Who Was Dierks Bentley’s First Concert?
Dierks Bentley's first taste of live music didn't come from a country artist. Instead, the singer-songwriter's first concert was pretty rock 'n' roll!
When he was a teenager, Bentley went to see Bon Jovi and Skid Row at the now-defunct Compton Terrace in his home state of Arizona.
"At 13, a friend introduced me to an electric guitar. I didn't even know you were allowed to play an electric guitar. Didn't know they existed," Bentley says, who, up until that point, listened to country because that's what his dad listened to. "But he had all the pedals that made all the sounds. And I started getting into all the music those guitars play."
The "I Hold On" singer says he spent a lot of that show focusing on the girls in the audience rather than the bands on stage, though.
"A lot of times, if we have a B stage where we can get close to the grass, I tell the guys up in the back, 'I'm sure there are some guys up there not even watching. You're probably here to meet girls, probably staring at a girl right now. And I can relate, because that's how I spent my first concert,'" Bentley says. "I told that story to Bon Jovi, and he said, 'That's the sign of a good concert.'"
Bentley got back into country around 17, when a friend introduced him to Hank Williams Jr., but he's been known to cover the Jersey boys in concert and has even performed with the band.
Check out this installment of Taste of Country‘s You Think You Know Country? series above to get to know Bentley even better, including the scoop on something he did before his wedding that no guy should ever do.
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