Keith Urban loves to jam with other guitarists, but his epic Beatles jam with guitar hero Peter Frampton will surely go down as one of the coolest ever.
Frampton joined Urban onstage during his gig at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Feb. 1, 2014, for a once-in-a-lifetime version of the Beatles’ “Get Back,” highlighted by some incendiary guitar playing.
On this particular night, Urban and Frampton trade verses and backing vocals on the classic song, but the real highlight is when they go off script to trade licks as the band breaks the song down to bare bones, then slowly builds back up to a furious crescendo as Urban and Frampton get more and more frenzied.
Both men are beaming as they hit the peak of the song, using exaggerated motions to strike chords in true arena rock style and having fun with the performance.
Frampton has a lifelong connection to the Beatles not only as a kid who grew up in England and was coming up through the ranks as a musician during Beatlemania and in its wake, but as a musical peer. He did some session work on George Harrison’s landmark All Things Must Pass album, and Ringo Starr played drums on Frampton’s debut solo album, Wind of Change, in 1972. Frampton also starred alongside the Bee Gees in the 1978 film adaptation of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Urban’s Nashville concert was full of special moments in 2014. In addition to the guitar duel with Frampton, Eric Church joined him onstage for “Raise ‘Em Up,” and it was during that show that Lanco singer Brandon Lancaster — who was working at a hot dog stand at the venue — introduced himself to producer Jay Joyce, who ended up producing Lanco’s debut album, Hallelujah Nights.