Dierks Bentley unleashes 'secret verse' on Prince George crowd
One of them got a little bit Sideways after the other one went Gaga over Prince George.
Dierks Bentley and Chad Brownlee brought a great mix of modern and more traditional country music to CN Centre on Friday night, and about 2,600 fans let them know it was appreciated.
Bentley lived up to his good ol' boy image in appearance, but showed a very slick presence on stage, as well as a fine sense of timing and humour. After singing the first two verses of Am I the Only One, he informed the crowd that he and the band were going to play the "secret third verse."
"This verse was written especially for our trip to Prince George," he said, prompting a few expressions of doubt from those fans gathered by the stage.
Bentley just shrugged, but with a bit of a grin on his face, and he and the band launched into a third verse which did, in fact, mention Prince George.
The fans didn't seem to mind that they didn't know the lyrics for this "secret" verse; they just saved up their energy for the chorus.
Bentley showed he could rock with the best, but also showed his more mellow side on songs like Tryin' to Stop Your Leavin' and Settle for a Slowdown. His voice was clear, and filled the CN Centre easily, while the band was content to sit back on the slower stuff and let Bentley's voice lead the way.
Showing a nice sense of keeping the audience waiting, Bentley on a couple of occasions referred to it being a Friday night and asking if people were ready to get a little sideways, but he didn't play his hit of the same name until later in the show.
His new album, Home, hit the shelves earlier this month, and Bentley played a number of the songs off it, including the fast-paced 5-1-5-0, which he told the crowd is police code for "criminally insane." It was unclear how many of those in attendance figured this information could be filed next to the bit about the secret verse, but the crowd got into the song quickly.
And then, all too soon, it was over. There were those in the audience who were sightly upset that a particular favourite of theirs hadn't been played, but they seemed to realized that Bentley has already reached the point in his career where he has to pick and choose his playlist more carefully.
The opening act, B.C. native Chad Brownlee, isn't at that point in his career, but from his stage presence and crowd reaction, that could be just a matter of time.
Starting with a couple of his hits (Carried Away and Sitting on the Hood of My Car), Brownlee swung into a quieter song from his own new album, His Own Terms, a song he wrote about his grandfather.
Being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks some years ago meant Brownle was obviously a hockey fan, as he proved when he gave a shout-out to the Prince George Cougars. The crowd cheered, but Brownlee was looking at a couple of people right next to the stage.
"I heard a couple of people booing," he said. "Are you guys Blazers fans?"
At one point, with no warning, he and the band launched into a slightly countrified version of the Lady Gaga hit, Poker Face. At the end of the song, Brownlee was laughing.
"I'll bet none of you expected to hear that song tonight, did you?"
The roar from the crowd told him no, the crowd wasn't expecting that, but yes, they loved it.
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