Though it’s not officially summer, it is officially summer tour season: Entertainers including Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney have already started elaborate concerts that will take them through the next few months, usually outdoors.
As you might expect, months of preparation go into these events; and for the artist and crew, there’s nothing quite like the night before the tour officially launches. It’s a weird experience, as it’s the last time you’ll be able to rehearse the entire show from start to finish — though you’re typically doing so in front of a nearly empty arena or stadium.
Last week, country star Dierks Bentley kicked off his Mountain High Tour (along with openers Brothers Osborne and LANCO) at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., which gave us the chance to go behind-the-scenes Thursday before his first concert of the summer on Friday. Here are five things we learned:
1) It is definitely unnerving to see a huge concert in an empty space.
As Bentley took the stage at 9:40 p.m., he was performing in front of about 20 people — in an amphitheater that can hold about 20,000. These performances are a nice treat for, say, the tour bus and truck drivers, who typically sleep through the real shows so they can wake up and drive to the next city through the night.
However, Bentley acted as if he would in front of the real crowd, including running through the aisles and holding out the microphone so the audience could finish certain lyrics. If it was odd for him to hear nothing in response, we could not tell.
2) Bentley’s not the only one rehearsing.
The lighting and camera crews are practicing for the following evening, as well. So if you are in the tiny audience at one of these rehearsal shows, get ready to be on the Jumbotron! Rehearsing these technical aspects is especially important, though — at one point, Bentley was briefly blinded by aggressive stage lights, so it was a good reminder to tone things down for Friday.
3) Even after months of prep, artists can always find things to fix.
Bentley and his band started rehearsing for this show in January, building the set list and creating videos, yet even at the last minute, he was still on high alert for things that needed to change. He felt the band was standing too far apart during “Up On the Ridge,” when they kicked into a high-energy bluegrass song. For “Tip It Back,” he caught a glimpse of himself on an enormous screen on stage, and said, “That is way too hi-def.” And during “Woman, Amen,” the screen showed a photo of Bentley’s wife, Cassidy, as the song ended. But after seeing it on the big screen in color, he told the crew to change it to black and white.
4) Yes, artists will practice small talk.
Bentley’s set was shorter during rehearsal, when he didn’t have to pause for crowd reactions, though he still stopped in places where he planned to address the audience. And he just riffed. “There’s an amazing speech happening . . . it’s going to be amazing,” he said dryly. “It’s going to be good. I don’t want to use it up.” At one point, he started leading a mediation session, which might not be a bad idea for an actual concert activity.
5) Okay, maybe it gets a little awkward to put on a raucous, high-energy show and receive a smattering of applause from 20 people.
“And the crowd goes mild!” Bentley joked to the empty seats after a particularly rollicking song. He also admitted he was fairly anxious to perform in front of an audience “I hope more people show up tomorrow.”
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