BIG APPLE, GARDEN APPETITE FOR DIERKS

Here's an interesting blog about the Brad/Dierks/Jimmy show at Madison Square Garden last week, from a self-proclaimed "Englishman in New York."

http://heavier-than-air.blogspot.com/2009/10/cmj-report-day-2.html

"I headed uptown to the Garden. If country music isn't a staple in the big city, nobody told the thousands that flooded into the arena on this particular evening. With a strong, well-known dual billing of Dierks Bentley (right) and Brad Paisley, the crowd appetite for this one was palpable from the moment we took our seats. Opener Jimmy Wayne did his best to energise the audience ahead of the main acts and, to some extent, succeeded in doing so with his enthusiastic stage running and sign-waving ("How many of you have ever even remotely heard of me?", being a particularly self-deprecating and unpretentious effort).Nonetheless, he appeared slightly dwarfed by the stage and perhaps requires stronger songs to captivate at this level. 'A' for effort though. Dierks Bentley suffers from no such limitations, however, his set being warmly received and the singer himself looking every inch at home on the multi-pronged stage. With a number of songs having charted well in the past, the crowd is perfectly familiar with his catchy material and proves it by singing the words of said tunes right along with him."