Dierks Bentley’s Burning Man Tour heats up Ottawa on a cold January night

A couple of things that are consistent about Ottawa in January: it’s often really cold, the Rideau canal is usually open for skating and, every couple of years, Dierks Bentley will come to town with a couple of his friends to warm things up a bit.

With 2018 being an off year for Bentley, to allow him time to record and release his new album “Burning Man”, we all knew that 2019 would be the year that he would be back in Ottawa.

The much anticipated show rocked the Canadian Tire Centre last night and it was a night to remember, in more ways than one.

The first time I personally saw Dierks Bentley in Ottawa was in December of 2014. Joining Dierks that night were Randy Houser and Canadian boy Tim Hicks (who is now headlining his own arena tours, and could very well be headlining his own show at Canadian Tire Centre within the next year or two). For 2019 we were all excited when Dierks announced that Tenille Townes, an incredibly talented rising Canadian artist, would be joining him for the first leg of the tour.

Hot Country Nights

The show started in the most amazing way as, Nashville based, cover band Hot Country Knights (with a K) took the crowd back in time with some of the best country covers of the 90’s. The group, established in 1995, features frontman Douglas Douglason (aka Big Rhythm Doug), Trevor Travis, Shelton Van Ricky, Barry Van Ricky, Dillard “Monte” Montgomery, Cade “Bonesy” McCoy,
Terotej “Terry” Dvoraczekinsky and Vinnie “Frenzy Fingers” Pompanelli. The performance was high energy, fun and loaded with some of the best country music from, in my opinion, the greatest decade in country music.

The best part was the look on some of the faces in the crowd wondering why this band, that clearly could benefit from a group therapy session themselves, was chosen to open for an established artist like Dierks Bentley. Well here’s a bit of a spoiler, for those who didn’t know or didn’t figure it out, Douglas Douglason is….Dierks Bentley. Ok you knew that already right?

I truly hope that Hot Country Knights continues to be a thing. Perhaps after Dierks wraps up his Burning Man Tour he and the boys can do a festival run as their alter-egos. The world has become such a serious place these days it was nice to just let our hair down, or mullet in Douglas’ case, and have some fun for a change.

Tenille Townes

Our Canadian starlett, Tenille Townes, hit the stage next. If you listen to country radio at all in Canada you’ve heard “Somebody’s Daughter”, I know it’s been part of every playlist I keep on heavy rotation since it was first released. I was lucky enough to meet Tenille before the show and she’s as wonderful off stage as she is on stage. To be given an opportunity this early in her career as an artist clearly means the world to her.

Ottawa showed up for her set as well which is rare for an opening act, I still don’t understand why you buy a ticket to a show but then only show up for the headliner…that’s like going out for dinner but skipping the appetisers and going straight for the main course. For Tenille’s set I’d say that a large part of the audience was in their seats and Tenille walked out onto the catwalk and rocked it. There’s something about her voice that’s unique, there is no other artist even remotely close in sound and it’s her best quality. Her short set was made up of her own original songs with the exception of an incredible cover of U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” which was so powerful it deserved an ovation on it’s own and would give Bono chills.

She capped off her set with a powerful performance of “Somebody’s Daughter”, I know it’s not customary to give a standing ovation for an opening act but Tenille deserved that and more. She was absolutely incredible.

Jon Pardi

Anyone that says that modern day country artists lack that classic, or traditional, country sound clearly have never heard Jon Pardi sing. His smooth vocals with just enough southern twang to keep it real and a classic guitar and microphone is all Pardi needs to entertain his audience.

I’ve now covered Jon Pardi three times since 2015 (Kingston with Kip Moore, Ottawa with Dierks Bentley in 2017 and last night) and he’s still rockin’ the same set. And why change? His hits are just as hot today as they were in 2015. The dirt is still on his boots, there’s still a heartache on the dance floor, the ladies in the audience still go head over boots when he serenades them while working the night shift. Combine all of that with a band that knows how to rock and you’re guaranteed a good time.

Pardi promised the audience a new album in 2019 so could that mean we’ll see a change in this set for the next tour? I guess 2020 will hold the answer to that question.

Dierks Bentley

This would be my fifth time seeing Dierks Bentley Live (3 times at the CTC and 2 times at Boots and Hearts) and he’s quickly grown into my favourite live act. On tour promoting his 9th studio album, “The Mountain”, Dierks reinvents himself each time he hits the road.

This time the set was little more than a bare stage with a giant screen behind it. Add some lighting effects and Dierks showmanship and massive stage presence and you have something magical.

I was lucky enough to meet with Dierks briefly before the show as he gave his support to the Girl Power Fav Five movement we’ve been working on with Country 101.1 over the last few months. He was just a genuine nice guy, even took a minute to chat with my son before heading back to his pre-show routine.

Aside from the visual aspect of his set a couple of highlights from his performance included a duet with Tenille in which they performed “Different for Girls” (on the same day that his original recording partner for the song, Elle King, posted a photo of herself in a hospital bed after a skiing incident) and when Jon Pardi joined him to perform some classics including Dwight Yoakam’s iconic “Guitars and Cadillacs”.

It was a night to remember for all in attendance. The tour continues tonight in Oshawa before making its way into western Canada. Tickets for all dates can be purchased at www.dierks.com.

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