Watch Keith Urban Surprise Travelers With Pop-Up Show At Nashville Airport

Keith Urban surprised unsuspecting travelers at Nashville International Airport when he took the stage — a major “upgrade” from a previous airport gig — over the weekend.

Urban performed with bass player Jerry Flowers and drummer Terence Clark on BNA’s Live Stage in the C Concourse Food Court on Saturday (March 2). He posted several photos and videos the following day. His Instagram post included videos of Urban’s performance of his early 2000s anthem “Somebody Like You,” one fan on the phone gushing over the surprise show, Urban telling a story to explain to the crowd why that stage was an “upgrade,” and other highlight moments.

“So, we get to this little regional airport with one baggage carousel, and the airport manager’s walking us around, and I went, ‘where do we play?’ And, you know, on the carousel, right where the little conveyor belt goes around, above the conveyor belt is a little strip of carpet? That’s where we played,” Urban said of a previous performance in an airport. “There’s three of us. He’s like, ‘yeah, yeah, you guys can set up in a row.’ So, we put, like, little bass drum, snare, Jerry, me, set up in a line. And I’m like, ‘OK, when do we start?’ And the airport manager goes, ‘any time.’ But there’s no one here. He goes, ‘oh, they’ll show up.’ Alright. So, we start playing, and sure enough, a couple of people show up, then a few more, then a few more. We had quite a crowd, and we’re like, ‘this is the best gig,’” — he paused to imitate the loud sound of the alarm that indicates luggage is arriving on the carousel — “This is an upgrade.”

Urban also performed “Messed Up As Me,” his latest single that made its debut on Friday (March 1). The song, which follows “Straight Line” as Urban teases his next full-length album, tells the story of a “dysfunctional,” and perhaps “toxic” relationship that the two people can’t seem to end. One day before the single officially released, Urban delivered the first-ever live performance at the 2024 Country Radio Seminar (CRS) on the historic Ryman Auditorium stage in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

“Most of us have been in dysfunctional relationships before, where there’s not a lot of compatibility, except for that one area where it’s so good you put up with all the rest. A phone call or a night out and you’re right back where you shouldn’t be,” Urban said, per his record label. He added with a laugh, “it’s a song about a relationship that is kind of pretty dysfunctional, pretty messy, except for one part of it and that one part of it is amazing. In fact, that one part is so good that you figure out just putting up with all the rest that is dysfunctional, possibly toxic and just messy. Between the two of you, that one thing is well worth it.”