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Keith Urban looked up from his guitar, after burning through yet another powerful lead, and smiled at the thousands of exuberant fans standing before him at the Shoreline Amphitheatre.
"That's a hell of a good start," he said early on in his show on Thursday night. "You guys are killing it."
Yes, the crowd was certainly revved up and ready to see the 48-year-old vocalist-guitarist, who is married to actress Nicole Kidman. The audience cheered wildly throughout the set, whether Urban was playing an old favorite -- such as "Days Go By" or "Somebody Like You" -- or performing material from the most recent studio effort "Ripcord."
Keith Urban performs at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on Thursday, July 28, 2016 in Mountain View, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) ( ARIC CRABB )
What Urban plays, however, isn't nearly as important as how he plays it. He's quite an entertainer, who uses energy, personality and good old-fashioned showmanship to compensate for the holes in his game, which include having an only slightly better-than-average singing voice.
Also, too many of his songs sound like mediocre Bryan Adams cuts. Yet, he is pretty good at working with mediocrity — which is probably why he made a fine judge on TV's "American Idol."
What Urban does have going for him, to an amazing extent, is his guitar work. The guy can flat out play -- which he proved repeatedly throughout the night. That's really nice to see, especially in a genre where the stars often use their instruments for little more than visual props.
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Urban opened his set with "Gone Tomorrow (Here Today)," which also kicks off "Ripcord." He'd continue to draw strongly from his ninth studio album -- which debuted at No. 1 on the country charts back in May -- as he led his four-piece band through "Break on Me" and "Sun Don't Let Me Down," among others.
The best new offering might have been "Getting' in the Way," mostly because it closed with a mighty guitar lead that drew raves from the audience.
"So, it's going to be that kind of night?" Urban responded to the cheers. "You never disappoint. I love playing here.
And the feeling was definitely mutual. The fans were still going strong as Urban brought the main set to a close with a pair of "Ripcord" cuts "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" and "Wasted Time."
Follow Jim Harrington at twitter.com/jimthecritic.
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