CONCERT REVIEW: Keith Urban connects at intimate Covelli

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Being last can have its benefits, as Keith Urban fans learned Sunday.

Urban’s “Ripcord” tour made its 50th stop — out of 53 — at Covelli Centre Sunday evening, with Brett Eldredge and Maren Morris.

The tour started in June with amphitheaters (including Blossom in July) all summer, and then moved indoor to large arenas in September. As it winds down, the Youngstown audience got to see the Aussie country music star in the friendly confines of 6,000-seat Covelli. The concert also came on the heels of the CMA Awards not even two weeks ago, at which Morris took home the rookie of the year trophy (best new artist).

Despite her added cachet, Morris still only got to do seven songs from her excellent debut album “Hero,” including the singles “My Church” (after all, it was Sunday) and “80s Mercedes.”

Morris, 26, has a big voice with attitude to match, and she coolly lags her musicians when singing. The Hero” album is way more on the pop end of the spectrum, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Morris goes the Taylor Swift route — taking her music mainstream for her next release and the rest of her career.

Eldredge was making his third appearance at Covelli in recent years. Nothing against the party meister, but I would’ve welcomed a little more Morris. She did make another appearance, however, on a duet with Urban on “We Were Us,” and it was a barnburner.

As for Urban — he is the king of innovative pop country, and his new album, “Ripcord,” goes well into synth-beat territory. It even has Pitbull rapping on “Sun Don’t Let Me Down,” which was infectiously fun.

Urban, it must be noted, is an excellent guitar player, perhaps unsung in his ability, and he proved it all night, strapping on probably a dozen different guitars, as well as his signature banjo-guitar hybrid. He picked furiously on “Gone Tomorrow,” and handled the wailing electric guitar solos all night. He let loose on almost every song, most notably “Boy Gets a Truck.”

Wearing ripped jeans and with his signature Tom Petty hair, the affable Urban really connects with his fans. At one point, he literally gave a teen girl in the cheap seats the guitar off his back.

Musically, his two-hour set hit the sweet spot about five songs in and stayed there till the encore.

He pumped up “You Gonna Fly” with some wah-wah and echoing vocals. The beats and synth sounds of the new songs were produced on a giant keyboard contraption that Urban calls the Phantom. It came in handy on “The Fighter,” the chorus of which features Carrie Underwood, who sang her prerecorded part while the big screen flashed her face.

Urban finished his set with “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” which had an amazing percussive breakdown in which he mixed in a little of Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane” and Bob Marley’ s “No Woman No Cry.”

He wrapped up with the current hit “Wasted Time,” unleashing a confetti hurricane that the Covelli grounds crew is probably still cleaning up.

For his encore, Urban played “Making Memories of Us” and “Stupid Boy” solo acoustic style before closing with his celebration of life song, “Raise Em Up.”