Odds & Ends: Keith Urban, fun., John Fogerty, Beyoncé & Cher

Keith Urban was supposed to play the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Sept. 12, but bad weather kept his plane on the ground in New York.  With his sudden postponement described by The Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com as “the first time in memory” that a headliner failed to appear at the venue, Urban sent the audience a video saying he would make it up to them by playing Blossom Sept. 15 and that he’d give fans a longer set than usual.

With Urban not being able to make it to Ohio Thursday night, his touring partners Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch covered for him by playing extended sets.  LBT’s Kimberly Schlapman told the audience that she liked Ohio men so much that she “married two of them.”

And Urban?  True to his word, the country star played Blossom Sunday night and took more than 10,000 fans on a three-hour ride through his catalog, prompting a Cleveland.com blogger to write that he’s “hoping more artists have to do make-up shows like this.”

John Fogerty hopped a jet from Los Angeles to St. Augustine, Florida, to sub for fun. after the band nix an appearance at one of Mumford & Sons’ Gentlemen Of The Road Stopovers because lead singer Nate Ruess was suffering vocal problems.

The last-minute gig was kind of a family affair for Fogerty.  Already on the bill at Francis Field was The Vaccines, the band that includes Fogerty’s son, Shane.  With The Vaccines backing him, Fogerty rocked through a set that included such CCR classics as “Down On The Corner” and “Fortunate Son.”  Following the set Fogerty returned to the stage with Mumford & Sons and performed “Bad Moon Rising,” “Lodi,” “Born On The Bayou,” “Proud Mary” and his single, “Mystic Highway.”

“Travel thousands of miles, get a couples hours sleep, rehearse with two killer bands and play for 20,000 awesome fans with one of my personal favorites Mumford & Sons,” Fogerty said.  “Rock and roll, oh ya, worth the trip!”

Beyoncé  got some unplanned up-close-and-personal personal time with fans during her gig in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sept. 15 when a fan reached up and nearly pulled her off of the stage.  Security quickly pulled her back onstage. Of course, trooper that she is, Beyoncé  kept on performing. 

And, yes, there is video.

Don’t expect to see Cher performing at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.  While talking with MacLean’s magazine, the singer said the country’s official anti-gay stance was the deal killer for any performance in the former communist country.

“I can’t name names but my friend called who is a big oligarch over there, and asked me if I’d like to be an ambassador for the Olympics and open the show,” Cher told MacLean’s. 

“I immediately said no.  I want to know why all of this gay hate just exploded over there.  He said the Russian people don’t feel the way the government does.”