Woman ‘Impaled’ at Dierks Bentley Show – Speaks on Puking Incident
A woman was seriously injured at the Dierks Bentley show Sunday Night (11-16) in Utica, New York when a piece of falling metal from the ceiling of the Utica Memorial Auditorium impaled her in the leg. Emergency crews stationed at the auditorium (known affectionately by locals as “The AUD”) had to extricate the woman from the crowd on a stretcher as concerned concertgoers looked on. The woman’s injury is being called “significant.”
Utica Fire Chief Russell Brooks told News Channel 2 that the piece of metal was a tie rod that had been used to mount an old light to the ceiling of the auditorium. The light was removed, but the tie rod was left dangling, eventually falling and injuring the woman. She was transported to a local hospital via ambulance.
This is the second strange incident at a Dierks Bentley concert in the last week. On November 13th, a woman puked on stage when Dierks brought her and her friends up for a singalong of his hit “Drunk On A Plane.” Dierks told Country 92.5’s Electric Barnyard that he brought the woman and her friends up on stage because they were dressed as flight attendants. But apparently Dierks wasn’t fazed by the incident, he actually enjoyed it. “I’ve seen people throw up in the crowd. I’ve seen fights, I’ve seen blood. It was pretty awesome to be honest. I’m always looking for something like cool about every night. So for that to happen was pretty epic. I’d love for that to maybe happen again,” Dierks said.
Some have disputed the irony of the situation, saying that the woman was not drunk, but suffering from stage fright, but Dierks says, “There was a picture of her on Twitter world of her with a drink in her hand, so I don’t know.”
November 17, 2014 @ 1:15 pm
He’s always looking for something cool? Puking, fights, severe injuries, those things are cool? Just being able to sing your songs on a stage in front of Lord knows how many people and getting paid for it isn’t cool enough for you, Dierks?
God, please send me back to the 90s, when Garth Brooks was country music’s biggest problem, and America’s biggest controversy was the President getting a BJ…
November 17, 2014 @ 1:27 pm
Seems a little weak to even try to connect this accident to the performer or type of music. Sounds like this could have happened at any event from a sporting event to a gospel music concert.
Now the puking women on the other hand…
November 17, 2014 @ 2:10 pm
I’m not trying to connect the woman’s injury to Dierks whatsoever, and certainly not trying to say he’s to blame. It happened at one of Dierks’ shows, and that is why it is relevant to report on a country music website.
November 17, 2014 @ 2:15 pm
Yeah I know you weren’t trying to blame him but it just comes across as trying to connect this incident with the puking by putting both in the header. Just by the headline I half expected some drunk ass guy running through the crowd with a spear or something.
But no biggie just seemed a little sensational.
November 17, 2014 @ 5:28 pm
Really? Sure seems like like you are to trying to connect these unrelated incidents.
November 17, 2014 @ 8:42 pm
The only way these two incidents are related is because they involve Dierks Bentley concerts. I could have written two separate articles, one as an update about the vomiting incident with Dierks’ quotes, and another about the injured lady. But this seemed even more gratuitous and potentially sensational. So I smashed these two small stories together so it didn’t appear I was piling on Dierks. Nowhere did I say or imply that either of these two incidents were Dierks’ fault in any way. Dierks has done nothing wrong here. But both incidents were newsworthy, and something that apparently people found very interesting judging by the amount of people who have read them. I have no beef with Dierks Bentley.
November 17, 2014 @ 1:38 pm
I have to ask, having been aware of this dude’s existence for a few years…who names their kid “Dierks”? What the hell kind of a name is that?
Of course I could ask the same thing of people that name their kids Brantley. I guess even Faron Young had a pretty weird first name.
November 17, 2014 @ 2:08 pm
You could also ask this of Cody Canada who named his kid “Dierks” after Dierks.
November 17, 2014 @ 1:56 pm
Man! That sucks! I hope they can track down whoever left that tie-rod up there, and beat them with it. That’s some seriously stupid shit.
November 17, 2014 @ 7:10 pm
They remodeled the Aud the put an AHL hockey team in in 2013 and the renovations were done quickly. I’m kinda surprised other incidents have not happened.
November 18, 2014 @ 4:37 pm
Yea. Certain things just aren’t meant to be done quickly.
November 17, 2014 @ 2:27 pm
Awful accident that probably could have been prevented.
On a slightly unrelated note: Why does the newscast look like something from the 90s?
November 17, 2014 @ 7:12 pm
It’s Utica, NY. Not a large media market by any stretch, The Arena was quickly upgraded in 2013 to put an AHL hockey team in.
November 17, 2014 @ 8:27 pm
Ah, that make sense. I meant no disrespect towards it, but it just looked very old school. I’m in the suburbs of Philadelphia so I guess I’ve gotten used to seeing all the glitzy, high-tech, big market news productions from the city.
November 17, 2014 @ 2:54 pm
It’s difficult to believe those are the words of a 38 year-old man. What a jerk.
November 17, 2014 @ 3:27 pm
If I were at one of his shows, I am sure that self-impalement or self-immolation may well be viable options that I would consider.
Does he really think that bodily functions and accidents involving EMT people and fans in the hospital is a cool thing?
It sure looks that way.
He needs to get that out of his system by going to some WWF events, local demolition derbies at the dirt track, etc.
November 17, 2014 @ 3:59 pm
OK, I’ll admit it. Watching people puke is nowhere on my “awesome” list of things and it isn’t something I need to see again.
I don’t care how good Riser is, Dierks really isn’t that much different from Jason Aldean (his tour mate) and the others in terms of preaching the get drunk and party at a concert mentality.
Personally I spend my concert money on actually listening to the music. It’s a lot cheaper to get drunk at home if that is the goal. Of course most of the bro-country music is crap so why not get drunk.
November 17, 2014 @ 4:11 pm
Call me old fashioned, but I don’t classify being puked on as cool. Those crazy kids these days…..
November 17, 2014 @ 4:57 pm
But they were not kids. That was an indoor concert @ Hershey Park…a family oriented arena. If you did not have an ID you did not get served alcohol period.
November 17, 2014 @ 4:53 pm
Whatever happened was the responsibility of the arena. Not the entertainer who happened to be on the stage at the time of the incident.
November 17, 2014 @ 8:46 pm
I agree. Dierks’ name is brought up simply to create the context for what happened. Nobody is blaming Dierks, at least nobody that I’ve seen.
November 17, 2014 @ 4:55 pm
I personally think he’s trying to keep the poor woman from feeling any more embarrassment. If he comes out and says, “Yeah, it sucked that I got hurled on,” it just amplifies how shitty she feels about the situation. It was an awkward quote–sounds to me like he was just trying not to embarrass her further.
As for the impaling incident. People make mistakes but how in god’s name do you not secure that piece or remove it? Jesus Christ. Doesn’t common sense tell you that if you working on something in the ceiling, you should make damn sure that it can’t fall? My goodness.
November 17, 2014 @ 8:45 pm
I once had a framing board falling perpendicular to the ground from two stories up fall on my toe. Worst pain I’ve ever been in in my life. A piece of metal falling from that high up is like getting shot with a bullet the size of a carriage bolt. Someone should be held accountable.
November 18, 2014 @ 8:12 am
Oh, they will be. If this woman and he family are smart they’re going to sue the living shit out of the Aud, and they’ll win because of the ridiculous nature of the incident and that idea that somebody at that facility was careless enough to leave something loose in the ceiling.
That, or somebody they hired to work on the lights was that careless. One way or the other, somebody’s carelessness is likely to lose them their livelihood. Considering that this woman or another concert-goer could have died because of this, I’m perfectly OK with that. You fuck up that badly and it should have a major impact on your life.
November 17, 2014 @ 5:38 pm
Dierks can’t catch a break. Wish the ladies a speedy recovery.
November 18, 2014 @ 6:15 am
I’ve never been a fan of your articles that bash people getting drunk and partying at country concerts. Simply because alcohol and drugs have always been a part of country music and you of all people should realize that instead of trying to pretend that the new era of singers are morally inferior to the old guard. This article just brings it to a whole other level though. This has nothing to do with music at all much less Dierks Bentley. It really seems like you’re just trying to get more clicks and needlessly drag someones name through the mud.
November 18, 2014 @ 12:52 pm
Chris,
NOWHERE did I attempt to pin this incident on Dierks Bentley personally, or imply that somehow he is responsible. This is a wild-eyed assumption being made by certain readers. Someone got severely injured at a country music concert in an unusual and dangerous scenario. Multiple websites and news outlets, including other country music outlets, have run stories on this incident because it is relevant and newsworthy. It is implicit on media outlets to help ensure the safety of the public and the conveyance of information.
November 21, 2014 @ 7:59 pm
If you have ever been to the Utica Memorial Auditorium, you’d understand what a relic that gross and ill-utilized building is. It is a shame what has happened to it. Another one of those Upstate venues that rarely gets big names or anything at all. To have Dierks touring there was quite a surprise in the first place.