Two bands. Eleven musicians. No cowboy hats. Welcome to country music in 2005.

While it's true that a cowboy hat doesn't make someone country--given that even Madonna is known to wear one these days--the glaring absence of 10-gallon Stetsons was certainly one indicator of the type of a night folks were in for at the Keith Urban [ tickets ] and Deana Carter [ tickets ] show on Saturday (12/17) at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Old-school fans of such greats as Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings would have heard about as much "authentic country" at this concert as they would find at an Eminem show. OK, that's not exactly fair; Eminem's "Square Dance" is far closer to Bob Wills than anything Urban or Carter has done.

There's little doubt that--authentic or not--it is definitely working for these two "Young Country" stars. At last month's 39th annual CMA Awards, Urban picked up his second consecutive Male Vocalist of the Year award and landed his first Entertainer of the Year trophy. His most recent CD, 2004's "Be Here," has already hit triple-platinum status. And, although her credentials aren't as sparkling, Carter is definitely considered to be one of the bright lights in country.

This San Jose show was the last stop of the tour, a point that Urban made at least a half-dozen times. The CMA's Entertainer of the Year is scheduled to again hit the road in February. Tour dates are listed below.

Carter did a fine job setting the table for Urban on this night. She's got a big, strong voice that is both reflective and stylish, and oodles of stage presence. Backed by her four-piece band, which included a saxophonist that would apparently rather be playing jazz, the vocalist rocked her way through selections from 2005's "The Story of My Life" and such pop-country offerings as "Strawberry Wine" (from 1995's cleverly titled "Did I Shave My Legs for This?").

Following a short break, fans were awakened by that famed country staple--Jesus Jones' "Right Here, Right Now"--which served as an announcement that the headliner was about to take the stage.

Urban's set opened with a hard-charging version of "Days Go By," which was the exact same way he kicked off the concert at the same venue in December 2004. From that number, which is the first track on "Be Here," the New Zealand-born, Australian-raised vocalist/guitarist charmed his way through likable versions of "Where the Blacktop Ends" (from 1999's "Keith Urban [ tickets ]") and the new album's "God's Been Good to Me."

There are many things that separate Urban from the rest of the Young Country crowd. For one thing, he looks like he just finished waxing his surfboard and is ready to go find some killer waves to ride. He has long hair, but (thankfully) not the type that recalls images of such outlaw cowboys as David Allan Coe. He's more of a cross between Hollywood hunk Viggo Mortensen and singer/songwriter Jackson Browne. That's a combo that his rabid female fan base obviously finds quite appealing.

But the number one thing that distances Urban from his competitors is, fortunately, musical talent. He's a guitar hero in a genre where such a thing is almost unheard of. Most major country stars use the guitar simply as a prop. Urban, on the other hand, churns out wicked leads on songs such as "Raining on Sunday" and "You Won" that seem to be taken straight out of the '80s glam-rock handbook.

As the two-hour-plus show wore on, the music continued to move further away from traditional country and ever closer to straight-ahead rock 'n' roll. If some guy had just walked into the building during the encore--a lengthy offering that included takes on Queens' "We Will Rock You," U2's "Beautiful Day" and Steve Miller's "The Joker"--somebody might have had to tell him that he was at a country concert.

And that, for better or for worse, is country music in 2005. In other words, you can leave your hat off.