Keith Urban gives legendary performance at Prospera Place

Thousands of country lovers swarmed to Prospera Place on Sunday night decked out from head to toe in cowboy boots, plaid and even some daisy dukes, all to see Country Pop Rocker and Kiwi heartthrob, Keith Urban.

The anticipation and excitement that filled the arena was palpable. You could almost hear the pounding hearts of the die hard fans in the final moments leading up to Urban’s opening number.

One moment the audience was humming melodies of top hits and the next they were emerged in darkness followed by a burst of incredible light. As soon as Urban hit the stage (and not a millisecond later) the fans broke out into complete and utter hysteria, shouting at the top of their lungs giving the New Zealand singer-songwriter a proper Kelowna welcome.

“Kick it Kelowna!” shouted Urban while nonchalantly playing the intricate intro of his boundary pushing song “Gone Tomorrow, Here Today” the first track off of his newest album, Ripcord. Known for breaking the stereotypes of typical country music, Urban’s choice to open with this unique song which combined typical southern country, with rock and even some dance music influences set the tone for the night. Not only was his playing on fire, but let’s face it, does anyone look better playing a banjo than Keith Urban?

It was as if Urban catered this show specifically to the Kelowna audience because he knew just what they wanted. The best part of Urban’s set was how humble and grateful he seemed to be there, taking time to regularly admire his Okanagan fans and even chat with them about our beautiful valley.

“We actually vacation here in the Vernon area and have even seen a serious hockey match at this venue and now we are playing here.” He even pulled a young girl on stage to take a selfie with her on her mother’s cell phone.

People of all ages were up out of there chairs singing, dancing and wrapping their arms around each other as if they couldn’t contain their emotion any longer as Urban began playing his 2011 chart topping single and fan favourite “Long Hot Summer”. Which came as no surprise, as this song has become the mother of all summertime anthems making it the perfect choice for those still clinging to the last glimmering memories of the warm weather and beach days of summer 2016.

Urban was constantly one upping himself as each song seemed to be better than the last, completely hypnotizing the audience. Just when you thought his charm, charisma and heart stopping vocals had reached their peak, he slowed things down a bit with the painfully beautiful ballad “Break on Me”. Emotions ran high as attendees swayed from left to right singing along to the lyrics with tear filled eyes and full hearts. Urban delivered a performance that both broke hearts and healed them at the same time.

Throughout the entirety of his two hour set the audience was completely enamoured, as he could go from serenading them with his smooth, flawless vocals to shredding some of the most electrifying and hair raising guitar solos in today’s country music.

Urban would regularly stop and repeat, “We are so happy to be here, thank you so much for coming out,” and no matter what, a smile never seemed to have left his face. We aren’t quite sure who enjoyed themselves more, us or him.

Although Keith Urban was definitely the highlight of the night, we can’t forget Maren Morris’s saucy performance that easily made everyone in the room channel their own inner sass queen, #SpiritAnimal.

The second she hit the stage she started belting out the first notes of her country pop hit “Sugar,” making sure Kelowna knew she was in the house. Dominating the stage, Morris strutted her stuff every which way and the crowds' cheers followed her.

What better choice to amp up the entire audience before Urban than Canadian country rocker Dallas Smith. Some of you may know him as former lead singer of Alt Rock band, Default, but as of recent he has been dominating the country scene.

Smith and his band emerged from darkness to bright, white light and thundering cheers that flooded the arena. Kicking things off with the hit song “Lifted,” Smith had all the right moves, immediately locking eyes and holding hands with his fans.

Just when you thought the cheers couldn’t get any louder, Smith pulled out his phone asking the audience to sing along with him for a video. As if the ladies weren’t already excited about swooning over Keith Urban, now they had the dreamboat Dallas Smith to keep their cheeks flushed and hearts fluttering.