Wow! Yesterday was nothing compared to today. The festival’s attendance grew exponentially tonight, July 8, at the Cavendish Festival as the international acts took the stage. We here at the Swift Agency- are too tired to make jokes. Let’s get to it.
I was awaiting the sounds of Gloriana. They didn’t disappoint in their performance. The quartet came out to their usually opening number of How Far Do You Wanna Go? which was recognized and sang back word for word by the audience.
There were a few technical glitches. As Tom Gossin said when he switched to the keyboard, “sometimes things happen. Sometimes you get to Canada and your mike stand is not there.” Cheyenne helped Tom figure out a keyboard problem while Mike Gossin improvised a guitar solo. According to Rachel, Cheyenne is the “techie” of the group. However, Cheyenne also run into issues when she switched to a guitar only to discover it wasn’t working. The group quickly improvised and moved along.
The crowd was chanting for Wild At Heart but Gloriana didn’t cut short their set.
I liked their performance of The World Is Ours Tonight. Rachel shined with her rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s Say That You Love Me. They also sang The Way It Goes which was also a crowd favorite. Tom excels on the acoustic guitar on that one.
Wild At Heart was the icing on the cake. It got everybody singing and shouting. I was so glad that I had managed to get VIP access which also allowed me dibs to be in the pit for Gloriana.
Keith Urban was the king of the night, and one excellent headliner. He’s one of those artists with such a gallery of hits that it’s impossible for him to play them all but somehow it feels he did. He opened with Kiss A Girl which made everyone rush forward.
I give Urban his dues, he knows how to work the crowd. I also can’t help but identify which cues Taylor Swift has picked up from him during the time she was her opening act. Keith also moves into the crowd to perform at some point. He makes it back walking through the crowd. Sound familiar? Tay picked up this idea from Keith’s.
Urban is a true artist. He makes sure he travels all the way to each side of the stage and has a mike set up there to keep on singing. He’s one serious guitar player, there’s as much rock as country in his performance. Lighting changes and a different video backdrop for each song, not really the video of the song but color patterns or icons depicting something related.
At some point Keith lets each of his bandmembers do a solo, which also meant singing from both his guitar player and bass player. He also has this custom led guitar that lights up in different colors.
As he was brought for an encore, Keith pointed out a little girl with a sign about him. He brought her on stage, read her sign, autographed it and hugged her. The crowd went wild and I would expect a lot more signs in Keith Urban concerts. An amazing show. I would recommend you try to catch Keith’s tour the next time it comes near you.
Here’s some highlights courtesy of Keith Urban’s YouTube Channel.
Taylor Swift is expected to take the stage as the headliner on Saturday, July 10th.
(Source: TheSwiftAgency.com, KeithUrban.net)
The Swift Agency 