in with some O.G. kind of songs that people want to hear. Being able to blend things together in one show, I feel very lucky.
Those recent singles, “Brown Eyes Baby” and “Street Called Main”—there’s a lot of storytelling and emotion in those songs. Are those traits that will continue throughout the album?
I think it’s as much a mix as my music always is. It’s impossible for me to capture what I do on any one album, which is why I love playing live so much, because it gives new context. When we get onstage, the songs take on a whole new life, and we don’t mess them up where you don’t recognize them, but you can tell they’re very alive as opposed to a perfect re-creation of what’s on the album. It’s really about those live moments.
Planet Hollywood Resort, 8 p.m. March 3-4, 8, 10-11, 15 and 17-18, starts at $79, ticketmaster.com
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