- County music superstar Keith Urban closed the headline shows at Allentown Fair's grandstand on Sunday
- Urban played 20 full songs and snippets of others in a performance that lasted an hour and 55 minutes
- The show included several highlights, including a tribute to singer Jimmy Buffet, who died Friday
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Country music hitmaker Keith Urban was six songs into his show Sunday at Allentown Fair's grandstand when he had one of those perfect concert moments.
After a blazing hot day for the fair, Urban started his 2011 platinum hit "Long Hot Summer," and a tiny bit of a breeze blew through the arena.
"It's gonna be a long hot summer," he sang. "We should be together ... singin' along with the radio/It's such a beautiful sound."
And indeed it was, for an hour and 55-minute set that included 20 full songs and pieces of two others.
And while the fans actually were singing along with Urban's show, the setlist easily could have been the radio: Urban played an astounding 13 gold and platinum hits — 16 if you count Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" (!) and snippets of Ed Sheeran's "Bad Habits" and a verse of Taylor Swift's "Anti-Hero."
"Who's got a wild heart in Allentown tonight?" he asked the crowd, which looked to be about 9,000 or so.Country star Keith Urban, addressing Allentown Fair's grandstand crowd
What made that moment even more amazing was that it was only one of several perfect concert moments for Urban on Sunday at the fair's last concert of the year. (The annual demolition derby closes the grandstand Monday night.)
Of the few songs he played that weren't gold or platinum, one was his 2021 Top 5 single "Wild Hearts," with which he opened the show — starting a cappella, then, when his six-man band kicked in at full throttle, really pushing his voice.
It was one of the best of a long night of strong performances.
"Who's got a wild heart in Allentown tonight?" he asked the crowd, which looked to be about 9,000 or so.
A Friday night vibe
Urban followed that with a performance of his gold hit "Put You in a Song" that showed two things: That Urban seemed to be having fun, and that he's an excellent guitarist, his talent showing in a mid-song solo.
"Sunday night — it feels like a Friday night," Urban said, referring to the audience's response. "So thanks. We haven't been in Allentown in a while." (His last show at the fair was in 2017.)
The energy of his 2004 hit "Days Go By" had the crowd literally jumping.
After the slow intensity of his biggest hit, the five-times-platinum "Cop Car" — another of the night's best, with another great guitar solo — he asked the crowd, "You wanna sing?" and kicked into his 2009 hit "Kiss a Girl."
That, too, produced a highlight moment. Clearly having fun, and after having the crowd sing the chorus mid-way through the song, Urban segued into Sheeran's "Bad Habits."
"Woo, feeling good now."Keith Urban at Allentown Fair's grandstand
Then came "Long Hot Summer," which Urban stretched to 10 minutes with his intricate solo — so enrapt that he played the strings as percussion.
And when the breeze blew through, Urban said, "Woo, feeling good now."
After a slower, echoey and evocative performance of his single "Brown Eyes Baby" from last year, Urban played one of his biggest hits, his 2017 triple-platinum "The Fighter," dueting with Carrie Underwood on the big screen.
'What we can do together'
A mid-show stretch of "Worry 'Bout Nothing" (which had a great guitar duel with his band that got big cheers), "Somewhere in My Car" (which he started in a high, high voice) and "Where the Blacktop Ends" were all very good, but were overshadowed in such a good show.
A new song, "Daytona," from what he said is an upcoming new album, also was good.
But virtually the entire rest of the show was more of those perfect moments.
"One Too Many," his 2020 most recent platinum hit with Pink (she also joined him on the big screen) not only was very good, but had another of those strong guitar solos.
"I'm in no hurry to go home, let me tell you."Country singer Keith Urban, late in his Allentown Fair grandstand show
Urban then made his way through the crowd to a microphone in the back of the track seating to perform Cyrus's "Flowers" — surprisingly good — then an amazing performance of his 2004 double-platinum hit "You'll Think of Me."
He signed the acoustic guitar he was using and handed it to an audience member.
Then he returned to the stage for that one-minute snippet of "Anti-Hero" (also really good) that became his double-platinum 2002 hit "Somebody Like You," also stretched to 10 minutes.
"I'm in no hurry to go home, let me tell you," Urban told the crowd, and already 90 minutes into the show, it didn't seem like a concert platitude.
He had his bassist and guitarist each sing a verse, then let the audience sing, which it gleefully did, then had all of the arena lights turned off and let the crowd light it with cell phones — which it also did.
"That's not just lights at a concert," Urban told them. "That's proof positive that what we cannot do alone, we can do together. I love you guys."
Addressing a loss
Then, after a well-sung "Blue Ain't Your Color," Urban said, "Let's take it home!" and sprang into his 2016 platinum hit "Wasted Time," which included an audience call-and-response and closed with a huge confetti blast.
For the encore, Urban returned to the stage alone on guitar for another perfect moment — to sing "Margaritaville," the 1977 biggest hit of singer Jimmy Buffet, who died on Friday.
"It's gonna be a different world without you. Rest in peace, brother."Country singer Keith Urban address the death of singer Jimmy Buffet
"It's gonna be a different world without you," Urban said. "Rest in peace, brother."
And then Urban ended the night with "Raise 'Em Up," his 2015 gold hit with Eric Church. It was almost as inspiring, as Urban closed the show almost as strong as he opened it.
If there was any complaint, it's that, after 24 years on the U.S. charts, Urban's hit list is more than he can fit in a single show — especially when he's still charting hit songs.
That meant he left out an astounding 22 gold and platinum hits — even 2008's "Sweet Thing" and his 2020 hit "God Whispered Your Name."
But that's a minor complaint. Urban chose songs well, and was generous.
And gave Allentown Fair a few perfect concert moments, to boot.
