Mohegan Sun was the place to be on Saturday, November 15th as Dierks Bentley dropped the landing gear on his RISER tour. He brought along Eric Paslay and Randy Houser as special guests for what was one of the most highly anticipated shows of the year. The Mohegan Sun Arena was sold-out and you could feel the excitement building amongst the fans even before the doors opened. New England Country Music was there to cover this amazing concert and give our take on a night filled with countless highlights.
We had the pleasure of meeting Eric Paslay before his set and it made us even more excited for his performance. Right around 7:20 he took the stage and set the tone for the evening as he opened with ‘Like A Song.’ Eric proclaimed to the crowd, “It’s great to be back at Mohegan Sun and this time in the big room,” as he had played shows at the Wolf Den in the past. Next up was a song that the audience knew all too well, ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night,’ which was Paslay’s first number one single as a writer with the song being cut by Jake Owen. The crowd was certainly into hearing the writer’s version and got the place moving. A spotlight was then put on Eric as he slowed things down to perform his newest single, ‘She Don’t Love You,’ and you could easily tell the ballad struck a chord with many in attendance. The slow tempo didn’t last for long as ‘Song About A Girl’ got the energy back into the arena and was followed up with ‘Keep On Fallin.’ Paslay took a moment to thank the crowd for making his last song of the night his first number one song as a singer, ‘Friday Night.’ The crowd reacted by singing every single word back to him loudly to end the set on a great note. It was great to see Eric live as he is such a master storyteller in his writing of songs but also has a commanding stage presence when performing them as well.
The night prior to the Mohegan Sun show, Randy Houser had to miss a performance due to illness which had fans hoping he’d be well enough to sing on this night. This question was answered the second Houser took the stage and started kicking ass with ‘Boots On.’ The man and his band were in high gear from the start and the crowd was rocking along with them. Everyone was clapping to the beat as ‘Growin’ Younger’ was perfomed and then the question was asked, “How many country girls do we have in here tonight?” The females in the crowd roared in response and place get even louder with the first chord of ‘How Country Feels.’
This really got the audience into the set which segued into a new song on his record “about hanging out, havin’ a good time and doing absolutely nothing” – ‘Absolutely Nothing.’ Randy easily has one of the best and most energetic bands in country music today. This was extremely evident as he and the guys put on a jam session to ‘Lowdown and Lonesome.’ One of the many highlights of his performance was ‘Goodnight Kiss,’ as Randy’s vocals shined with just him and a spotlight as eventually the crowds’ voices rose up to take over the chorus of the song. The crowd was treated to a newly written song ‘That’s How We Make Love,’ the first song he ever wrote (‘My Kind of Country’), and an amazing cover of Garth Brook’s ‘Friends In Low Places.’ Houser was nowhere close to stopping this party as his current radio single, ‘Like A Cowboy’ was dedicated to all the cowboys and cowgirls in the house. ‘Runnin’ Outta Moonlight’ had the Mohegan Sun Arena going crazy and you could tell Randy and the band fed off of this energy for their final song, ‘Whistlin Dixie.’ It was great to see Randy Houser have such a platform and ample time to give the crowd one helluva setup for Dierks Bentley. If you weren’t a fan of Randy’s walking in, then you sure were by the time he was done.
Just around 9:30 the audience had their food trays in the upright and locked position as you could tell everyone was ready to take off with their pilot for the evening… Dierks Bentley! Everyone knew this was going to be a great performance even before it began as Dierks has so many hits to choose from and he truly gives you every bit of energy he has. The house lights went off and the giant video screen on the stage started to illuminate with shadows of Dierks and flashing with red and blue lights. After a minute or so, the man himself appeared and the party started with ‘5-1-5-0.’ From the first verse you could feel the energy pulsating between the singer and his fans.
‘Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)’ literally had the floor of the Mohegan Sun Arena shaking as the crowd sang the chorus loudly back to Dierks and each time he’d react as if it was blowing him back from the power. As is tradition at his shows, Bentley brought a fan up on-stage to chug a beer with him before breaking into ‘Am I The Only One.’ Thankfully there was no vomiting on the stage, unlike a few nights before, and Dierks remained undefeated in 2014 with beer chugs.
The tempo of the show then slowed down for a bit as next up were great renditions of ‘Tip It On Back’ and ‘Feel That Fire.’ Dierks then took a moment to stop and address the crowd before he started on the acoustic guitar playing ‘Every Mile A Memory.’ He said, “What’s up Mohegan Sun? Last time me and the guys played here it was called the Fox Den (Wolf Den) and it certainly wasn’t this big. Just want to thank you all as this has been the best summer and fall of my career touring.” Then he even let us in on how his drummer’s wife had worked with Eric Paslay at a Starbucks and if he had only listened to his drummer earlier he could have gotten ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night.’
Bentley brought the energy back in full force as he was all over the stage and interacting with the crowd for ‘Lot Of Leavin’ Left To Do’ before going into one of the best singles from his newest album, ‘Bourbon In Kentucky.’ One of the top highlights of the night was when the sounds of crickets and wolves filled the air, the stage went dark and ‘Up On the Ridge’ began. He and his band jamming at the top of the stage bluegrass style was such a powerful performance with the banjo and fiddle out in full force. The performance also had a great visual aspect to it as the video screen was filled with the moon, woods and fire.
The party then moved to the back of the Mohegan Sun Arena as there was a smaller second ‘B’ stage set up to bring Dierks and his band closer to the fans where he played a cover of One Republic’s ‘Counting Stars.’ While on the ‘B’ stage, Dierks took the time to introduce his band members, joke with a fan who gave him a beer, “You haven’t been to West Africa, have you?,” and tell a few stories about his first country concert he attended (Garth Brooks) and first ever concert he attended (Bon Jovi). The crowd went nuts when they broke into a brief cover of Bon Jovi’s ‘Living On A Prayer.’ A nice surprise was getting to hear ‘Say You Do’ which is one of his brand new songs that he wanted to try out on the ‘B’ stage before bringing it to the big one. Dierks was then left alone on the ‘B’ stage and joked with the crowd how his jeans were put in the dryer on the Luke Bryan setting, and the females in the crowd loudly approved. He then proclaimed, “Someone is going to get lucky to this song tonight!,” and headed back to the front stage as he sang ‘Come A Little Closer.’
As he got back to the main stage, Dierks told the crowd, “Only in country music can you go hangout with your fans and get your butt grabbed by a pretty girl.” He had the crowd in the palm of his hand all evening and hanging on every word and emotion conveyed through his songs. This is why his intro into ‘I Hold On’ was so poignant to hear:
“Over the years I’ve been offered free trucks, but I love my truck as my Dad passed away two and a half years ago. I look at the bench seat and see him next to me on the ride to Nashville. And no new guitar I could ever get would come with a Merle Haggard, George Strait and a Garth Brooks autograph.”
The Mohegan Sun Arena was singing along to each verse of ‘I Hold On’ and almost blew the roof off as Dierks played one of the biggest hits of his career, ‘What Was I Thinkin’.’ He even took the time to count all the little white tank tops occupying the pit area. At this point, he thanked the crowd for coming out and left the stage. But as any concert-going fan knows, you don’t leave until the house lights come on. The video screen came alive with a video intro to ‘Drunk On A Plane’ as Dierks and his band came back out for an encore. The venue exploded to the country anthem of 2014 as the crowd went insane, singing every word and even tossing a few bras up onstage. The party didn’t stop there as ‘Sideways’ followed next with Eric Paslay and Randy Houser joining Bentley to sing his hit song.
Before playing his final song of the night, Dierks took a moment to thank some Navy Seals in attendance who had road tripped with them to Mohegan Sun for the show. The video screen filled the crowd with emotion as it showed a huge American flag and ‘Home’ became the perfect way to end the evening. You could feel the raw emotion in Dierks’ voice and the swell of feelings from the crowd and that’s the true measure of a song. As the show came to its end, ‘Shipping Up To Boston’ played as Bentley and his band thanked the fans in attendance and one lucky fan received a token from the show as he brought a little girl up onstage to give her a signed guitar, a hug, and let her walk off the stage with the band.
Overall this was one of the best concerts I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. Eric Paslay and Randy Houser were the perfect mix to open the show as both bring such great voices, songs and talent. There is never a bad show for Dierks Bentley and he continues to impress with every single performance. He truly is one of the main reasons country music is alive and well when sticking to it’s roots. New England Country Music can’t wait to see each of these performers back in the area soon and you know we’ll be there to cover it all.
This review was completed by NECM contributing writer Mike Sullivan. You can follow me on Twitter.