Wait for it

The Ol' Man loves him some Cross Canadian Ragweed.

They opened for Dierks Bentley last night at the Nokia Theater in Times Square, and boy did they ever rock the f*ck out. They reminded us of a show we saw in the oldern days, way back in 1998, when Sister Hazel opened for the Allmans.

Now, we'd seen the Allmans many a time, and this particular show in State College was no different. They ruled. But the opening act, Sister Hazel, brought the smaller, filtering-in crowd to its feet on more than one occassion with its abrupt and in your face Southern Rock.

Though more Skynyrd than Hazel, Cody and the boys definitely brought the musical goodness last night.

And Dierks, well, there's just something completely and utterly bad ass about swigging beer and crooning songs and appearing just drunk enough to let your geetar dangle from your neck while your band jams and your fans scream.

Our favorite moment in the show, aside from flailing-arms guy 20 feet in front of us skipping up and down and beckoning Bentley like he was a long lost lover at a rave, was Dierks getting ahead of himself during "Come a Little Closer," singing the third verse first, and acknowledging he doesn't really like the foreplay.

This was the second time we'd seen Mr. Bentley, and motherf*cker has a long career ahead of him. He brought the energy. And Cross Canadian Ragweed backed him up perfectly.

High times and hangovers, indeed. Although at this point in our lives, we'll stick with good times and a morning bagel.