Keith Urban’s Get Closer World Tour enthralled a sold-out Bridgestone Arena crowd in downtown Nashville, Aug. 6. “The idea of the Get Closer stage,” Urban told the crowd, “is to do away with the fences so there’s no me and you— just us…” And that’s how it was.
The Aussie was all over the arena. He and his four piece band owned a simple but, visually compelling stage. In addition, Urban performed on a small circular hydraulic platform in the center of the crowd and later at the rear of the hall—delighting fans in the process, slapping hands as he navigated the throng.

Urban swept the crowd to its feet beginning with “Days Go By,” quickly followed with strong hits like “Raining On Monday” and “Put You In A Song.” The charismatic singer/songwriter/guitarist, who was CMA Entertainer of the Year in 2005 and Male Vocalist numerous times, has always displayed rare vocal and instrumental ability. But on this tour, he has added an astute interactive element making the show more accessible and boosting its entertainment value. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, there was no doubt that Mr. Urban is country’s 2011 Entertainer of the Year…
It was the sum of all the little things, like taking time to read some of the signs held up by fans.
“Wow, you drove 1400 miles to be here, thank you so much.”
“Keith, it’s been a long hot summer waiting to CU.”
“We’ve been to 47 shows in 24 cities.”
“A picture with you would be priceless.”
“Come and get it,” Urban laughed after reading, pleasing the crowd and giving a fan that 10 seconds of fame of which dreams are made as they made a candid shot together on stage.

Deep into “Kiss A Girl,” the artist shouted out, “Nashville you’re a singing crowd tonight.” He then randomly chose three fans and conducted a mini-Urban Idol contest giving each one a chance to perform the “Kiss A Girl” chorus center stage and judging the winner based upon applause. The crowd was rapt.
“Til Summer Comes Around,” was a concert highpoint. Fans already know that Urban’s prodigious guitar has distinct personalities. For this song, co-written with Monty Powell, he painted with sustain-packed notes in Santana-esque fashion punctuated with blistering note clusters grouped together like infinite solar systems whirling through space and time. Video b-roll played on the oversize mirror monitor as the star sang,
“The words came out, I kissed your mouth,
No fourth of July has ever burned so brightly
You had to go, I understand, but you swore that you’d be back again
And so I’m frozen in this town, til summer comes around.”
It’s a safe bet his fans will be back again, lined up to purchase seats… Over the past few albums, Urban and producer Dann Huff have fashioned a unique and commercial sound that has exposed Urban’s talent, but does makes it difficult, especially  in a live setting to distinguish which album a particular song is from.

“What a magical night tonight,” Urban said to the crowd after two encores, dripping with sweat and glowing like a firebug. “Thank you so much for making the decision, especially in these hard times when I know many of you are facing problems like lost jobs to spend your evening with us. I love you.”
 
Photos: BossRoss

The 2011 American Idols Tour made its Nashville stop on Saturday (7/30), thanks to Music City resident and Top 10 finalist Paul McDonald. Show winner Scotty McCreery and runner up Lauren Alaina are, of course, also pursuing musical careers through Nashville. The trio of performers all sat down with local press to share some thoughts on life, post-Idol.
Life for all three, particularly teenagers McCreery and Alaina, has changed forever. One year ago when they first auditioned, the latter two were average high schoolers on summer break. Now they’re playing to audiences of thousands on a massive arena tour and hearing their songs being spun on country radio. While they may be young, the differences between the Idol show process and the difficult task of becoming a major label star are not lost on them.
“For the album, I look for songs that I can relate to so that I can feel it and sing my heart out,” says McCreery, whose upcoming Mercury release is due sometime this fall. “The audience that listens will feel that and appreciate it. For the [American Idol] show, you can pick songs that you can sing but if the audience doesn’t like it you’re done for and you’re going home next week.”
“I feel like my album has a lot of different types of songs,” adds Alaina, who is recording with Byron Gallimore. “Sweet ballads with good stories, and some really fast songs people can dance to. We still have to listen to all the songs and decide which ones will make the album.”

Paul McDonald, on the other hand, is nearly 10 years older than McCreery and Alaina and had already been making a go at a musical career prior to Idol. But the show has definitely afforded him considerable visibility and a big springboard for whatever his next step will be.
“Last year I was touring with my band across the country,” he recalls. “Doing all my original music, in a 15 passenger band, trying to make it the old-fashioned way. It’s a different scene these days. I was loading my gear in the venues, opening for bigger acts, and now we’re playing arenas.”
The 2011 Idol tour has been on the road for long enough now that even the less seasoned contestants have started to get a good feel for the life of a touring artist. Prior to the Nashville stop, the tour hit McCreery’s homeland in Raleigh, NC.
“Raleigh was incredible! They were seated all the way to the rafters,” he says. “All the Idols had a great time there, saying how energetic and crazy it was. It was also nice to get back and see friends and family in the crowd.”
“I’m always looking in the crowd and judging if they’re on their feet or I’m gonna have to work,” he continues. “Mainly I’m just thinking it’s great to be here. It’s amazing I get paid to do it.”
Nashville, being an industry town and the home of their label, is a slightly different animal. The artists all expressed a need to perform well in front of their industry peers, but have now gained enough stage and screen experience to not let it rattle them.
“There’s definitely a lot of people I’m looking to impress,” says McCreery, “but I don’t look at it as pressure. I just look at it as incentive to have more fun. That’s when you put on a good show, when you have fun and people see that.”
“When I get on a stage it’s like my body flips a switch and I’m in stage mode,” explains Alaina. “I’m more comfortable on the stage than anywhere. I’m a little nervous about tonight because this is where my label is and all the really important people that are part of my career are here. My whole family is also here. I perform better in front of people I don’t know than people I do.”
During the Idol show, the contestants had weekly mentoring sessions with Interscope head Jimmy Iovine and an assortment of popular artists and producers. The prevailing sentiment that they’ve taken away is that it’s important to know who you are artistically, and to hold fast to that as creatively as possible.
“Just be yourself,” says McDonald. “I wanted to sing Ray LaMontagne and Jimmy [Iovine] said ‘No one knows that, you should sing James Blunt ‘You’re Beautiful.’’ I said, ‘I don’t know man, do you want me to go shirtless too?’ Stick to your guns, no matter what. You can get intimidated really easily by the mentors. I’ve been doing it for so long, I kinda knew who I was. [Producer] Don Was said ‘Dude you’re record’s a whole lot cooler than what you’re doing on the show. Why don’t you do this stuff? I was like, ‘I’m trying!’”
“Stay in your lane and be you,” concurs McCreery. “Don’t change it up. I could have been country one week, and been Frank Sinatra another, but I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to sing country and stay true to my roots and what I grew up with.”
McCreery’s determination to stay true to himself already seems to be paying off. His debut single “I Love You This Big” has hit Top 20 on all charts, and the video is on the way. The jury might still be out on how successful he will be, but the 17-year-old has a pragmatic outlook on the crazy jigsaw puzzle of building an artistic career.
“I have plenty more to learn,” notes McCreery. “I’m young and it’s early to get in this business. You have to pick the songs, relate to the audience, and do a lot behind the scenes to make the process smooth. We had a team meeting two days ago to lay down the groundwork. We set goals up and said ‘This is what we want to do, and this is how we’ll get there.’ Hopefully it works out.”
Hey man, we’re rooting for you.

A capacity crowd gathered at Exit/In last night (7/28) for MCA artist David Nail’s sold out Nashville show with up-and-comer Russell Dickerson. Nail’s soulful brand of country music was a smart fit for the venerable Elliston Place venue that has hosted acts as diverse as Talking Heads and Vince Gill.
Unsigned Russell Dickerson opened the show. A tall drink of water with a Telecaster, Dickerson mixes bright Keith Urban melodies with a loverman charm reminiscent of James Otto. He directed everyone to his Twitter page @russelled, where they could all get “Russelled” on a regular basis. His EP Die To Live Again is currently available on iTunes, as is his latest single “That’s My Girl.”
David Nail took the stage after a brief intermission, dressed in a gingham shirt and vest that were completely sweat-soaked within a matter of minutes. He opened his set with a slowed-down, moody take on “Looking For A Good Time” from his 2008 collection I’m About To Come Alive. The band rolled immediately into “This Time Around,” followed by a cover of Train’s “Respect.” A total of five songs flew by without a single word to the audience, and I was starting to get worried he might not acknowledge us at all.
As if reading my mind, Nail greeted the crowd right before song six.
“I promised myself I wasn’t gonna talk much and I don’t plan to,” he stated. “But it means more to me than you can know that we sold this bitch out tonight.”
Alright, fair enough.
Nail’s excellent set showcased his 2009 hit “Red Light” as well as his current single “Let It Rain” and “I’m About To Come Alive” (another Train song). The audience was also treated to some new material, including a dedication to his wife called “Catherine,” and a couple other covers like Ryan Adams’ “Firecracker” and Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Wanna Be.”
In case you haven’t seen this guy perform live, let the record show that he’s one heck of a singer. His soulful inflections and impressive range approached the sublime, and his powerful voice is always front and center in the mix. His merch table had plenty of t-shirts and accessories, and bizarrely, underwear emblazoned with the David Nail logo. (Hey, I guess Christmas isn’t that far away…)
Also in the crowd enjoying the show were muzzbuzz colleagues Karen Light, Erin Duvall, Kama Upton, John and Jill Ettinger, Amanda Eckard, Kristen McCrary, the UMG Nashville crew including Tom Lord and Katie Dean, and reps from CAA who booked the show.
For his encore, Nail’s band churned up an extended blooze jam before segueing into the piano intro for his hit “Turning Home.” He followed that with a funky mashup of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Easy Like Sunday Morning,” before closing out the evening with the Tom Petty rave-up “You Wreck Me.”
As he finished “Turning Home,” Nail expressed his gratitude once again.
“When this show got booked, I called the booking agency and said ‘Man, I don’t know if I’m big enough to play Nashville.’ I can’t tell you how important that song has been to me so I’m just gonna shut up and sing, ok?”
David, keep singing like you did last night and you’ll be just fine.