More than 500 Feel That Dierks Bentley Fire at Last Call Ball 7

The news spread like fire and burned throughout the DB Congress (fan club).  Hopes were held high but only 500 got tickets to Dierks Bentley's annual fan club party.  Last Call Ball 7, held at Rocketown in Nashville a week ago tonight (June 8, 2011), was a rockin' experience for Team Dude, Dierks and his 'congrass'.  

Unlike past LCB's where the music was random--acoustic, happy, sad, rocking, slow, and everything in between--DB chose a pre-determined set list full of up tempo, rocking' hot hits and some of the DBC's favorite non-singles. Dierks and the entire band played for a full hour--borrowing some tunes from the recent Jagermeister Country Tour set list.




One of the highlights during the hour was when Dierks sang one verse of Good Things Happen from the Modern Day Drifter album:

"The world is cold but I don't care

When you have flowers in your hair

I see color and I hear sound

And good things happen when [DB Congress] is around"

Many fan-clubbers and guests arrived at Rocketown early in the morning and throughout the afternoon--hours prior to the 10 pm opening of the doors.  They sweltered in the heat just to ensure a spot with elbows on stage (myself included).  Earlier in the afternoon, Dierks, Jake and Big White snuck into the venue around back, (or was it the front?) and a few fans left notes on his truck, that he later thanked them for.  He had tweeted earlier in the day that some girl dissed Big White:

a girl just stopped me and said my truck looks like the kind every country singer should drive. nice way of saying my truck looks like crap!

Another memorable moment was the medley where Dierks announced Dan Hochhalter (fiddle player) is going to sing a song for us and Dan shakes his head no (gets stage fright).  While Dierks and Dan are 'arguing,' bassist Cassady Feasby steps up to the mic and starts belting out Bon Jovi:

A few people hollered out "birthdays", and Dierks said, we have a "one-day-old", referring to Brian Layson (lead guitar) who became a daddy again the day before.  He still had the white hospital band around his wrist.

Attendees dined on mini mexican cuisine and baby BBQ sandwiches--but the Bud Light was NOT free this year. Other activities new to LCB7 included the buckets-o-peanuts on the tables--two of which were autographed by Dierks and awarded to two winners.  Some found the photo booth and played around with some funny poses.

And the LCB7 T-shirts this year were black--yeah!  Made my day they were not white!

It was great meeting up with friends whom I've met over the last 6 years at all the other Last Call Balls, and meeting new ones!  I even met some for the first time and thought I had already met them--that's how strong the online DBC connection is!  I love my DBC family!

But the most important part of the night was the one-on-one Meet and Greet with our DB Congress president - Dierks Bentley himself.  The commemorative lanyard/tickets were numbered and those in the 480-500 range did not meet DB until 3 a.m.  But many fan club parties don't even offer the one-on-one M&G, so Dierks fans are very fortunate he gives us that special time with him.  Of course, that's why we all are so loyal and dedicated to supporting him, right?

I even went to Blake Shelton's fan club party on Friday night, in hopes Dierks would show up like he did last year, but it wasn't to be.  And although Blake put on an awesome concert with some surprise guests, that's all it was--absolutley NO meet and greet.  What? 

I was most impressed with the generosity and willingness of fellow fan-clubbers (DBC-ers) to work so hard at making sure all tickets to LCB were used.  Many thanks to Becky, Janet and Jane who helped make a dream come true for Angela, Becky and her son Matthew.  They had extra tickets and went to great lengths to get these 3 to their first LCB experience!

Thank you, Dierks! Thanks for showing the others how to really appreciate your fans--by spending quality one-on-one time with them. Thanks for the awesome music and thanks for  having some of the most talented and funny musicians in the band: Tim Sergent, Steve Misamore, Dan Hochhalter, Brian Layson, and Cassady Feasby.  Next year--we want to MEET and take pics with each of them!  They're part of the DBC family, too!

~Ronna Clark

DB Congress Chair, Florida