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Backstage on Bentley’s Broken Branches Tour, Top found himself inducted into a chilly rite of passage.
Dierks Bentley and Zach Top perform on the main stage during CMA Fest 2025 at Nissan Stadium on June 8, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Terry Wyatt/WireImage
“It’s not a summer tour without a cold plunge,” Dierks Bentley wrote on his Instagram on July 8, as he gave fans an insider’s glimpse as he welcomed his tour opener Zach Top into what has become a bit of a tradition for a Bentley tour. Previous tour openers who have taken part in Bentley’s cold-plunge tradition include Riley Green, Jordan Davis, Parker McCollum and Caylee Hammack.
On his current Broken Branches Tour, Bentley dared Top to take a dip in a tub of ice water. Holding up a thermometer that read 29 degrees, Bentley said in the video, “Let’s see how Zach does this.”
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“I need a fresh beer and a cigarette,” Top said, to which Bentley remarked, “The cigarette might provide some warmth…might spark the heat.”
“That’s the strategy here, Dierks,” Top said, later lighting up a fresh cig and getting into an ice-cold tub. Top didn’t have to brave the ice alone: Bentley got into his own ice-filled can.
Quickly after Top got in, holding his beer and cigarette aloft, Bentley said, “Do we have an extra bag of ice?”
“No! No more ice in mine!” Top shouted laughing and adding, “They snuck some warm water in yours.”
For his part, Top seemed right at home in the freezing temps (he is a Washington state native, after all). Bentley noted that Top also fared better than some of his previous tour openers.
“I can tell you he’s already done more than Riley Green,” Bentley said.
“Get f—ed, Riley Green!” Top said jokingly, before quickly adding, “Just kiddin’ brother, I love you.”
“Parker McCollum, you [did better] than Parker,” Bentley said.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Top said, before Bentley added, “Travis Denning was in it for about two seconds…Jordan Davis, you’ve already smoked Jordan Davis.”
On Instagram, Bentley also added, “Zach Top took it like a champ!”
Of course, some of those previous openers had their own viewpoints in the post’s comments.
Denning wrote, “I did two-ish minutes, thank you very much!,” while Davis wrote, “I was trying to show respect to you, Dierks Bentley…didn’t want to beat you at your own game.”
Bentley’s Broken Branches tour, which takes its name from his recently-released album, continues July 10 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
See the video below:
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