Show Me Center reports strong ticket sales for upcoming Dierks Bentley concert

The Show Me Center is reporting strong ticket sales for Friday's Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert concert.

With less than a week to go, venue marketing director Shannon Buford said ticket sales are a little over 3,000 for the concert that will seat 4,430 people. Sales are still a long way from reaching sell-out level, but Buford said the numbers are positive.

The venue scored its last sell out in 2003 when Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts came to Cape Girardeau.

Historically country music concerts are some of the most popular concerts at the Show Me Center. However the venue's last concert by a country performer, Sara Evans and Radney Foster on Jan. 28, sold only 1,930 tickets.

Katie Carson, a DJ with local country station K103 FM, said the buzz surrounding the concert among station listeners has been huge. The station has been registering people for ticket giveaways for weeks. One listener will win two front row tickets and a backstage pass in exchange for shaving his or her head.

"People call throughout the day just to see when the next time they can register to get tickets is," Carson said Friday evening after a day of on-location and call-in giveaways. "Everybody's really kind of crazy about this shaving-the-head thing."

Carson said Bentley is the kind of young, contemporary country performer who can cross age and gender lines, appealing to teens, adults, men and women. Bentley's rock 'n' roll edge (he and his band are known for swilling beer on stage) also gives him a popularity advantage over other country performers, he said.

Buford said he thinks Bentley's wide-ranging appeal is in part due to Bentley's rock attitude, and in part due to his reputation as a strong live performer. For the past three years Bentley has spent almost all of his time on tour, according to the singer's bio.

"I'm throwing out one of those overused terms here, but it's a high-energy show," Buford said.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182