Dierks' Double Stage-Dive at Joe's Bar

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Dierks' Double Stage-Dive at Joe's Bar

Dierks Bentley; photo by Alicia Rose

To see Dierks Bentley perform (and stage dive) at Joe's Bar in Chicago is on many a bucket list of hard-core DB fan-clubbers (DB Congress), including Kathy Butler (IN) and Alicia Rose (WI). But the only way to get tickets for the show last week was to be a local resident and win through a Chicago radio station. When that didn't happen, Kathy and her entire family drove three hours to a casino in Indiana where US 99.5 was doing a drawing for 50 pairs of tickets.

Kathy:

It got down to the last 12 pair of tickets when we heard my dad's name called. I'm not ashamed to admit I squealed and jumped up and down! My poor dad lost all day on the slot machines, but came out the biggest winner!

Dierks opened the show with the title cut from his new album, Riser, which earned the #1 spot this week on Billboard Country Albums today. He also played Say You Do, Drunk On A Plane, Back Porch, Bourbon In Kentucky and I Hold On from the new CD, along with some older hits. The crowd went crazy for Drunk On A Plane. He also did "Hey Brother," a cover by Avicii. He mentioned how many faces he recognized as longtime fans and that no matter how famous he gets he'd always come home to Joe's.

He did a stage-dive twice. I caught his ankle/boot. When they pulled him back on stage I got pinned under him, so he pretty much sat on my head! After the concert he was his normal amazing self and stayed out for awhile to sign autographs--anything from boots, hats, a lady's forehead and a dude's chest! As always it was worth the long drive and missed sleep. My highlights for the evening, besides D sitting on my head, was Brian, purposely smacking me in the face with a nasty bra hanging from his guitar. He made up for it by letting me "play" his guitar. Got a drum stick from Steve and lots of love from D. He was exhausted but still put on a great show.

Alicia:

I was shocked and beyond grateful when Kathy won tickets to the US 99.5 Live Country Riser Release Party at Joe's Bar and she asked me to go! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am so blessed to have met so many amazing people through Dierks and DB Congress.

We were a little concerned about the weather because the high was only supposed to be 3 degrees with wind chills well below zero and if you've even been to Chicago you know the wind off of Lake Michigan in the winter is brutal. But as luck would have it, Joe's now has an Off Track Betting facility and they are open during the day.

Dierks came on stage at 9 pm and kicked things off with Riser! Amazing! I love that song so much--it's my new anthem for life. Kathy and I were right up front against the stage and couldn't have had a better spot. (ok well maybe just a little better only because Brian's guitar was turned up so loud that we were trying to signal them to turn it down a little.) The show was fantastic. The energy was amazing and people seemed to really be loving the new stuff, especially Drunk on a Plane. People were calling that out like crazy before they played it.

Dierks did his traditional Joe's stage dive (twice) and basically was sitting on top of Kathy and me while we tried to push him back up on stage. I'm sure the people behind us were helping too but it felt like it was just us. It's all that muscle he's put on recently--he's seriously buff and looks even better than usual. (I know, I know, how is that even possible?)

When the show was over, Dierks stayed on stage to do autographs and pictures for at least 40 minutes. He is so awesome to his fans and people of course really appreciated it. I got my Riser CD signed and my ticket stub. My night was absolutely amazing and I didn't want it to end. I'm so ready for my next show! Praying more dates get announced soon because waiting until August 31 at Soldier Field is not acceptable! Again, a huge thanks to Kathy for the invite! I owe you BIG :)

All Photos by Alicia Rose: