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Keith Urban<\/strong><\/p>\n Brisbane Entertainment Centre\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Saturday, August 16th<\/strong><\/p>\n Three hours before showtime, Keith Urban is sitting backstage at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, contemplating the ghosts of gigs long since gone. It was at this venue in 1988 that Urban saw John \u2018Cougar\u2019 Mellencamp on his Lonesome Jubilee Tour. For Urban, it was a \u2018road to Damascus moment\u2019: born of watching Mellencamp fuse every influence he had, from zydeco to soul, into his show. The experience lit a fuse that set Urban on a trajectory to create his own sonic tapestry.<\/span><\/p>\n Tonight, Urban is in the middle of a three-night run at the venue, and every seat in the house is sold. The tour, dubbed High and Alive, kicks off with \u201cStraight Line\u201d and \u201cWhere the Blacktop Ends.\u201d Three songs in, \u201cLong Hot Summer\u201d rolls around, and Urban is delivering at an energy level most rock acts barely approach during their encores. It\u2019s also here that Urban gives us an extended masterclass on guitar. One foot on the foldback wedge, he has the audacity to hammer-on in 2025\u2014and completely get away with it.<\/span><\/p>\n This tour feels different to past forays to his hometown, principally because he\u2019s sporting a new band. The lineup are obviously all pros, but there\u2019s a feeling that Urban is, at times, genuinely pushing himself to fly by the seat of his pants.<\/span><\/p>\n The new lineup consists of Pete Kuzma on keyboards, Jimmy Paxton on drums, Katie Ohh on vocals and guitar, Josh Kearney on guitar, Kevin MacIntire on bass and vocals, and newcomer Gabi Louise on fiddle. From Lake Macquarie, Louise got the call out of the blue, and a couple of weeks later she\u2019s front and centre with Urban, matching his guitar solos with her own virtuosity. Her efforts on \u201cDays Go By\u201d are a standout.<\/span><\/p>\n Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian\/New Zealand music and globally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Urban leans on newer material throughout, and his takes on \u201cParallel Line\u201d (with its 1970s rock sheen) and \u201cOne Too Many\u201d (with Pink! beamed in on the big screen behind him for a duet) are highlights.<\/span><\/p>\n The band can turn on a dime, rocking out one minute on \u201cJohn Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,\u201d then following Urban\u2019s lead as he leans into the blue-eyed soul of \u201c\u2019Til Summer Comes Around.\u201d It\u2019s here we get the best laser show to hit the venue since Roger Waters last toured, as the band, on one of Urban\u2019s best songs, morphs into a riff so heavy it edges into prog-rock. Another sonic shift comes with the introduction for \u201cCop Car,\u201d which is redolent of Daniel Lanois\u2019 work with U2 or Peter Gabriel.<\/span><\/p>\n As the guitars rotate, we\u2019re reminded that the pubs and clubs of Brisbane were Urban\u2019s own Hamburg years. This is where he did his 10,000 hours\u2014an arbitrary figure\u2014but the outcome, mixed with an incalculable x-factor, is in full force tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n On \u201cHometown,\u201d Urban talks to the audience about his life in the city and surrounds\u2014about how he lived everywhere from Toowong to Eagleby and dropped out of high school three months before graduation to pursue his dream.<\/span><\/p>\n A mix of \u201cKiss a Girl\u201d and \u201cWho Wouldn\u2019t Wanna Be Me\u201d kicks things up a gear again to full-blown arena rock, with the room lit by a disco ball as Urban and Louise shred centre stage.<\/span><\/p>\n Then it\u2019s time to pass the torch of the rock \u2019n\u2019 roll dream to a fan. Urban spots a sign in the crowd, and Michaela from Armidale\u2014who\u2019s celebrating a birthday\u2014is soon on stage with Katie Ohh to sing Carrie Underwood\u2019s part on \u201cFighter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As for Urban\u2019s staging and light show, it\u2019s par excellence. Then, almost to show he can do it all with just a spotlight and a guitar, Urban heads to the back of the venue and performs \u201cPink Pony Club.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n By the time the encore rolls around, it\u2019s game over. Urban takes a fan request for a cover of David Dundas\u2019 \u201cJeans On,\u201d followed by a solo take on \u201cMaking Memories of Us.\u201d The whole shebang closes with a full-band version of the New Radicals\u2019 \u201cYou Get What You Give.\u201d There\u2019s the man\u2019s mission statement right there. The crowd were onside from the opening bars, and they rode the wave all night. In 2025, Keith Urban stands among the very few gotta-see-\u2019em-live-to-get-it greats who can hold an arena in the palm of his hand.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nLove Music?<\/h2>\n