Keith Urban Surprises Nashville Again with Secret Pop-Up Show
"The idea of playing tonight was I missed playing," Urban said at the start of his set.
For the second time this year, Keith Urban hosted a surprise show in Nashville. Two hours before doors were scheduled to open at the Basement on Monday evening (Oct. 16), Urban shared a video sifting through stacks of vinyl at Grimey’s, a record store located above the concert venue. When he got to his Ripcord record, Post-it notes could be seen announcing the secret free show at 8 p.m. It didn’t take long for a line of over 100 fans to form outside the venue in hopes to get into the concert.
Those 150 people lucky enough to garner a spot inside the small club witnessed an intimate two-hour performance from Urban where he played nearly 20 songs ranging from his days with former band The Ranch to his most recent album, Ripcord.
“The idea of playing tonight was I missed playing,” Urban said at the start of his set. “We’re not touring right now so we called Grimey’s and said, ‘Could we come and plug in?’ and they said sure. Thank you very much for coming tonight.”
Urban kicked off his performance with a blues cover of “I Hear You Knocking” before he launched into fan favorite “Days Go By.” Alone on stage with his acoustic guitar, he then segued into the poignant “Raining On Sunday” where he turned to the audience after forgetting some of the lyrics. Later he’d joke that he sometimes needs a teleprompter.
His band slowly joined him one by one on the small stage to power through his lengthy catalogue. Songs like “You Look Good In My Shirt,” “Break On Me” and “Somewhere In My Car” had the audience singing along word for word while “Long Hot Summer,” “Good Thing” and “Wasted Time” left the packed crowd mesmerized with his impressive guitar skills.
Urban dug deep with the album cuts and longtime fans were happy to spot bassist and former The Ranch bandmate Jerry Flowers on stage, frequently screaming his name. So, naturally, Urban decided to take things back to 1997 with “Walkin’ the Country,” a song featured on the only album released by their former band. In the midst of fan requests, Urban also performed the more experimental songs from 2016’s Ripcord including the futuristic “Gone Tomorrow, Here Today,” bass heavy “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16″ and danceable “Sun Don’t Let Me Down.”
“I needed tonight . . . it has been a crazy month. Just insane,” Urban confessed halfway through his performance. “While I was driving here tonight, I was talking with a friend of mine who was a part of Tom Petty’s memorial for family. We were both talking about the fact that we were just going to be of service and be a part of something tonight. I just wanted to play music so we can remember what it’s like to be alive, to celebrate, and to be together.”
Fan requests “‘Til Summer Comes Around” and “Blue Ain’t Your Color” struck a chord in the small room while Urban continued to show off his versatility on covers like Mike Posner’s “I Took A Pill in Ibiza,” John Mellencamp’s “Jack & Diane,” Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker” and Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry.” As the night came to an end, he decided to close the surprise show with “Raise ‘Em Up.” As he explained, “I think it’s the right way to finish.”
“I love you guys for coming to hear us play some music,” he added. “Thank you all for wanting to be a part of this tonight. We’re all in this together. God bless you all. I hope you have a great week and I hope to see you back here again real soon.”
