• Country star Keith Urban is used to playing stages full of lights, speakers and screens in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, but his latest gig was mostly just him and two other musicians playing on a flatbed truck in front of about 125 cars. Urban played the Stardust Drive-In movie theater, about 40 miles east of Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday night for a crowd of more than 200 medical workers from the Vanderbilt Health system. "It's like glorified karaoke," Urban said of the setup that included a band member playing prerecorded tracks and another guitar/keyboard player. In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Urban hadn't played a live show since February. Urban said it took him and his promoter Live Nation about a month to plan the surprise drive-in concert, although more drive-in concerts are currently being planned throughout the country. "All the cars are tilted forward so they've all got a great view and you've got this freakin' killer video wall behind the stage," said Urban. During the 75-minute show, Urban played some of his hits, including "Blue Ain't Your Color" and "The Fighter," but also played new songs off his upcoming record The Speed of Now, Part 1. Urban said that he wanted to thank all the health care workers who have been on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. "Walking on stage, it was just huge gratitude, particularly for that audience last night," said Urban.
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• A longtime evangelist for outdoor and active lifestyles, beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings knew the national stay-at-home orders would be especially hard on young athletes and others trying to stay fit. With her own quest for a sixth Olympics on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, Walsh Jennings held video chats with dozens of volleyball clubs and teams -- more than 4,500 people in all. Part pep talks, part skills clinics, the calls convinced her that people are struggling to remain active when it's much easier to just binge on TV. "There was a consistent theme to every call: 'Kerri, we are so sad. We don't want to lose what we've earned. We want to stay sharp and inspired," Walsh Jennings said in announcing the creation of "Virtual Summer Camps" for aspiring volleyball players and others just trying to stay active. "This is hard on everybody. But there's so many resources out there," she said. "There's no excuse to be a slave to your couch. We all have a little bit of space. We can go outside and be free. And we just want to encourage people to do that." Through her volleyball and lifestyle platform p1440, Walsh Jennings put together an online program mixing skills, fitness and mindset training.
A Section on 05/17/2020