Dierks Bentley to perform Saturday

This Saturday the IU Auditorium will open its doors to something it hasn’t seen in a while: a country act.\nThe Union Board is bringing Dierks Bentley to the auditorium for a 7:30 p.m. show to add a new flavor to its spring events line-up.\n“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a country artist, if ever, so we decided it would be good for Union Board to bring (one) to IU,” said Adam Soiref, UB concerts director. \nThe last country performer to come to IU was Willie Nelson in December 2004. The IU Auditorium brought him as part of their season, Auditorium Director Doug Booher said.\nSoiref also said students have been requesting a country artist.\nThe concert committee finally decided on Bentley after hosting several group discussions and asking students who they want to see, Soiref said. He said Bentley was a good choice because of his new album, “Long Trip Alone,” and plethora of chart-topping singles, beginning with the 2003 hit “What Was I Thinkin’.” Bentley’s style of music is a blend of country and rock, which Soiref said he thinks will appeal to a larger group of students.\nBentley’s opening act, Jason Boland, also has a “high-energy” music style. Boland said he classifies his music as “neo honky tonk,” a blend of steel guitar and fiddle two-step music that isn’t often heard on the radio today. \nBoland and his band, The Stragglers, are touring on their own to promote their new album, “The Bourbon Legend,” but occasionally meet up with Bentley. He said they’ve played several universities before and are particularly looking forward to play at IU because of the school’s party reputation.\n“Usually any time college kids are blowing off steam, it creates a really great mood,” he said.\nBut Soiref has been concerned that students might choose to “blow off steam” at Assembly Hall instead, since the concert will compete with IU’s last home basketball game for an audience. The Hoosiers take on Penn State at 8 p.m. Saturday. Soiref said the date was “that or nothing” since it was most convenient for Bentley, who’s playing in Fort Wayne this evening.\n“It’s always hard to compete with IU basketball, especially on this campus,” he said. “I think it gives another opportunity for students to see some entertainment, even though it is going up against final home game. Hopefully students will still come out and enjoy a good concert.”\nFrom the looks of tickets sales, it seems that students will be doing just that. Soiref said Wednesday evening that they had sold tickets for about 2,000 of the auditorium’s 3,200 seats and will continue to sell tickets until the start of the show. Tickets are $25 for students and $35 for non-students.\nJunior Colleen McConahay, who said she’s been a fan of Bentley since high school, gave up her basketball tickets to see the concert with a group of friends. \n“My friend Gina was like, ‘I just saw on the Web site that he’s coming to Bloomington, so we have to go!’” she said. “Not many country singers come to Bloomington. I was surprised.”\nMcConahay said she based part of her decision on the fact that the team has been playing well at home and she expects IU to win. But most of all, she said she’s excited to see Bentley perform live.\n“(I’m most excited) to see him in person,” she said. “Artists always change (songs) up a bit when they perform live and I like to hear that.”