Dierks Bentley Revs Up Show Amid Vintage Cars
In all my years as a country fan, I've seen Dierks Bentley rock just about every stage there is. Summer festivals, small bars, big arenas, intimate theaters. But the Ravenswood Billboard Factory, which doubles as a vintage car gallery? That was a first. But there he was in Chicago last night (April 14), on a platform stage surrounded by 38 very, very high-end cars*, performing for a cluster of about 450 guests for the public television series, Live From the Artists Den. I don't know if it was the four-man band behind him or the acoustics amid so much steel and chrome, but Bentley sounded pretty close to perfect.
The solid two-hour set was packed with 19 songs, but not only the ones that made it to radio. Bentley talked about how hard it was to write so many songs, then only have about a dozen make it onto the record, then only a few get released as singles, and then they only get to play a couple at live shows. So he reached into his collection of fan favorites from all four of his studio albums for a set list that included "Wish It Would Break" and "Good Things Happen." He did the expected stuff, too, but it was those surprises that stood out the most.
But Bentley wasn't about to let the night end without some unreleased singles from his new album, Feel That Fire. Even without Patty Griffin's dueting help, "Beautiful World" came off like the hopeful gem that it is both because of Bentley's vocals and Tim Sergent's steel guitar and banjo playing, which he seemed to be doing almost simultaneously if that's even possible. And toward the end of the show, Bentley talked about how he always tries to get a bluegrass song on every album, and this time it was "Last Call." A song like that really gives bluegrass music a good name.
* My personal favorite? Either the 1955 Mercedes Benz 300SL Gullwing or the 1963 Chevy Stingray.
©2008 Country Music Television, Inc., a Viacom company. A division of
Alison W says:
Hmmmm I don’t know how I’d feel about that song without Patty Griffin in it. She’s amazing.
MiaT says:
What A show that must have been!
Thanks Alison!
janet m says:
Alison, I know sometimes you want to live in Nashville. But for shows like that, I wish I lived in Chicago! Can’t wait to see it on tape! Thanks for following.
Nikki says:
I was at the show last night and it was amazing! Dierks was absolutely spot on! Alison W…Beautiful World was wonderful! That is one of my favorite tracks on the new album and I wasn’t sure how it would do without Patty, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
Alison Bonaguro says:
I know, Alison W. I was thinking the exact same thing. But he did a great job talking about Patty, saying “Patty’s not here, but we’ll give it our best shot.” So I’m with Nikki: very pleasantly surprised.
Matt says:
The show was truly amazing. He did the songs in chronological order by album, starting out with “What Was I Thinkin’”, and the fact that he did the show that way made it even more special and personal, to me anyway. Also, it says there were 450 people there. It honestly didn’t even feel like there were that many people there. And the fact that everybody was a true Dierks Bentley fan and not just a casual country fan topped it all off. And since I am a Chevy guy, I’m going to have to go with the 1969 Chevy Camaro Z28 as my favorite. That’s something I want to own in my lifetime.
bonjovibabe says:
I was at that show on Tuesday and it was nothing short of amazing!!! It was an honor to be there representing the fan club!!
jb says:
Great show and another great review. I can attest to Alison following db around as we were next to her in the pit at the Rosemont show!
And seeing an act in a big stadium is one thing, hearing them in a small venue such as the ones Dierks likes to play so much lets you appreciate just how pure his voice and sound is.
The 72 Ferrari Daytona right inside the door. Wow.
Jenny says:
What a great show it was! I am so glad I went.
Kiptattaicy says:
Спасибо!!!
Juittytyclesy says:
В общем спасибо