Urban plays for huge cowboy-hatted crowd

A Steelers victory and a Keith Urban concert in the same day. What more could rural… A Steelers victory and a Keith Urban concert in the same day. What more could rural Pittsburgh folks want?

Mellon Arena was once again packed with people sporting black-and-gold jerseys, but this time they weren’t donned for the Penguins. Shortly after the Pittsburgh Steelers completed their exciting come-from-behind victory over the Cleveland Browns, country singers Gary Allan and Keith Urban entertained thousands of fans who were decked out in cowboy hats and black-and-gold.

The igloo was rocking right from the beginning of the evening, as opening act Gary Allan warmed up the crowd.

He sang his familiar hits, including “Nothing on but the Radio,” “A Feeling Like That” and “Songs About Rain.”

He also performed a couple new tunes from his latest album Living Hard, including the album’s first radio single, “Watching Airplanes.”

After a brief intermission, the lights went down, and the decibels went up. An electronic big screen that rivaled the size of Heinz Field’s suddenly came to life and a digital clock began counting down from one minute.

As the clock struck zero, the familiar guitar intro of Urban’s “Once in a Lifetime” blared out of the speakers, and the already deafening crowd somehow got louder.

During every song that he played, more and more people in the crowd got to their feet, and by the end of the fifth song, there wasn’t a man or woman in the crowd that wasn’t dancing.

Urban showed off his vocal range in songs like “Making Memories of Us” and “You’ll Think of me.” And fitting to the weather and day of the week, he also sang “Rainin’ On Sunday.”

He wowed the crowd with his top-notch piano skills in “Tonight I Wanna Cry.”

Still, Urban’s biggest strength is in his guitar skills. The show bordered between country and rock ‘n’ roll as he jammed out on the guitar through his most popular songs, including “Days Go By” and “You’re My Better Half.”

His amazing guitar skills are definitely among the best of country music. At the end of one of his latest hits, “Stupid Boy,” Urban stunningly powered out an impressive solo while singing his heart out into the microphone.

He gave the crowd its money’s worth with his stage setup and improvisational skills. The stage had a catwalk that went all the way to the back of the floor and a mini-stage at the end where he and his band played a few songs. He pointed out that the people in the back now have front-row seats.

During one song, he jumped down off the stage and climbed on the wall that normally separates hockey fans from the ice and jammed out a solo for the lucky fans in that section – and, yes, I was one of those fans.

The energy kept building throughout the show as Urban pounded out his astonishing guitar solos and vocals. The crowd was at his mercy. He merely had to mutter the word “Pittsburgh” or “Steelers” and the arena erupted.

Sunday’s concert was Urban’s first visit to Pittsburgh in more than two years. The last time he played for the Steeler fans he was right in Heinz Field when he opened for Kenny Chesney in 2005.

He said it was good to be back, and he thanked his fans for sticking with him through the difficult times.

Urban did a brief stint in rehab for alcoholism last year, but he told the crowd Sunday night that he was glad to “just get back out on the road and play music.” The crowd seemed pleased that he did so.

Urban gave his thanks to the crowd and went off backstage, but everybody knew that the show was far from over.

Apparently, the new thing to do while cheering for an encore is to wave your cell phone in the air, and this made for an amazing sight because nearly everybody in the igloo was doing so as they screamed for more Keith Urban.

With a thunderous applause, he came back on stage sporting a Steelers T-shirt. Everyone obviously approved of this wardrobe change, and it triggered a “Here we go Steelers” chant that lasted for several minutes. Urban then rocked the house once again with his biggest No. 1 hit, “Better Life.”

His closing song choice was rather disappointing. He ended the concert with his latest single “Everybody.” This song is decent, but not one of his best. And this is especially apparent when he plays it directly after “Better Life.”

Despite his final song choice and an annoying one second delay on the big screen, Allan and Urban put on a great show that the fans will remember for a long time. Overall, the show featured a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll, a lot of country and thousands of happy Steelers and country music fans.