A new set of musicians attracted a different demographic to Wells Fargo Arena this year at the annual ASU Fall Welcome Concert. Rather than a famous rock band, such as last year's guests Taking Back Sunday, blowing up the stage with punk angst, headliner Dierks Bentley and opener Chingy drew in cowboy hat-wearing country fans and listeners who enjoy some hip hop beats from their high school years.
Starting off the night, rapper Chingy brought to the stage songs like “Right Thurr” and “Dem Jeans” to take the audience back a few years. The crowd raised their hands and pumped them to the beat as commanded by the artist during his biggest hits. Audience members were happily surprised to find that this almost outdated artist put on an entertaining show.
“I decided going into it that it wasn't going to be anything impressive,” said incoming freshman, Jackie Leather. “I was really surprised with both performances.”
Even attendees who were attracted to the concert by the country headliner were happy about the opening act. Freshman Niraj Patel said Chingy “lit it up” that night.
Still, the main performance was what drove the audience wild.
Phoenix native, Dierks Bentley came in with a full band of a steel guitarist, a violinist and banjo player and of course the traditional drummer, bassist and lead electrical guitarist. With an acoustic guitar strapped around his plaid clad shoulder and the stage still dark, Bentley entered accompanied with hysterical screams. The “dreamy” singer began his set with the traditional country twang ever-so-strong in his voice and continued to send those in the packed seats roaring.
Bentley continued his show with the routine run of high fives with the front row audience, recollections of his time spent as a Phoenix-raised youth and picks flying into the audience. As his set continued, he received screams from the crowd by sporting a camouflage ASU cap given to him by a fan in the front row, and after a set of well-known hits by the country singer, Bentley began to mix it up with covers by George Strait and even the bluegrass musician Kristoffer Kristofferson, breaking out a fiddle, a mandolin and vintage microphones. This sub genre twist did nothing to bore the crowd, as they cheered on the off-mainstream folk tune. Ending his encore with a bow to the “I'm Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys did not confuse the crowd, but sent them off fist-pumping the air and dancing to the Irish-punk song.
Freshman Stephanie Maxwell, 18, was happy “to just be a part of this entire thing” and said she felt more than welcomed into the Sun Devils world.
“I can't wait for next year's concert,” said Jackie Leather, who entered the concert without high hopes, “I hope it's just as good.”
Reach the reporter at lauren.jordan@asu.edu
