KAHNE & BENTLEY, BUDS FOR KIDS

In 2005, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, created the Kasey Kahne Foundation as a way to give back to chronically ill children and their families as well as disadvantaged youth. Every year the KKF raises funds for these deserving causes through several exciting events.
The Sound Check 9 benefit concert on March 5 in Duluth, Georgia (Wild Bill's) was one of those events, featuring Dierks Bentley, multi-platinum country music star. “I’ve been friends with Dierks for a while now,” said Kahne, a nine-time winner on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. “Dierks has been a long-time supporter of children’s charities, which is also the focus of the KKF. So teaming up on this concert is a good fit." All ticket proceeds go to the kids.

A special offering of 100 VIP Meet & Greet tickets with reserved seating sold for $150 per person. Reserved seating was $50, and General Admission was $30.

The latter was my budget this trip, and in my opinion, the best "non-seat" in the house! Re-united with many of my DRT (Dierks Road Trip) buddies from Atlanta last May, we all lined the front of the stage--the only place to experience a DB concert!

The evening kicked off with a question and answer session with Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Darrell Waltrip. Darrell asked Kasey how he and Dierks had become such good buddies and Kasey said they met at the Opry, got to talking, had a lot of the same interests--including NASCAR, country music, and children's charities. I recorded it, but there were several people in the audience talking loudly the whole time the interview was going on, even yelling at one point, "Stop talking and start singing!" How rude! After all--this WAS a benefit event--show some respect, people!
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DB Congress representative, Angie (choppergirl) drove down from South Carolina again this year. "This had to be one of the best Dierks shows ever and one of the funnest DRTs I've been on. The day started early as I met Keesh and the Dierks-mobile and we swung by and picked up my friend Teresa and hit I-85 in SC with the pedal to the medal to Georgia! We got to Wild Bill's between 11 and 12 to see a handful of Dierks fans there. We hung around and chatted a while, and listened to soundcheck outside the doors--they sounded awesome.

As the day goes on we get to see more fan club members, a lot that I hadn't seen in a long time. It was really exciting when we went inside knowing the time to see D was getting closer. Nascar drivers took the stage first--DW, Kasey and Elliott Sadler talked a while. That was awesome since I'm a big Nascar fan as well.

Soon here comes Dierks and the band and they rocked Wild Bills! He sang all our favorites including some of the new songs. Hearing Feel that Fire and Sideways in person was out of this world! The whole night Dierks was right there in front of us. Keesh had her night made as he twirled her around and held the mic for her to sing along!

Dierks, you and the guys were awesome! Cant wait for a chance to see you again! Thanks for coming out and talking to us by the bus before you left! Was great seeing so many fan club friends and great meeting new ones!" ========================================================================
DBentleyFan7 is a new DBC rep from Georgia. She didn't' have far to drive! "This was my very first Dierks show, I have been wanting to see him live for the longest time and finally did! He is crazy and I loved every second of it!

One group had a sign saying 'I wanna feel your fire' and he screamed at them saying 'YOU WANNA FEEL IT?! COME ON FEEL IT!' And then he ran so fast to them and just let everyone grab him that was in the crowd!

He knows how to put on a show, wow! I loved him before, but now I am head over heels for Dierks.

There was also a moment where Dierks looked mad and I don't blame him! A girl RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME got a hand slap from Dierks and then she just decided to grab his boot; he almost fell when he tried to go to the next group because that lady held onto his leg! He looked back at her and THREW her hands off of him! I can't say I'm not shocked, there were quite a few drunks there and she was one of them. The girl next to her jumped down her throat and was saying she can NOT do that! You go girl!

I'm just so impressed with the way he performed. He knows how to get the crowd going! I'm a regular at Wild Bill's since they have a lot of country stars there, but Dierks was the only one I've seen get the crowd going as loud as they did! You can tell he loves his fans." =============================================================================
"OMG!!! That was me that jumped down her throat," says LILWHITETANK54, Tracy, DBC rep in Alabama. "She was all trying to get (bass player) Robbie's attention. She didn't even look at Dierks the whole time she was hollering at Robbie & that's why he moved I bet. I have no idea who she was or where she came from, she just came out of nowhere. When she could not get Robbie to pay her attention, that is when she grabbed Dierks' leg. I was totally mortified because I didn't know her and I was so worried he would not come back over there to us. After that I told her she had to GO (and a few more choice words)! But I had a blast and did not let her ruin it for me! I stayed afterwards & met Dierks & got pics & autographs! If anyone is on here that met me or my sister, (Tracy & Tabatha from Alabama) ya'll email me! ====================================================================================
Debra is a proud DBC rep from Alabama. Here's her review: "Hey all-just made it back from Atlanta today--Dierks was really on FIRE! I arrived at Wild Bill's about an hour before the doors opened and got to visit with my old DRT friends... Granny Ann and Debra above Debra and Angie (choppergirl)
...and met some new ones as well! Always love to meet new fan club members-you girls are the nicest people to spend time with and enjoy the concert with-seriously! Debra and Tracy above

Of course us DB fans-Congress members as well-were first in line to go in and made it right to the front of the stage! That was so awesome to have Dierks performing so close to us all night! Rod was so sweet to come and play several times right in front of us also! The band sounded fantastic and I heard Dierks perform Life on the Run for the first time LIVE and of course it was great! Thanks too Dierks for throwing Sweet and Wild in there for us-really enjoy you singing that song! Dierks sang to us lucky girls on the front row many times and Keesha got the dance floor twirl during So So Long! He held my daughter Kristen's hand and sang to her and I do believe she's a DB fan for life now-lol! Really fantastic performance by Dierks and the band-fun to see Robbie singing now! One of my best Dierks shows ever! I didn't get to see Dierks at the bus-my daughter wanted to stay at Wild Bill's with some of her friends so I joined them. Much love to my fav DRT buddies Ronna,Chrissie,Rachel and her gang,Tammy,Angie,Lisa,Holly and Kelly-it made the show sooooo much better to have you guys there with me! So great to finally meet Granny Ann-what a wonderful, sweet lady! Trenda and 2 new Tracys I met also!!

BTW there were several times that Dierks was so close to me I could have touched his boots too-but I would never think about doing that! He's so sweet about getting that close to us and I certainly don't want him to stop! Thanks to all the FC who commented on my DBC shirt (complete with Dierks autograph!)I also got many comments and questions about my DBC shirt throughout the night by other people there-love promoting Dierks that way! Thanks for a fantastic night Dierks-you ROCK!" My pics were some of the best I have ever gotten-but it's because we were soooooo close: ================================================================================
As for me, I loved meeting all the new people from the fan club. I was so flattered that Tracy asked me to sign her Band of Sisters (and a few brothers) book that Crissy (TX) made last year! Ann (AL) gave out tons of DB Bracelets sent from Tara (CA) and as I was squeezing my way through the crowd to get back to the front of the stage, one girl saw my bracelet and wanted to know where I got it--so I gave her mine! Anything to get people to dierks.com to join the fan club and the DBC! I also handed out business cards to everyone who asked about the dbc shirts, the fan club or just curious about what DB Congress is all about. I remember this one lady who had been to Red Rocks in Denver, CO(I had my RR shirt on), and I gave her a card--hope she and the others find their way to this site!Me, Granny Ann, & Chrissie (GA) I did get a hand-hold from Dierks during Every Mile a Memory--that's always been a good luck song for me to get attention from D during the live show!

I love when Robbie sings "low, low, low, low"--just like his bass--during Life On The Run. Here's the first minute...
I was surprised but happy to hear them sing Sweet and Wild. And Rod, Tim and Steve showed they're as talented as ever!
Robbie Harrington:

Tim Sargent (I saw Tim squeezing through the crowd by the stage before the show and we exchanged hellos):

Rod Janzen:

Steve Misamore:


I guess my favorite part was after the concert, by the bus. Although they had a long drive back to Nashville, Dierks made time to sign and take photos with about 20 of us die-hard fans. He was so excited to be singing with Jessi Colter at 10 am the next morning, so I think he was rushing to get out of the cold and to save/protect his voice.

I had him sign my FTF CD, but didn't ask for a picture. Instead, I used my time to ask, "Please tell me you've seen the dbcongress.com website!?" "Yes, I have, it's great! Amazingly detailed! I have been meaning to blog about it. I told them (Echo) to get with ya'll to make sure you were ok with us (fan club) using the name "dbcongress." I told him yes they contacted us and we'd be honored! That's our Dierks! Always thinking of others! I hate that I can't remember word for word what he said, but I was just happy he has seen the site and likes it, and that I heard it from him in person! Made my whole night!

~Ronna, DB Congress Chair