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By: Meagan Broussard
On Saturday, September 29th, country music singer Keith Urban brought his tour for his new album, “Graffiti U” to Missoula, Montana. The concert was held in the Adams Event Center on campus of the University of Montana. 20,000 fans sold the arena out and filled it that night.
Upon arrival at the Adams Center, a small line was forming around the door. However, my family and I made the decision to wait until that small line had cleared. Yet, by the time we got out of the car the line had nearly quadrupled. Now it rounded the first corner and was extending by the second. The weather began taking a turn for the worse, and we were still a ways away from the doors.
By the time we reached the doors, there was security everywhere you looked. A staff member was even standing on a garbage can yelling into the crowd “No outside food or drink! No weapons! No re-entry!”
Finally, we were in the stands after making our way through scanners, x-rays, and pat-downs. From our seats in the second tier, we watched everyone below us fill in with popcorn, drinks, and cotton candy in hand.
Eventually, the lights dimmed, and Kelsea Ballerini, Keith Urban’s opener, made her way on stage. She sang song after song with flashing blue, purple, and white lights. The crowd took a while to warm up, perhaps due to the freezing weather outside. In between songs, Kelsea made valiant attempts to read various signs made by fans around the arena, and eventually got a few, but couldn’t get them all.
When Kelsea decided that Keith would be welcomed with adequate enthusiasm, she thanked everyone and exited the stage waving to the 20,000 fans filling the excited arena.
Twenty five minutes passed, and the room went black. Lights began flashing from the stage, and a screen was lifted to reveal Keith Urban and his band members. Automatically, everyone could see how excited they were to be here. They began with an opening song, and after, Keith started talking to and energizing the crowd. He read many signs, and when he reached one he could not read, he invited those fans down to the stage, saying “Come on down here, I still can’t read that.” They made their way down, and long story short, got pictures, autographs, and hugs from the entire band.
The concert went on, playing slow songs like “Stupid Boy” and “Cop Car” among many upbeat, fast-paced ones such as “Days Go By” and “The Fighter”, which was one of my favorites of the night, second to “Drop Top”. I particularly like that the songs have good pacing, and will have you singing them all day. The atmosphere among the crowd was ecstatic, with the lights flashing and music blaring. About halfway through, a definite highlight was when Kelsea Ballerini came back on and sang “We Were Us” with Keith. Not a person in the room was looking forward to going home that night.
However, all things good must come to an end. As Keith played his last song, and exited the stage, I was sure the chant of “Keith! Keith! Keith!” could be heard for miles. The lights stayed down, everyone remained seated.
After a few minutes, one by one, the band members returned to the stage. The crowd was elated, and after two more songs, the band members went to the front of the stage and took a bow. They thanked the fans profusely, and eventually left the stage waving.
As the adrenaline faded, the entire crowd made their way to any possible exit at about 11 p.m., hoping to get home before they fell asleep in the arena. The parking lots quickly cleared with the help of policemen waving groups of cars through the stop signs.
As I closed my eyes around 2:30 a.m., I reflected on the highlights of the unbelievably fun night, like Keith giving away his guitar to a fan, the band shooting T-shirts into the crownd with a T-shirt cannon. I found myself looking forward to my next opportunity to go to a concert again soon.
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