Keith Urban / MGN
ATHENS, Alabama (AP) — Country singer Keith Urban had signed up just hours earlier for a free concert Friday night in the parking lot of a large supermarket and gas station in northern Alabama.
Hundreds of people turned out for the show in Athens, about 100 miles south of Nashville, held in front of a Buc-ee’s, a chain of roadside shops known for their barbecue.
“I came to this Buc-ee’s about a month ago. And as I was leaving, I was like, ‘It would be fun to do a show there,'” Urban told the crowd during the concert, according to an Instagram video posted by WAFF-TV in Huntsville, Alabama.
Urban said his “caveman brain” told him it would be fun to set up a small stage for a small audience.
“I swear to you, I thought there were maybe 100, 200 people,” Urban said as a video showed a larger crowd.
News agencies reported that people began gathering hours before the show.
“I was at work and we heard on the radio that there was going to be a surprise concert at Buc-ee’s in Athens,” Cindy Wilson told FOX 54 WZDX-TV in Huntsville. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s on my way home.’ And it’s 15 minutes from my house. I just couldn’t believe it.”
During his time at the store, Urban also worked behind a grocery counter. A video The photo shows him wearing a Buc-ee’s t-shirt and apron while pouring barbecue sauce over a brisket and cutting the meat into smaller pieces.
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