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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

My 'Hypocrisy' knows no bounds

Posted Monday, August 17, 2009, at 7:56 AM

In the movie "Tombstone," Val Kilmer portrayed Doc Holliday.

One of the better characters in the film, Holliday spent most of the film discussing his "hypocrisy" of everything under the son.

I felt the same Saturday evening.

My fiancée and I attended the Keith Urban concert at the 2009 Indiana State Fair.

To my surprise, I had a wonderful time, once Urban took the stage.

I've always thought he was a terrific guitar player but was unaware at how good he and his band are live. Saturday, coincidentally, was my first foray into live country music, although the phrase "Country Music" should be used lightly when describing Urban and his tunes.

He opened his portion of the show with "Hit the Ground Runnin'," one of his more "country" songs.

From there, however, the bleachers started moving.

Urban had the crowd at "hello," much like Tom Cruise had Renee Zellweger in the movie "Jerry Maguire."

He continued his show with "Days Go By," another crowd pleaser. Urban then mesmerized the crowd -- myself included -- with a heart-wrenching rendition of "Stupid Boy," arguably one of his best songs.

For the most part, every song he continued to pull out of his arsenal kept my eyes glued to the stage. At one point in the show, he ran through the crowd and found his way to a riser in front of the grandstand, performing "My Better Half," and "Once In A Lifetime," at one point joking about the fencing between him and the audience, saying that it reminded him of the Blues Brothers' performance.

Urban also joked with the crowd about arriving in Indiana, the state's First Lady -- Cheri Daniels -- wanted to meet him. Urban told the audience he thought the state's First Lady was Elaine Mellancamp, John Mellencamp's wife.

As I said earlier, I had never been to a country music concert, at least one I can remember. I am quite certain I was dragged along with parents as a child to Bluegrass shows and other country music shows at fairs. But I vaguely remember those.

However, watching Urban live was a treat.

He conveys the emotions of his songs throughout the entire show. A two-hour event of bleeding hearts, etc.

It really was an emotional affair, despite the few "country" songs thrown in for good measure here and there.

Urban's music reminds me of the light 70s AM music that one would hear on the radio. The tunes I heard Saturday just reminded me of listening to feel-good music of that era, like hearing the Little River Band or Poco.

Urban's band has been with him for quite some time. This is very evident in the way they work together. Blending Urban's guitar licks with a steady rhythm section along with mandolins, more guitar layering and banjos. They really gel well together and are a pleasure to listen to.

Opening act, Jason Aldean, however, was completely different.

Aldean is currently opening for the "Escape Together" tour with Urban. He can be heard quite often on country music radio.

His set list was full of what I would consider mostly "pure country music." But with a twist.

From time to time, Aldean's songs made me feel as if I were watching Chris Daughtry and band in tow with a country music singer.

The band was tight, and very "hard" for what I consider country music.

I don't know, I could be wrong, but hearing songs about tractors has never been appealing.

Urban, on the other hand, had me from "hello." Or should I say, when he "Hit The Ground Runnin'."


Comments
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You definitely had to be there to appreciate it....I have goose bumps rite now just reading this!

-- Posted by indygirl72 on Wed, Aug 19, 2009, at 11:41 AM

I don't normally read articles on topics like yours, but I'm glad I did. It was extremely well written and made me wish I had been there. It's not really my type of music, but you made it sound great. The reason I read it was because you looked like a fellow I graduated with. Was Lionel Moon a relative?

-- Posted by JoHannah on Wed, Aug 19, 2009, at 12:28 PM
's response:
To the best of my knowledge, Lionel Moon is not a relative. I grew up only miles away from Brazil, Indiana, but have relatives here in Clay County. But I don't think Lionel Moon is a relative.

He is coming back 8/14/10 to the State Fair.....better get your tickets soon! They went on sale today!

-- Posted by indygirl72 on Fri, Jan 15, 2010, at 12:30 PM


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