A HOTLANTA DB Review

And so we meet again my humble readers and fellow Dierks Bentley fans… another infamous Keshia Review… Soooo as usual we shall make our usual disclamour… If you don’t have much time to read this then you probably shouldn’t… cause my reviews tend to run long... . . . sorry... I'm long winded and very detailed in my story telling... haha... Soooo with that said... let's see... where to begin... . . .

Well our story starts when I get a call saying that Dierks Bentley IS having a free concert in ATL; it's just the matter of registering for tickets for the event. :) Thanks Angie and Halley for the updates on this show, relaying messages to the Keesh and what not.

I got uber stoked when this date was confirmed, especially when I heard it was going to be at the Tabernacle in ATL. A lot of my friends have gone to shows there and raved about this venue. Saying that bands just sound amazing at the Tab... :) which made me even more excited. Nothing like some sweet sounding DB tunes... haha... even though you can't get much better than his sound already.

Anyway, with each new DB show you have to find some fellow DB Roadtrip buddies; Cause driving alone is never any fun. :) Sooooo I went in search of a bud of mine and of course I thought about my lovely friend Jeri Bailey... my verybestestgoodfriend who hasn't been to a DB show with me in 3 yrs; all the way back to the Asheville, NC show in 2006 on DB's first headlining tour... Nope nope couldn't have this girl being Dierks deprived anymore, especially when it's one of my friends... haha I have a rep to uphold ya know! ;) And I also thought about my boy Matt Who is also a DB fan,he accompanied me a few weeks ago to the Greenville, SC show with Hank Williams Jr. Me and Matt always have fun on DBRTs, usually it's laughs all the way there and all the way back. So with my buddies notified and confirmed for the Roadtrip, it was just the matter of working out details. Ya know whether to get a room and spend the night or to drive back home that same evening. Atlanta wasn't to far from home only about 2.5hrs or sooooo, but the show sounded like it was going to get a late start so we planned to stay the night.

Anyway, we'll skip the crazy anticipation. You guys know how it is, I'm sure of it... haha... DAY OF THE CONCERT!!

Of course the day started off nice and early around 7ish; hopped in the shower and tried to gain full consciousness. I only got about 3.5hrs of sleep because I'm basically nocturnal nowadays, which sucks when you have to wake up early the next morning... hardcore... but the adrenaline got to pumpin and I just got stoked. Soooo I went and picked up Jeri and we hit the road around 8:30 or 9ish. Matty had a doctors appt in Asheville, NC and he was going to try and come down a little later and just meet us in Atlanta.  So me and Jeri started our roadtrip... Both uber stoked and we couldn't wait to see the DB...

Well a funny/creepy/destiny induced story that must be told about the drive down... Little Miss Jeri was taking a nappy nap on the way down, we were about an hour and a half into our trip and almost to Atlanta. We had just hit I-85 and we were making pretty good time. I was listening to some radio, haha I know...  I know... I WASN'T listening to a Dierks CD on the ride down!! What the F***? haha... well... Jeri had just woken up from a descent little nap and all of a sudden "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga came on :l no good... AT ALL! I can't stand that song... soooo I looked at Jeri and I was like.... "HHhhmmmm"
"What's up?" said Jeri...
"Well... my DB-sense is tingling..."
"Really...?"
"haha... Yup yup... sho is chicka..."

Soooo I proceeded to hit the seek button and wouldn't ya know it! 101.5 was on and BOOM! Dierks' "Feel That Fire" was just starting up!! haha... AND IT WAS AT THAT POINT THAT WE KNEW THIS DB ROADTRIP WAS MEANT TO BE!!! haha... I started lauging and Jeri started flipping out...
"OMG!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT!! THAT'S SOOOOO FREAKY!" She said... hahaha...

(and y'all wonder how I manage to bump into the man ;) haha it's the DB-sense...)

Anyway we start rockin out to the DB the rest of the trip, which I will also attribute to my calm driving (haha anyone who roadtrips with me knows I've got a touch of RoadRage... lol) yup nice calm driving in Atlanta traffic... crazy huh?

Anyway we roll into Atlanta at about 11:30 or 12ish, we find the Tabernacle first and scope out the scene. The trucks are there, lookin like they had just pulled in and hadn't been there for tooooo terribly long.  Well... not much was going on... Sooo me and Jer decided to go in search of a place to spend the night. Pretty sure DBs bus was off limits... sooo we looked for a hotel. we drove around downtown Atl for a bit. Nice driving tour; we saw the Georgia Dome and the aquarium, all that good juicy stuff. And we finally started stopping at a few hotels. We found a few that were rather pricey, the first being a Holiday Inn, they knocked there nightly rate down to $99 for us. Yeeesh... which was as good as it got, soooo we stayed there. Got our room and checked in; we chilled out in the room for about an hour or so,resting up. Checkin some emails, etc etc... Until the gurgles of hunger drove us to leave the hotel... haha oh and the Holiday Inn was quiet literally right across the street from the Tab. Which was pretty awesome, we could see the front doors from the lobby. Pretty sweet deal... NO WAY WE WERE GETTING LOST!! haha... Soooo we proceeded to get The Official Dierks Mobile and start lookin for grub, but alas the DB sense started to tingle. Sooo we decided to go ahead and swing by the Tab again and see if anyone was there yet. We had yet to see the buses... sooo... we had to go check and see if our dude had made it yet.

AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT!! We pulled in right as DB was!! Goldie had made it safely and was sittin parkin... and the Big White bus was making it's way in... it took another lap around the block... as did we... and we both parked... :) DB and Me... haha... Jeri started freakin out and we started blastin the DB out the windows!! Haha... saw Superman and got a wave :) which was sweet and then I saw this fuzzy little tail boppin around the door as we were walking over to the rail-barrier fence thing they had thrown up... and that's when I realized JAKE WAS HERE!! WOOOO! I'd never gotten to meet the Jake before... So I was stoked to shake paws with that cute... I mean... Manly manly mans man of a dog.... ;)

And that's when I saw Chrissie! Who came around the corner. We all stood waiting to see if our man was going to make an appearance.  The crew and everyone were piling off the bus and had started moving things out of the trucks; another bus besides DBs was there and we weren't sure who it was.  Superman (DBs bus driver extrordinare) and Camera Chris (he takes the pics in M&Gs) started unloading the Jeep.

Well me and Jeri wondered over to see the Jeep, cause she's never seen it before, only heard stories of it. Sooo we proceeded to go watch as did a few other people. Chrissie and her friend (sorry I forget names like mad crazy...) stayed over near the buses when BAM! there was DB! Soooo of course me and Jeri head over just as he was walking away... darn... haha... nope... he just happened to turn around to call Jake when he saw me "HEY KESHIA!!" he said with a big wave! "I'll come back out in a bit! I have to go get ready for this Country Weekly photoshoot!!"

HAHA AWESOME! The DB officially knows the Keesh's name... ha... and now I have witnesses too for he has known it for a while.

Well... that just got us allllll kinds of happy and eager... haha... and me and Jer were miraculously not hungry anymore... we weren't going anywhere!! haha....

Soooo we hung around for awhile... the crew started moving stuff in and we started making friendly... me and especially Jeri tend to be very freiendly and like making new friends... soooo we started talking and introducing ourselves to the crew... we officially met Brittany, Chris and Izzy... all who were uber awesome and very nice...

Well everyone was pretty busy but everyone always stopped to talk or answer a question... especially Brittany... she helped answer a lot of questions when it came to M&Gs and when fanclub could pick them up... She kept me well informed on the entire situation... soooo to everyone who got a M&G and received info from me... thank Brittany... :)

Well... it started raining... and then it would stop raining... and then it would start raining again... and so on and so forth... awesome... :l thank god for umbrellas... yup yup... anyway... we all started wondering when the DB was going to get to do his CW (Country Weekly) shoot... haha... and you remember that hunger... haha well after standing out in the rain for a while it was totally time for food... but alas because I'm hardcore... leaving the venue at that point in time was not an option.. And I'm glad Jeri shared my point of view... Soooo when everyone else wondered off in search of food me and Jeri stayed put... and ordered some Domino's :D they deliver people... to just about anywhere... all ya got to know is the address and name of the venue... We love the Domino's pizza... oh yessssss.... anyway... me and Jer ordered some food and continued waiting.... then about the time everyone came back from food... and we finished nomming on ours... the DB wondered out of the Tab... he'd been inside working on the shoot in there...it was still drizzling a bit... and Jake needed a little more fluffing ;) soooo back to the CW bus.. eventually it stopped raining for a while and they came outside to work on the Jeep shoot...

Soooo we wondered over... as DB and the photographers setup... it was pretty rad... I'm a photographer and I wanted to see how this professional shot... it was pretty awesome... they shot outside for like 20 mins... by this time a few other fans had finally showed up... there were about 20 or 30 people there just chillin and watchin the shoot.... and then the DB looked over and asked me "What do ya think? Look good?"
"Yeah Dude... it looks awesome..." I replied... :)

Well they finished up the Jeep shoot... and DB wondered over and started signing... haha I like the way Jeri putit when people started flocking toward him... "Keesh... I think we're good if we just stand here... I mean I'm with you... he's going to wonder over here..."
"This is true lady... this is true..." I said to her...

And sure enough... he of course made his way over... giving the Keesh a hug and saying hey... "I heard you were going to be here... good to see ya... you've been to a lot of shows this year..."
"Yeah... of course... :)"
"Ha well yeah..."
"This is my friend Jeri... she hasn't been to a show in like three years Dude..."
"Oh yeah? Where at?"
"Asheville, NC in 2006..." said Jeri smiling from ear to ear...
"Ah yeah... that was a long time ago... Y'all want some pics? Anything signed? haha"
"Sure dude... you should totally sign Jeri's little white tanktop"
"Haha ok..."

Soooo the DB proceeded to sign her shirt and we each got a pic with the Dude... :) very awesome...

"Well guys... I would stay and hang but I got to finish up the shoot still and do some radio and soundcheck still. We're running a little behind today... but it's good to see ya here Keesh... I'll try and comeback out a little later before the show..." and with one more hug for the Keesh the dude moved on to these guys who walked up and then made his way back to the CW bus...

And with that... we decided to make our way up front and see what the line situation was going to be like... Sooo we did and there was a nice little group of people... maybe 12 or so total that were around front... So me and Jeri claimed our spot in line... ha but not before bumping into Carmin who had finally arrived! She had literally just missed the Dierks... haha poor Carmin... but we did get introduced to her two daughters... we had met her sister a little earlier in the day... Anyway... we hopped in line... and proceeded to bake and wait...

It was RIDICULOUSLY HOTTTTTTTT!! and humid... ew... no good... nope nope... Sooo while we were baking and waiting for the doors to open... at 8! and it was only 6pm... we said hi to some DB Congress Reps... most of which had M&Gs... and that's when we discovered something odd... we all realized that the Will Call window was not open... so how were we suppose to get our M&Gs? (insert dramatic music here... duh duh duuuuummmm) ad so the asking of questions proceeded... we asked people who worked for the Tab... and people who worked for Samsung (who sponsored the promo event)... and nobody seemed to know the answers... and that's when people turned and looked at me... soooo I volunteered to go around back to where the buses were and see if anyone on DBs crew knew anything...

Soooo I went around back... and found another group of fans... none of which I knew except for Carmin's daughters and her sister Angie... everyone else... they were non DB Congress fans... Which made me proceed to plug the FC and tell them why they should join :) anyway... back to the search for answers... I waited and eventually Jeri made her way back there too... and we asked the fans if they had seen a girl in a blue dress... nobody had... and at about that time we see her making her way toward the CW bus, coming off the loading ramp... she didn't hear us the first time we hollered so we proceeded to run around to the front of that bus... and we had just missed her hopping on... dang... soooo a little more waiting until we got answers... haha... Brittany popped off the bus and we asked her if she knew anything about when we could pick up M&Gs...
"Hey guys!"
"Hey Brittany... do you know anything about M&Gs... when they will be available?"
"Dude... I didn't even know we were having an M&G for fanclub until like 20 minutes ago..."
"Wow..."
"I know right... hhmmm... will y'all be around here for a while?"
"Maybe... we're holding our place in line right now..."
"Ok... well they're about to start soundcheck... Sooo... when you hear them get done... come around back... I'll go in and ask and see what's going on with them... and I'll let ya know Keesh."
"Alright lady... sounds like a plan :)"
"Ha yeah... well I got to run this stuff inside..."
"Alright... Thanks Brittany!"
"No prob guys"

Soooo me and Jer made our way around to the front... to relay the message... and soooo we waited and enjoyed the delightful soundcheck... and everytime there was a dramatic pause me or Jeri would go around back and see if Brittany was back yet... well apparently there are quiet a few dramatic pauses during soundchecks, when they're running late... haha... So me and Jer made about 3 trips each back to the buses... and well finally Jer popped her head around, the now monsterous "Registered" line, at the left entrance door to the tab... completely seperate from the "Priority Access" line that we were in at the right entrance... and when I saw monsterous... I mean that Registered line was wrapping around the block dudes... it was a hardcore line...

Well... Jer hollered "Keesh! Come here!" so I rushed over and there was the DB... and about 50 fans completely surrounded him on all sides... and he was signing everything that was put in front of him... haha... SOOoooooo Jeri handed me her cowboy hat... and I made my way toward the Dierks... haha... and he grabbed the hat and signed it... then he looked up and saw who he was giving it back to...
"Hey Keesh! Haha... it's crazy out here!"
"I know Dude!"
"Haha back to work!"
So the dude gives me a high five and continues to sign... and that's when I spot Brittany standing there watching the madness... Sooooo I hand Jeri her hat and we wade through the madness to Brittany... she spots us! "Hey guys!" she says...
"Hey lady! What did ya find out?"
"Well the M&Gs will be up front by 8... they should be there... They said they were thinkin about opening up Will Call... but the Tab crew should be handling it... sooo I'm not 100% sure... but the M&G shouldn't get started until 9 so you'll have time to track them down."
"Awesome! Thanks Brittany for the info!"
"No Problem"
"Well we're going to make our way back around front... and we'll see ya on the inside!"
"Haha... alright."
 
whtie patterned shirt.  Now came the task of relaying a message to the two of them... Jeri and Carmin's daughter.  Because it was ridiculously loud, and them answering their cells would be almost impossible...  Sooo we tried anyway, even though we weren't sure if they'd get the messages on time... Cause it was right at 9 o'clock.. AAAHHH!

Well... then Brittany popped up to come get us for M&G... and we went through right on pass the security guard... and I finally got up to her and told her about Jeri's M&G and how she didn't have it...
"AAhhh... well... go get her! haha... cut across the front of the stage so you won't have to go through the crowd... help her get through, tell people to move and they will..."
"Alrighty..." well of course that security guard didn't like me going that way and he tried to stop me... and that's when my friend Brittany put him in his place, telling him to let me through... :)
Anyway... I made my way over to where Jeri was and hollered at her and helped her get through the crowd... she was stoked... :) I handed her the M&G and she slapped it on and then gave me the biggest hug ever... "KESHIA HOW DID YOU GET THIS!!" "HAHA! I'M AMAZING THAT'S HOW! JK! THIS LOVELY LADY GAVE IT TO ME!" then Jeri proceeded to squeeze our black and white shirt friend until I thought Jeri was going to squeeze her to death.  haha... it was time to go back for the M&G...

And while we were walking through the maze, which is the back of the Tabernacle... me and Jeri kept getting high fives or smiles and "HEY!"s from crew members who knew us... haha... it pays to talk to the crew... anyway Brittany led us to the M&G room... where we got the list of cans and cannots, which is typical M&G protocol. Well we me and Jeri kind of held back toward the rear of the line and chatted with the CW photographers who were hanging out in the M&G as well, looking for photo opportunities... and then the man walked in through the door... :)
"Hey guys... how ya doin..."

:D Got to love the D... He's just sooooo sweet.... He's really personable and he genuinely cares about his fans... yes... this is the part of the review where I rave about Dierks being awesome... you guys have reached it!

Haha... back to the M&G... well... me and Jeri were more or less just hangin back toward the end of the line. Just chillin and listening to the conversations.  But alas... we eventually reached our turns in the M&G line... So I handed my camera to "Camera Chris" who by now must know how to work every camera out on the market... and Dierks gave me a hug... "Hey Keesh! Long time no see..."
"I know right... So I think I've finally decided to retire this 'Who the hell is Dierks Bentley' shirt... Soooo if you could sign it that would be awesome... oh yeah... did you see the Dierks Mobile?"
"Sure did... OH YEAH! haha... forgot to tell ya earlier, but we were going to come out and take pics with your car as like an impromptu shoot, but then it came that terrential downpour and by the time it stopped raining we didn't have time to... but I thought I would tell you, because it's awesome that you do that for every show..."
"Ah that would've been awesome..." (insert Dierks signing my shirt)
"Yeah it would've AH! picture time smile Keesh!"
(insert massive smiling by me and the D)
"Hey guys! Get a pic of this shirt! Smile Keesh!"
(insert CW photographers taking a pic of the shirt)
And of course after that pic, I HAD to tell the DB about my tat... I've never told Dierks the story behind either of my DB tats... both of which are lyrics... well... the most recent one that I got are my "It's a ong trip alone..." lyrics behind my left ear... I told Dierks how much that song meant to me because it helped me get through the death of my dad... He passed away two years ago and that song has helped me be ok... It held me together and kept me focused on the things that I had to get done... and it made me ok again and it still does.  I told Dierks all of that and then I started to tear up. Dierks gave me a big hug and said he appreciates that and he's glad that it helped me sooo much. He then told me about a friend of his who had recently passed away. He said that was his friends favorite song and everytime he plays it he thinks of him. "I know what you mean Keesh and I know how you feel. That song means a lot to me too."

Anyway... haha that made me feel better and those tears went away.

Well... after that serious moment it was time for Jeri's M&G... and of course leave it to Jeri to have the best pic idea... haha she asked dierks if she could get a pic of her giving DB a kiss on the cheek... haha and everyone else was floored with the idea... all you heard were "I WISH I'D THOUGHT OF THAT!" and "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US YOU WERE GOING TO DO THAT!!" from the other Congress Reps... it was very very funny... so after her M&G we got to hang with Dierks and chit chat for a while. Then CW and DB wanted to get a group pic with all of his Reps... Soooo we gladly obliged... Everyone was crowded in so tight that me and Jeri who are exceptionally tall for two females had to stand on tip toes just to be seen... haha...

And after that it was almost showtime soooo we had to get gone.  Well Brittany was ushering everyone out front back toward the stage... but alas we bumped into Tim and Jay who both needed hugs and hellos... :) I haven't talked to Tim since... Duluth, GA at Wild Bills for a prolonged period of time, so it was really cool seeing him.

Anyway after finding our way through the maze that is the backstage area of the Tabernacle, we found our way back to where we were suppose to be... After walking through the wrong door and accidentally walking out onto stage for a second or two... we found our way back to our seats.... stepping on a few toes and what not... saying "I'm sorry" a lot... and bumping into a lot of people I didn't know...

But all in all it was pretty much a miracle that we got back out to where we were before.... :) thank goodness...

And with a wave from Jay and a guitar pick :) before we knew it it was show time! The lights dimmed and the crowd errupted, all you could see were the silhouettes of the band making there way on stage and with the drop of a bass drum beat, the rift of a steel guitar, and Rod laying down the makings of a great show... and then the man himself made his entrance... and so it was set forth, the makings of an awesome show...

And that it was!!!!!! I love watching Dierks perform, he bounces around stage like a bouncy ball in a long straight hall way... haha... It was really really awesome. Not to mention when Dierks kinda sort of "stage dove" into the crowd... and by "stage dove" I mean sit on the railing and lean into the crowd because he doesn't want to get ripped to shreads.... he spotted the Keesh and leaned in and shoved the mic in my face... and I got to sing "I WANNA FEEEEELLL THAT FIRE!!" It was awesome... the ? hhmmm... I can't remember.... dang... I've sang with the Dierks a bunch... haha... it was pretty rad though...

Well Dierks played for about two hours, it was a good set. A lot of his hits and a few noobs from his new album. I really like his small acoustic set, and his encore was awesome. George Strait, Waylon, and Johnny! You couldn't ask for a better set. And speaking of sets... ha me and Jer waited for the crowd to clear and the crew started clearing the stage and that's when me and Jeri spotted our new friend Izzy! And of course he hooked us up with Dierks' set list... haha which the row of girls in front of us REALLY wanted.... snatching for the list, but Izzy didn't let them have it... He made sure it makde it safely into Jeri's hands. Pretty awesome.

Haha so from there after it was off to the buses... because that's where we were parked :) and we wanted to see Dierks one more time and say bye to some friends before we headed back to the hotel.

Soooo we hung out with some peeps from the show, many of whom were fairly new DB fans... they didn't belong to the Congress and needed some mild education... ya know which bus was his, who was with the crew and who wasn't ya know the usual things that are often asked of a Congress Rep.  Well, we waited and chatted... me and Jeri found our bud Chris working and said hey, he was busy helping load up the trucks and then we spotted Izzy hopping on the crew bus and we just had to say thanks :) and of course we saw Rod, Tim, Robbie and Steve so we had to say bye and tell them that it was a great show.  Anyway the time passed by and eventually the Dierks made his way out of the Tab and to his fans.

We were toward the tail end of the line so we just chilled... Dierks would of course make his way down to Keesh... and he did... all the while we chatted it up with Chris... we talked about Nashville and me and Jeri's plans to move there and all that good stuff... and then the man got to us...

"HEY GUYS! YOU'RE STILL HERE!"
"Yeeaaahhh... haha awesome show dude..."
"Yeah it was good, awesome crowd... do y'all want to get a pic together?"
"That'd be awesome."
So we took some pics and chatted for a little bit.  Then he had to move on and finish signing for the rest of the crowd that was waiting. Jake walked by and I petted him, finally he had gotten his walk.  I also got a pic with Jay... my Tshirt buddy :) and we continued to chat it up with Chris. Then I feel this tug on my right arm, someone had grabbed my hand... and I was about to turn around and slug someone, when I realized it was Dierks. haha

"Keshia thank you so much for coming out to all the shows. I really appreciate it. You're an awesome fan. It'll be a while before we're back in the area but I can't wait, I hope you can make it to one of the shows... or a few.  It's always awesome to see you out there.  You've been a fan for a long time.  Anyway I have to go but thanks again... really. Thanks. See ya Keesh!"

"Bye Dierks! Have a safe trip... believe me it's no problem at all."

And with a big hug. We said goodbye and that was that. The end to another perfect Dierks show. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. I think that sums up the adventures that me and mine tend to have on these roadtrips.

Soooo with that I wrap up this review... sorry for the length, but you guys were warned... I'm a writer it happens... And to those who are new to the Dierks Bentley and his music, a new Congress Rep perhaps.  You should know that Dierks is a very loving guy when it comes to his fans and the biggests piece of advice that I could give to a noob is to be patient and wait.  Good things always come to those who wait.  So although this doesn't rank #1 on my lists of concerts it is certainly up there, possibly in the top five or so, definately made the top ten.  The dude never disappoints.  It was great to see a lot of you DBfcers that I haven't seen in a while.  It was awesome chatting it up before the show and I can't wait to do it again.  Who knows, Miles for Music is coming up and I'm way past overdue for a trip out to Nashville.  I need to go apartment hunting anyway... but alas my words grow few and thus we draw to the end.  So a good day to all and I hope you enjoyed this review... leave your thoughts and comments please.

-later