“This song I’ve sang it this way a long time stop reading into sh–,” Keith Urban said from the back of the Bridgestone Arena stage, drawing a thunderous roar.
A woman in row JJ of Section 108 loved that line.
“Hell yeah,” she shouted. The country star has been drawing heat on Reddit dubbing his theatrical performances of “You’ll Think of Me” as “crash-outs.”
He sang it with the same fervor of previous concerts and the audience loved it.
The same crowd waved red hearts in the air as part of a surprise fan project unique to Nashville. Before the show, hundreds had cut the hearts from construction paper, planning to fill the room with a wave of crimson and devotion during “Somebody Like You.”
Urban dropped to his knees as the band extended an instrumental version of the bridge. His voice cracked absorbing the final night of the “High and Alive World Tour.”
Hundreds of Keith Urban fans inside Bridgestone Arena held up red hearts to surprise the country singer during his song “Somebody Like You.”
No, Urban did not address the reasons he’s been making headlines — his divorce from actress Nicole Kidman after 19 years of marriage or the lyric changes at recent shows that fueled online speculation — but he made his stance clear from the get-go: none of that belonged inside the venue.
Instead, he delivered a two-hour, 45-minute set spanning 34 songs, determined to go out at his hometown arena with a big bang.
“I promise you that none of you will think about your life outside of Bridgestone Arena tonight,” he said at the top of the show. “That’s my goal. That’s my mission. It’s really simple.”
A canceled show, a pregnancy surprise
The air conditioning poured a cool, heavy layer over the audience as a gray curtain concealed the stage. It took only the opening notes of “Straight Line” to generate enough excitement and heat to shed a layer.
A spotlight revealed a rockstar silhouette and the crowd screamed. Anticipation rippled across the stands as fans wondered how Urban’s voice would sound. He canceled his Oct. 16 show in Greenville, South Carolina, due to laryngitis.
“Why we livin’ every day in circles?” he sang. His voice cut clean through the booming bass. After his second track, “Where the Blacktop Ends,” Urban addressed the crowd.
“I want to say a quick shoutout to everybody who was going to come see us in Greenville last night and say from the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry,” he said. “I can’t remember the last time I had to cancel a gig. So to everybody in Greenville, we’ll figure out how to make it up to you.”
Urban scanned the arena, reading signs fans had made. The first to catch his attention: “We got engaged on 9/6/2019 in Vegas at your show, but we didn’t get a picture with you!!”
“Want to get one now?” he asked, inviting Glenn and Tracy from Canton, Georgia, to the stage. As they made their way, he read another sign: “Will you tell my fam I’m pregnant?”
Urban walked toward the woman holding it. “Hi, what’s your name?” he asked.
“You’re not going to like it,” she replied. “My name is Nicole Richie.”
The crowd cackled. Urban fell backward onto the stage, then jumped up, laughing and ran to the barricade to record a cellphone video for Richie’s parents. She held up a gray onesie that read, “Smallest Keith Urban fan.” He autographed it.
Within seven minutes, the Aussie had the crowd in a chokehold.
A global tour ends at home
Impromptu guitar riffs fueled the crowd in between verses as Urban, just a week shy of 58, let his fingers articulate the notes.
“We’re gonna make the most sh– up tonight, I’m just telling you,” he said.
The guitarist in sneakers dove into fan-favorites like “Long Hot Summer,” “Kiss A Girl,” “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” and “Blue Ain’t Your Color.” Whether planned or impromptu, he ripped through a buffet of covers from Johnny Cash’s “Folsom” to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” to the New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give.”
He also invited each of his three opening acts on stage for a duet. Karly Scott Collins sang “We Were Us.” Chase Matthew chose “Here Without You” by 3 Doors Down. And Alana Springsteen did a jaw-dropping cover of “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks.
Alana Springsteen performs during the HIGH AND ALIVE WORLD TOUR at Bridgestone Arena Friday Oct. 17, 2025, in Nashville, TN.
The encore could have been it’s own live EP. Urban sang six songs, seven if you count the one he made up on the fly, strumming his guitar. “And the good thing about making a song up, right on the spot, is I can’t sing it wrong,” he sang laughing.
Natalie Stovall nails ‘The Fighter’
One song that brought a sea of cellphones pointing toward the stage was “The Fighter.” Urban had performed the duet with Maggie Baugh on previous tour stops, but she did not join the Bridgestone show. At another concert, he altered the lyric — changing “When they’re tryna get to you, baby, I’ll be the fighter” to “When they’re tryna get to you, Maggie, I’ll be your guitar player” — sparking unsubstantiated online speculation.
Vocal powerhouse and violinist Natalie Stovall stepped in for the duet and nailed a 12-second high note.
That was the song Savannah Goodwin of Athens, Alabama, waited all night to hear. The 19-year-old fan made a sign she proudly carried on her way to her seat.
“I love him and I hope to meet him one day,” Goodwin said.
“She tells us to turn the tv off so she can give us a concert,” her mom Sandy Stephenson added. “She comes in the living room to sing, ‘The Fighter.'”
Sandy Stephenson and Savannah Goodwin of Athens, Alabama pose on the concourse of Bridgestone Arena ahead of the Keith Urban concert.
Next stop: ‘The Road’
Before the concert, the screens flashed Urban’s newest project taking shape Oct. 19. He will appear as a mentor and judge on CBS’s “The Road,” a new reality competition following aspiring country singers who open for him on tour.
The series, filmed partly in Nashville, mirrors the same idea that runs through his tour: the best way through change is to keep creating, keep playing and deliver a performance people won’t soon forget.
Keith Urban performs during the HIGH AND ALIVE WORLD TOUR at Bridgestone Arena Friday Oct. 17, 2025, in Nashville, TN.
‘The Road’ contestants open for Keith Urban with original songs on new CBS singing show.
Setlist:
“Where the Blacktop Ends”
“Long Hot Summer” / “Is this Love”
“Here Without You” (3 Doos Down cover) duet with Chase Matthew
“We Were Us” duet with Karly Scott Collins
“Days Go By” / “Drift Away” (Uncle Cracker cover)
” ‘Til Summer Comes Around”
“Kiss a Girl” / “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me”
“Landslide” (Fleetwood Mac cover) duet with Alana Springsteen
“Fighter” duet with Natalie Stovall
“Wasted Time” / “Folsom” (Johnny Cash cover)
“Thank You Song” (custom song to Nashville)
“Heart Like a Hometown”
“You Get What You Give” (New Radicals cover)
“You Look Good in My Shirt”
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Keith Urban ends tour in Nashville, gives shoutout to Greenville fans
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
