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Urban Rocks Country Fans

Tribune photo by KELVIN MA

Country music artist Keith Urban cranks out rock-inspired guitar riffs during his Sunday night performance on “Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy World Tour.”

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By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 10, 2007

Liner Notes With Curtis Ross | Local Music

TAMPA - Two songs into his set Sunday night, Keith Urban already had provided enough guitar heroics to power any rock act this side of Van Halen.

Yes, Urban is a country artist, but his style is miles away from that "clean as country water" picking celebrated by The Lovin' Spoonful on "Nashville Cats."

Urban blasted power chords and cranked solos in best knees-bent guitar hero style. He was backed on occasion by as many as three other guitarists for maximum overkill.

Only it never felt like overkill. Urban's music may draw more from '80s arena rock and '70s soft rock, but he's get a country writer's sense of economy and storytelling. "Once in a Lifetime" and "Where the Blacktop Ends" may have the impact of rock anthems but listen closely and you'll hear the same sentiments about life and love you'll find in songs by more traditional country performers such as Alan Jackson and George Strait.

Urban broke up the bombast with acoustic numbers such as "Raining on Sunday," performed solo on a catwalk that stretched to the middle of the Forum's floor. He and his band gathered on a small stage at the end of the catwalk for a few numbers, including "You'll Think of Me."

Back on the main stage, Urban brought out a drum line made up of students from Pasco County's Mitchell High School and East Lake High School in Pinellas County to provide a thunderous coda to "I Told You So."

Urban began the encore at the piano, playing a bit of the Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun" before alluding to his rehab stint by thanking the crowd for its support. He then dedicated "Got It Right This Time" to his wife, actress Nicole Kidman.

Veteran country artist Gary Allan has embraced rock more on his recent albums, the latest of which is this year's "Living Hard." There's more twang in his sound than in Urban's, but his set didn't lack for guitar fireworks and big beat bluster.

Reporter Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568 or cross@tampatrib.com.

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