Because the New Zealand-born and Australia-raised Urban has been performing much longer than his touring partner, he was much more engaging and seemed at home on the arena stage. But like Underwood, the country side of his music was hardly traceable. He and his tight band even looked like rockers, donning faded jeans and T-shirts.
Urban stuck mostly to his greatest hits, embellishing such cuts as "Shine," "Faster Car" and "Stupid Boy" with showy guitar solos. But it was all well-paced. Urban almost evenly divided his hour-plus set between rousing rock cuts and unplugged, acoustic numbers. Though he's a better musician than singer, Urban managed to wring some emotion from his light, high tenor during "Raining on Sunday."
However, the best performance of Urban's set actually featured Underwood. She strutted back down the catwalk to join the singer-musician on "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," a pop-rock duet originally done by Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks. Underwood put her hand on her hip and slightly affected Nicks' famed rasp. Urban sang with vinegary attitude as he tossed his long bangs out of his face.
