Dierks in NYC Day 2: City Winery 10/19

Dierks Bentley and The Del McCoury Band formed a "Double D" team, performing at the City Winery in NYC on October 19. (Photo Credits: Stephanie Lanham)

As Kristin (PurdueCutie) would say, "Del, Yeah!" The DBC rep from Indiana promotes that phrase on a shirt at any Dierks show where Del or his boys are sure to play! She missed the NYC show, but two days before she was sporting the shirt when Del joined Dierks at Miles and Music For Kids, Nashville.

The most awarded band in Bluegrass history, The Grammy-winning Del McCoury Band, was also inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2003. Dierks and Del teamed up earlier this year on Bentley's own Bluegrass project, Up On The Ridge, to record a meticulous rendition of U2s, Pride (In The name of Love).

During the NYC City Winery show, Dierks joked about using the "delepromter" aka the lyrics taped to the top of his guitar. It appears Del got a kick out of that at his own expense!

(Photo Credit: Beth Longanecker)

(Photo Credit: Stephanie Lanham)

Delaware DBC rep, Becky, made her own "Double D" shirt and brought it to the City Winery. Even though the fan club Meet and Greets were cancelled, Becky was determined. She made contact with the City Winery management and gave them her shirt to take backstage to get Dierks and Del to sign it.

She expected to get the shirt back after the show, but got a surprise instead.

"This concert has got to be the best I have ever been to. The music was incredible. They had the City Winery jumping all night. I was lucky enough to have my t-shirt signed by both Dierks and Del because of a very kind employee, Schlmo, at the City Winery. He took the t-shirt to them for me before the show.

Right after they sang Free and Easy, to my surprise, Dierks held up the shirt and asked if there was a DB Congress Delaware Rep in the house. On the front I had Double "D" Concert with a picture of Dierks and one of Del. They signed above each picture and it made my year!

I want everyone to know just what a great guy Dierks is. The guy from City Winery said it was Dierks' idea to give me the shirt during the concert.

I thank you Dierks and Del from the bottom of my heart. As always, you gave it your all. I cannot say enough fine words to describe this concert. We laughed, we clapped, we stomped our feet. If you missed it, you missed THE BEST show.

Every member of The Del McCoury Band is extremely talented. I believe the bass player (Alan Bartram) blew us all away with his voice. Oh my, what a great, great night of entertainment--bluegrass style. I have to thank my fellow DB Congress member, Janet Lowe from New Jersey for being my partner in crime for the evening. We both had a blast.

Dierks and Alan (Photo Credit: Stephanie Lanham)

Dierks, you have to do another concert with Del! That was just more than I could have ever imagined. Hands down the best ever!"



I'd say your shirt was a "Triple-D", Becky! Dierks, Del and Delaware (on the back)!

Janet (DB Congress rep from New Jersey) joined Becky on this DRT (Dierks Road Trip), but almost didn't go!

"When I first heard about Dierks doing four shows in NYC, I debated whether or not to go. I had already scheduled a week's vacation in the beginning of October. My fellow DB Congress member from Delaware, Becky, really wanted to go but would rather go with someone else than alone. Finally I decided I was in. Becky went ahead and got the tickets for 10/19. Great seats: Table #2, seats 5 and 6. We decided it would be more affordable to stay in Secaucus, NJ then in NYC. After speaking with a few people, Becky realized it would not be a great idea to drive into the city and use a parking garage as she first planned to do.

I drove to Delaware on Tuesday morning and off on our Dierks adventure we went.

We followed the advice she was given. We took a bus from the hotel, then the subway to about one block from the City Winery. Of course the bus ride from the hotel was not as easy as we thought because two blocks away, Becky yells out: "Stop the Bus I forgot my tickets for a concert we are going to in NYC!" We got off the bus, walked back to the hotel, got the tickets and went back to the bus stop again! Becky had to tell the new bus driver the whole "forgot the tickets story" and he let us on without paying again. It was very funny! Our plan after the concert was to return to our hotel via a cab. Not cheap, but safe and comfortable.

When we first got to the City Winery we saw another DB congress member out front, Jane who let us know that they were not seating ticket holders just yet so we took a walk around for a bit. We went in and got our seats a little before 6:00 pm. A great venue for a concert, small and cozy.

The concert itself was great from beginning to end. It had a little bit of everything with Dierks joking around with Del and the other fellows and telling stories. Dierks gave each member of the Traveling McCourys some "song" time. I was truly blown away when Alan Bartram stepped up to the mic and began to sing. What a voice he has! (Instant crush on him.) The crowd went crazy after he sang. Del says to all of us "...and poor Dierks has to follow that!" We all laughed. Dierks and Del really interacted with the audience.


(Photo Credits: Beth Longanecker)

I think Becky's favorite part was when we saw Dierks hold up her T-shirt that her son had made and read it to Del. Del liked the idea of the name Double "D" Concert. Dierks then turned the shirt around and asked where was the DB Congress Rep from Delaware. He then reached over and threw the shirt to Becky...who gladly caught it and thanked them.

Every Dierks Bentley concert I attend gets better and better. Dierks is an awesome singer/songwriter. The only thing I missed was a meet and greet but I did get to talk with his tour manager, Chris, on my way to the Ladies room. I told Chris to tell Dierks the show was awesome.

Later on, while Becky and I were talking with other fans, Chris came upstairs to mingle. Myself, Becky and Chris had a picture taken. He seemed very happy that we enjoyed the show so much. We waited around for awhile longer hoping that maybe Dierks may change his mind and wander out. Eventually we hailed our cab back to the hotel with our memories of one fantastic concert! Another successful road trip to see Dierks and certainly not my last!

(Janet, Chris, and Becky)
~Dierks Bentley Concert Ticket 46.00
~Bus Ticket to NY 7.90
~Hearing you friend Yell Stop the Bus when realizing she forget the ticket information in the hotel room....

Priceless! "

Thanks Becky and Janet for sharing your stories! Next up, Joe's Pub--Songwriters Night!

Dierks' 5-Year Anniversary in Cheyenne

Five years ago, DBC Colorado Rep, Janet, experienced her first Meet and Greet with Dierks Bentley in Cheyenne, Wyoming. So Frontier Days 2010 was 'kind of like our anniversary," says Janet. "He signed the picture we took 5 years ago: 'Meet and Greet #1,' but we were rushed out so fast there was no time to really talk.

Dierks in Cheyenne - 2005:

Back to 2010. "His duet with Miranda was cute. He kept saying Blake was gonna kill him! The one thing I think I noticed was how mature his voice is becoming," Janet shared.


Dierks back stage - 2010

Janet and Dierks - 2010:

Monica (Janet's daughter) and Dierks - 2010:

DIERKS SELLS OUT PIKE'S PEAK HOMETOWN

Colorado called Dierks Bentley's name last week, where he performed two shows back to back - Boulder and Colorado Springs. DB Congress rep, Janet, lives in Pike's Peak's backyard (The Springs), and attended both "Up On The Ridge" shows--and the Springs was sold out. Heeeeeeeere's Janet!

"No review I could write could describe the evening better than what appeared in our local paper! The last two nights were a real treat! I highly recommend everyone who has a chance to attend one of these [bluegrass] shows to do so without any reservations. You won't be disappointed! There is no glitz and glamour, and no lights (well maybe a few light bulbs) just good ole fun! Tim gave me a set list but everything is mentioned in the artice.

Despite my fall in Boulder, getting lost, getting a speeding ticket and police escort to the correct hwy, 4 hour drive back to Colo. Springs in a blizzard, and tornado warnings I'd do to all again in a heartbeat!

Dierks brought his sister, Vanessa, on stage in Boulder to introduce her to the crowd. His wife Cassidy was also in Boulder and her parents in Colorado Springs. Dierks introduced them and said that his father-in-law is an Air Force Academy alum from 1973. Dierks also called his cousin from Creed, CO on stage to perform a few songs with them and show off his banjo-playing talent.

Since no camers were allowed as the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, we used Dierks' camera for the Meet and Greet. I had him signed my 'Dierks Bentley' credit card. He was shocked, but thought it was cool--even showed it to everyone!"


My daughter, Monica, had a M&G in Boulder.


Here's an excerpt from the Gazette article:

Sloppy spring snow didn’t dampen the spirits of the 3000 largely youngish crowd attending the sold-out Dierks Bentley performance at Arnold Hall last night. Dressed mostly in cowboy/trucker or honky-tonk/cowgirl motif, the rowdy but respectful audience paid homage and got treated to a night of folk and bluegrass-laden classic country music from Dierks Bentley and friends...

After a quick stage change-over (after Hayes Carrl), Dierks Bentley and band came out on the plain understated set to a thunderous welcome most pop performers would have reveled in which had the audience literally standing for the first 14 songs, I kid you not! The overwhelmingly interesting thing about all this is that while Dierks is admittedly packing those sly country-boy good looks kind of like Matthew McConaughey evoking screams of “take off your shirt” more than once during the evening, this wasn’t some pop superstar. Tonight the music was more in support of his new album “Up On The Ridge” (Capitol Nashville, 6/2010) featuring mostly acoustic instruments performing bluegrass with some country thrown in. There weren’t flashing lights and confetti canons ala Taylor Swift, this was more reminiscent of a backyard barbecue & Appalachian style hoedown like you’d feel lucky to have stumbled across while crusin’ some little burg off route 40 out of Nashville.

And the crowd was all over it! Dancing in the aisles, screaming, everybody singing along to Bentley’s most popular tunes.... Read the rest here.

"What the reporter didn't mention was the underwear. Some girl threw a pair of thongs on stage and Dierks passed them off to one of the McCoury brothers. Just in case there was no time for laundry on this 30 day run he could go "Commanche"! Yes, there was a lot of younger audience members, but a fair share of mature concert-goers, too. I did overhear a few young girls talking after the show; apparently they didn't know it was going to be a bluegrass show and their dissapointment was evident. But they could not have been fan-clubbers or they would have known and loved it!

After the Boulder show we were all given a CD with 3 songs on it.

Dierks also said each show will be different and there were some changes. I was hoping for Train Travelin' and Prodigal Son's Prayer but it wasn't to be."

Thanks for sharing, Janet! What a unique 'peak' experience!

~Ronna

NEW JERSEY JANET FALLS FOR DIERKS

New Jersey DBC rep, Janet, shares her Dierks Bentley experience with us--her very first DRT!
I had previously meet Dierks at a meet and greet last August in Camden, NJ and saw him in concert for the first time that day. I couldn't wait to see him in concert again and I got my chance to see him on April 9, 2010 in Mansfield, PA. It was my first Dierks Road Trip and fellow DB Fan Club Member Marie from PA came along with me. She and I both where selected to have a meet and greet with Dierks for that day. It was a four hour drive for us to get there so we decided to book a room at the Comfort Inn to make life easy on us.

We got checked in at the Comfort Inn around 3. We decided to take a drive and see where to park and all that good stuff. We knew we were in the right place as we drove right past Dierks' tour bus that was parked on the side of the building. Turns out the road I was driving on was going to be only one way the night of the concert so we found an additional parking lot up the hill. No spotting of Dierks as we drove past his tour bus and into town to get something to eat and then back to the hotel where we met up with Jane, fellow DB Fan Club Member from NY and her friend Fran. Jane didn't get selected for a meet and greet this time but she has one in May when she will see Dierks in Maine.


Marie DB Congress Rep from PA, Janet (Me) DB Congress Rep from NJ and Jane DB Congress Rep from NY

We all decided it would be best to take one car and meet at the car after the concert. We got in line to get our tickets and meet and greet passes. They need to figure out a better system for this--it's very stressfull on a person! Once it got straightend out, we got in line and waited for the doors to open which was to be at 7pm.

Meet and Greet:
The 12 fan club members gathered on the stairwell for the meet and greet to begin. Dierks was meeting with another group first and wanted to spend some extra time with us so our group was last.


The last time we had met, I had given him a picture of my workspace cubicle that I had made a "Dierks collage" on my side file cabinet. I brought a more updated copy with me for Dierks to sign and one to give him. I should have kept one in my pocket because the copy got taken away--not a big deal since I gave it to him later. When it was my turn to meet Dierks he remembered my workspace cubicle pic from the last time. I didn't have any family pics on there the last time I told him, but I had a family picture with my grandfather. I told Dierks that my grandfather had turned 100 years old the day before and Dierks' response was, "Wow, that's amazing."


Now here's the part that nobody in the room will ever forget. As I was walking away from talking to Dierks I totally forgot there was a little step, and what do I do? I tripped and stumbled onto the floor in a big thud. I was ok just very embarrassed. I was helped up by his meet and greet staff person and Dierks asked if I was ok, which I replied I was fine just a little embarassed. His response back was, "don't worry about it...happens to me all the time on stage."
Dierks continued with meeting the rest of the fan club members. His staff members came over to make sure I was ok along with fan club members. I said I was fine just needed a bandaid for my finger.

Once Dierks was done with the last fan club member he walked us all back to his dressing room. I captured the moment of walking down the hallway with Dierks Bentley by taking a little video clip.

He gave us all a preview of his upcoming single, Up On The Ridge, which I really love and took a video clip of that, too. The room itself had a nice vibe to it with candles being used to light the room. Next was the group pic and then one final goodbye to everyone. I said to him, "Well you won't ever forget meeting me now." We both laughed and his response was asking if I was ok. I said I was fine as he gave me a hug goodbye.

I know I won't forget this meet and greet experience for all time along with the rest of the fan club members that were there.

1 night stay at the Comfort Inn... $120.00
Concert T-shirt.................................$30.00
Falling on your face in front of
Dierks Bentley after getting
his autograph..................................priceless

The concert, as I expected it would be, was awesome!

Janet (Wildcat)
DB Congress Member from NJ

NEW YORKER GETS PUBLISHED IN COUNTRY WEEKLY

Schenectady, NY couldn't ask for a better DB Congress representative than Jane Sumner--and Country Weekly could not have picked a better letter to publish! Thanks, Jane!, for your solid support of Dierks every day. Your thank you to CW (Oct. 26) helped get Dierks noticed!

DIERKS BENTLEY ON A BOTTLE CAP?

DB Congress rep, Janet in New York has a creative family member. Jaime made custom bottle cap magnets with Janet and Dierks Bentley's picture! Order your own design from Jaime, HERE!

FAN'S COLLAGE NOW ON DIERKS' FRIDGE

I've been telling Janet (Wildcat), DB Congress rep in New Jersey that I'd blog her Dierks wall story for two months, so here it is! But now it's not just a DB collage on her wall at work, but a new and improved Dierks Bentley Collage! Read Janet's story in her own words...

My Meet and Greet Experience with Dierks Bentley on 8-15-09 at the Susquanna Center.

I have been a fan of Dierks Bentley since 2007 and became a fan club member in 2008. I became a DB Congress member a couple months ago.

February 4, 2009 my local country radio station 92.5 XTU hosted a Feel That Fire Fire Album Release Meet and Greet for Dierks Bentley at Dave N Busters at the Plymouth Meeting Mall. It was that day that I meet Dierks for the first time. It was an awesome experience and I found him to be a very down to earth and a caring person.

This past Saturday August 15, 2009 I was selected to have a fan club meet and greet with Dierks Bentley. It was the best twenty minutes of my life. Dierks spent a couple minutes with each fan club member chatting and taking a picture with them. When my turn came around (I was the last person in line) he greeted me with a hug and took a sneak peak of the back of my DB Congress T-shirt to see my sceen name. I go by Wildcat aka Janet from Pennsauken, NJ.


Dierks by himself. I asked "Can I take your pic real quick?" He said sure go ahead.
I had brought with me a picture that I took of my workspace at work. Most people have their family members I have a "Dierks collage." (me too, Janet!) I brought two copies one for him to sign and one that I gave him in a photo magentic cover to put on the bus or home or wherever. I said he could put it on the bus and throw darts at it or something. He said No, No, I won't do that but I will put it up on the refridgerator. He thought it was so cool that I would do something like that in my workspace. So now I guess my "Dierks Collage" is now up on the refridgerator or somewhere on the bus. Dierks is still the same down to earth and caring person and it was great to see him again.



New and improved Dierks Collage:

The best investment I ever made was becoming a fan in his fan club. I had bought my tickets through his website through the presale and I sat on the 5th row. This was my first time seeing Dierks in concert and certainly won't be my last. Dierks puts on a very high energy awesome performance singing Sideways, Trying To Stop Your Leaving, Come A Little Closer, How Am I Doing, What Was I Thinking, My Last Name, Free and Easy, Feel That Fire to name a few songs he sang. 45 mintues wasn't nearly long enough so I'm looking forward to when he headlines his own tour sometime next year.

I also met Cindy and Marie again. They are both members of the fan club and DB Congress members. I had previously met them for the first time in February. It was great to hang out with them again before the show.

It was an awesome night! I will be a fan of Dierks Bentley for a long, long, long time!

TOWN HALL MEETING AUDIO

Thanks to Colorado DB Congress Rep and Lobbyist, Janet (honeflake), we have a link to the audio of the Town Hall Meeting from April 1, 2009! If you missed it, or just want to hear it again and again and again and again and again...download the link. Hear Dierks talking to us here!

SWEET & WILD DIERKS!

DB CONGRESS CANDY:
Janet in Colorado makes candy wrappers with pictures and song lyrics of Dierks and the band and db congress, and wraps it around Hershey's miniatures, Smarties, Dum Dum lolipops ("Don't be a dum dum, join the DB fan club")--any wild idea will work! We give the candy out at concerts to "promote" Dierks, the congress and the fan club. SWEET IDEA JANET! Now fans can REALLY experience how Sweet & Wild Dierks really is!