Keith Urban's Max It Out for Meningitis
http://www.maxitout.org
The sponsors were asked to be at Rockettown by 5:00 to be bussed to a surprise location for a dinner and private concert. We stopped by a house that was falling apart and were ushered into a warehouse. From the outside, it looked like we were in a prime area for a drive by shooting. On the inside, the place was fixed up elegantly. Dinner included the least appropriate dish I've ever seen at a function like this: the entre consisted of pasta, vegetables, shrimp (fish are deadly to many people), pork (no Jews allowed) and chicken (vegetarians were out of luck too). I'm not complaining, mind you. I just thought it was funny that no one thought of those things when planning the menu. But who cares about all that stuff. I'm just trying to set the atmosphere.
Kristi Neumann and another act whose name I could not understand played first. Keith came out with his acoustic guitar and performed
Who Wouldn't Want to Be Me and
But for the Grace of God. He told us this was the third year of the event. He said that for the first year, about 80 people showed up and they raised $65,000. Last year they raised about $100,000. This year, prior to the auction, they had raised $175,000. By the end of the night, they were topping a quarter of a million.
Katrina Elam joined Keith for
The Hard Way and continued with her backup for
I Won't Say Goodbye. Keith came back for
No End in Site (playing guitar, not gango). He shared that the FDA had recently approved a vaccination for meningitis. Keith introduced
Richard Marx. Richard said they were going to do their
Megadeath medley and Keith added that it would be sung
John Andersen style. They performed
When You're Gone. Richard said, “Sorry your career is in the (toilet),” which left the audience laughing for at least a minute. I think we all thought it was funnier the more we thought about it and we just kept laughing. Richard added that he'd be putting together the Keith Urban's Career telethon. Keith thanked him and all of us for coming into this part of town. Richard said that he was following the directions and had decided Keith was bringing him out here to get whacked. Keith said he was praying that we'd all get back out safely. They performed
The River. They shared that Richard had invited Keith to his house to write songs. Richard said that Keith is “an amazing kind, gifted, and talented man... and not a bad kiss.” Keith laughed, embarrassed, lowered his speaking voice at least an octave and added, “So, we were hanging out at his house watching the Super Bowl,” and thanked Richard for helping with those rumors about his love life. They two of them could be a stand up comedy team. They ended the set by performing
Better Life. A new artist named
Keith Andersen, who was supposed to go on prior to Keith, did a few songs including
Still Running and
Devil Himself. He had been delayed by snowstorms and said he could not wait to call his mom and tell her that Keith Urban had opened for him.
We were bussed back to Rockettown for the main event. It started with a DVD featuring Keith and several families affected by meningitis—including Max for whom the event is named.. The video was very informative and touching. I think we were all moved by the parents and victims who shared their trials and triumphs. It was also touching to see Keith interacting with the children. His devotion beyond just raising money is inspiring. I had no idea that a person could contract and die from meningitis within days. If it doesn't kill you, it can leave you with a variety of disabilities. To know that there is now a vaccination available shows that the research being done is completely worthwhile. It can affect any of us.
Keith was introduced and started the show solo with
Somebody Like You. He thanked people for coming such a long way from places like Brentwood and Franklin. He brought out
Lea Ann Womack with
Mike Walden. They did her new single,
I May Hate Myself in the Morning and another new song called
Twenty Years and Two Husbands Ago. Her songs were very traditionalist country. Lea Ann said she would give $10,000 if Keith would wear the gold lame shirt up for bid that John Rich had worn in the Save a Horse video. Keith said, “That's a good opening bid.”
Wynonna was the next artist of the night. She was joined by
Dan Huff (a musician and producer on half the CDs that come out of Nashville), and some other musicians. She was completely full of herself, but she admits it, so she can get away with it. They performed [/I] (that
Eric Clapton made famous), and
I Want to Know What Love Is. The highlight of her set—one of the highest moments in the entire show—was her performance of
How Great Thou Art. I recognized the song from the first note of the backup singer's beginning and had chills throughout the entire song. It was stunning. My friend Lorrie said prior to that that Wynonna was a female
Elvis and if I doubted it before, I believed it then. Keith commented, “I know where we'll all be on Sunday morning.” Her guitar was actioned off for $8,500.
Victoria Shaw, a songwriter, was next. She sang
I Love the Way You Love Me and
Bring on the Love. She then invited out
Linda Davis's daughter
Hillary Scott, a new artist. She did two of her songs:
I Was Here and
The Same Man.
One of the highest energy sets of the evening was
Montgomery Gentry with Keith. They got the audience on their feet for
If You Ever Stop Loving Me, You Do Your Thing, and
Hell Yeah. Troy is very talented and he and Keith worked well together. Eddie is insane. He was meant to be in the spotlight.
Next was the first surprise guest—and a great surprise it was:
Faith Hill. She asked if the bed onstage was Keith's and said that it was cool. She sung a new song from her upcoming CD,
We Both Will Be Stronger. Afterwards she commented that Keith was amazing because he had been playing it and he'd never even heard it before. I don't know if he was following her lead or the other guitarist. She and Keith sang
Let Me Let Go together. She asked if she was supposed to introduce the next guy and told us, “He ain't worth nothing. He can't sing. He can't play and he doesn't look any good in his jeans.” Her husband
Tim McGraw came out to a deafening welcome. Tim first announced that he wanted us to know that he was Keith Urban's biggest fan. “But he pisses me off because he's too pretty, plays and sings like a sonofabitch, and come to think of it, I probably hate him.” He recognized that
Radney Foster was there which was intimidating because he was performing songs he wrote for the first time. He has been writing with the
Warren Brothers for his next CD and did two songs:
Train #10 and
Blank Sheet of Paper with Faith. As he was leaving the stage, Tim paused to say that Keith was gorgeous. Keith said, “I'm sitting down now and, Tim, you better stop drinking... or start.”
Keith drew a winner for his custom 357 chopper. The first name was a woman in PA who was not there. He called and talked to her husband. The end of the conversation we heard was, “This is Keith Urban calling for so-and-so... Keith Urban.... regarding a motorcycle she's won.” The man hung up on him and he laughed. The woman named Robin who was helping host called the man and he hung up on her too. Keith said he hoped his next wife taught him some manners. They decided to draw another name. Keith was hesitant to place the call this time but this winner was from GA and Robin said, “They're friendly in Georgia.” This time the winner answered the phone. “This is Keith Urban calling because you've won a chopper.... it's a motorcycle.” They announced that Tim McGraw had decided to donate his custom chopper to the cause as well. Something will be done with it later.
Big Kenny's walking stick from the Save a Horse video went for $1,100.
Gretchen Wilson's jeans from Redneck Woman autographed by her,
Kid Rock and
Hank Williams, Jr., went for $800.
Garth Brooks' highly starched jeans with a personal note to Keith brought $600. John Rich's shirt brought $700. Keith later told us that though
Big and Rich had planned to come, they had to cancel because Big Kenny had a family emergency.
The next act was Keith's new neighbor,
LeAnn Rimes. She belted out
Nothing 'Bout Love Makes Sense, Some People, When This Woman Loves a a Man. Keith joined her for the last one. Then they auctioned off the bed from her video. The bidding was kind of slow at first, but Keith pretty much took LeAnn Rimes to bed. They laid in it while the bidding was going on and he started undressing (he only took off his shoes). The bed eventually went for $4500 and the winner got to have their picture made with LeAnn on the bed. I imagine if the option had been for to get your picture made with Keith on the bed, the women in the audience would have had an all-out bidding war.
Martina McBride's jeans sold for $300. A promo poster of Keith to be personally autographed went for $4,100.
Carolyn Dawn Johnson was next. She dedicated
God Doesn't Make Mistakes to Max. She also sang Complicated and Keith joined her for
Die of a Broken Heart. The auctioneer pointed out that we had certainly got our money's worth tonight and started taking pledges for cash donations while Keith played
Who Wouldn't Want to Be Me.
Radney Foster joined Keith onstage. They sang
Nobody Wins, More Than Money (Keith used his guitar as a percussion instrument like he does in
Homespun Love). They did
Raining on Sunday and Radney told Keith he'd have to sing it lower than he usually does for them to sing it together. Radney agreed to come to a winner's house and cook a gourmet meal for 6. This brought in $4,500.
About this time, some of the sponsors in the three rows in front of my group decided to leave (it was well after midnight). I was able to move from fourth row to first row! It's the only time I've ever been front row at a concert. I could get used to it.
Katrina Elam came out again, or for the first time if you were there as a general admission goer. Keith joined her and they did
No End in Sight and
Little Lady Who (her yodeling song). A picture of Katrina and a t-shirt and the winner getting their picture taken with Katrina and Keith went for $4,250.
Next they auctioned off one of the guitars that all the artists had signed. Bidding started off less than they wanted, so Keith played You'll Think of Me and it and the 2nd guitar autographed by all sold for $9,000 each. He said he played the autographed guitar last year and wiped off 6 signatures. They auctioned off the oriental rug that had been on the stage next. Keith started making up a song about carpet while the bidding took place. It sold for $1,500.
Could there be more? You bet.
Richard Marx joined Keith and invited us to take a trip with him, “back to the 80's when music was music, videos were videos, and hairstyles were messed up.” They sang
Endless Summer Nights. Richard joked about his own career going downhill, “But how cool is it that this guy is winning?” He followed with a joke: Richard: “Knock Knock.” Keith: “Who's there?” Richard: “Richard” Keith: “Richard who?” Richard: “Exactly.” They did part of
Please Remember Me and then Richard asked why they were doing it. Next was Right Here Waiting, a little bit of the
Carpenter's Close to You to emphasize the kind of stations where Richard usually hears his own songs and how happy that he was that his new song was played on the same station as
Nickelback. The new song was
When You're Gone. He and Keith talked about getting together to write songs and Richard shared that he had to take Keith to Best Buy to buy blank cassettes and ribbed him for recording that way. He said while they were in the store a clerk asked, “Are you that country singer Keith Urbane?” and Keith answered, “Almost.” Then they sang
Better Life.
Richard left the stage and Keith thanked us all for coming out and supporting the cause. He said “God bless you all,” and “Let's end this the way we started,” and he played
Somebody Like You solo. All in all, the sponsors enjoyed over six hours of music from some of the biggest stars and best known writers in country music. This was night of real music by real artists doing something good. Everyone there came out of respect for Keith and the cause he's attached his name to. There was no pretense and no attitude... just a lot of fun and entertainment for a very good cause. Even if the tickets double in price, I'm going to put this event on my calendar for life (as long as I can afford it!). I suggest to anyone who likes country music to do the same.
Becky
01-24-2005, 04:41 AM
Max It Out for Meningitis (Keith-Tim-Faith-LeAnn-Richard+)
