ABC/Image Group LAAs Keith Urban hits the stage tonight for the first show of his Ripcord World Tour, he says he’s never been more excited about a set list.

“There’s a huge amount of buoyant summer songs that were just built right for this kind of environment. Certainly a song like ‘Gone Tomorrow.’ When we wrote that… I not only felt like immediately that it had to be the first song on the record but I also wanted to open the show with that song… That’s probably why I’ve looked forward to this tour so much is I can’t wait to get these songs out in front of a live audience.”

When it comes to the tour’s look, Keith confesses his stage was inspired by an unlikely source — a 1964 cult classic by an acclaimed director.

“I actually gave [my production designer] a bunch of still photos I took from Dr. Strangelove, strangely enough. I’ve always loved Stanley Kubrick‘s lighting, and it was a feeling… I wanted to sort of capture in our stage, so that it would be a little more cinematic and neutral, to give us the canvas we need… We’re trying to pull in old songs, we’ve got new songs, and we’re trying to find a way in which they all come together with commonality, and hopefully, I think the set is a big part of making that come together as well.”

The Aussie superstar plays Kansas City tonight with Brett Eldredge and Maren Morris, before continuing on to St. Louis and Indianapolis on Friday and Saturday.

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