Las Vegas Weekly

April 24, 2010 · 3:32 PM

Photos: Keith Urban electrifies at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel

By Don Chareunsy

Keith Urban performs at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel on April 23, 2010.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

By Don Chareunsy, Vegas DeLuxe editor

Country superstar Keith Urban is known for many reasons: The New Zealand-born Australian singer is married to Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman. Urban is country music’s bad boy gone good, having been to rehab a few times to battle drug abuse. Urban plays acoustic, electric and bass guitar, ganjo (a six-string banjo), mandolin, piano, drums and bouzouki.

Urban also is one of country’s best live male performers, comfortably and easily sharing the mantle with Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley. Whereas Chesney has a gigantic catalog of hits and stamina (his concert at The Joint last April, with Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert as his openers, was nearly five amazing hours long) and Paisley has a bottomless well of heart and humor, Urban has Aussie sex appeal and mad -- and electrifying -- guitar skills.

Urban, with tattoos on display on his right arm and his tan, sweaty left pec, performed a two-hour set at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel last night, and contributing photographer Erik Kabik was on duty for this fabulous Vegas DeLuxe photo gallery. With incense burning throughout the stage, Urban kicked off the night with “Kiss a Girl,” and then “Days Go By,” and at midpoint performed solo on a small stage on The Joint floor before ending the night with an encore that included “Tonight I Wanna Cry” and “Love Somebody.”

His high-energy, rockin’ set included “Stupid Boy,” “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” (I’ve been charming everyone around me post-concert by twanging the line “I’ve got a hole in my jeans”), his new single “I’m In” (which he performed at Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards), “Sweet Thing,” “You’re My Better Half,” “Better Life,” “Making Memories of Us” (everyone from tweens to grandmothers shrieked when he smiled and sang the line “I’m gonna be there to meet you with a warm, wet kiss”), “You Look Good in My Sweater,” “Where the Blacktop Ends” and “You’ll Think of Me.”

During his band introductions, two of his sidekicks (so the non-drummer) belted out crowd-pleasing lines of Journey’s “Open Arms” and Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.” At one point in the night, Urban quipped, “What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube.” For Urban, there will be many sold-out performances, No. 1 hits and YouTube videos in his future.

KRIS ALLEN

Season 8 American Idol winner and Conway, Ark., native Kris Allen was the opening act for Urban. Allen performed his biggest hit to date “Live Like We’re Dying,” as well as Kanye West’s “Heartless” (arguably his signature song from American Idol) and selections from his self-titled debut album, including “Alright With Me” and “The Truth.” He finished his set with The Beatles’ “Come Together” and threw guitar picks into the crowd.

(While Allen might seem like an interesting choice to open for Urban, the two performed “Kiss a Girl” on the finale of American Idol last season.)

I interviewed Allen shortly after his arrival in Las Vegas in late December -- his first trip here -- and by my off-the-cuff count, Allen has returned here at least four more times. Allen returned to the stage during Urban’s encore to perform Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” together.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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