SAN DIEGO _ On some level, Dierks Bentley's jaunt to San Diego Friday night could have ended up like any other country concert: songs about women and beer, with choruses that lament lost loves and muddy tires.
But this is Dierks Bentley, a contemporary country performer who possesses a complex duality that belies his handsome good looks.
In Bentley's able hands, country music lives in somewhat of an aural middle-ground, where pop and rock intersect with bluegrass and honky-tonk.
It's a world where Stetsons live comfortably alongside snapbacks.
It's bro-country personified, and Bentley's the concertmaster.
Friday night _ after rousing opening numbers by California native Jon Pardi and singer-songwriter Cole Swindell _ Bentley took to the stage, very much in control from the get-go with "What the Hell Did I Say," the fourth single from his latest album, 2016's "Black."
His voice sounded raspier than usual _ he's had a few vocal rests since May _ but that didn't stop him from delivering a convincing opening to the nearly two-hour concert.
Nearly 15 years since his breakout hit "What Was I Thinkin'," from his 2003 self-titled debut album, Bentley has come a long way from his early days of playing bar gigs "and getting paid with beer." His San Diego stand was the seventh to the last stop in a North American tour that kicked off in Dayton, Ohio, on Jan. 19.
San Diego's always been special to Bentley. In between songs Friday, the Arizona native told a story about his father loading up the family's 1970s-era Suburban and heading west to Mission Beach for the summer. Bentley, now 41, still spends many summers here, this time with his wife and three children.
"My first concert was here, up there in the grassy area," Bentley said, pointing to the far reaches of the 20,000-capacity Mattress Firm Amphitheatre in Chula Vista. "It was a Dwight Yoakam concert. I can't believe I'm here with 16,000 of you!"
It's the largest concert yet on this tour, Bentley said.
"Thank you, San Diego."
His expressions of gratitude _ and they were abundant Friday _ gave his energetic concert a level of sincerity that felt truly genuine. Bro-country music is so easily dismissible as country-lite, with generic beats that make them highly indistinguishable from one another, but Bentley's at the top of his bro-country game _ and for good reason.
Bentley has the perfect combination of stage charisma, vocal flair and lyrical savvy that made the concert musically satisfying. Early on, he set the tone for the evening with spirited songs like "5-1-5-0" (from 2012's "Home") and "Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)" (from 2007's "Long Trip Alone").
At his best, Bentley's voice is rich and deep, and that was beautifully showcased in "Say You Do," the fourth single from the 2014 album "Riser." It was an honest display of Bentley's vocal strength and vulnerability all at once, as was the case in "Riser," the final single from his studio album of the same name. Performed on a stage in the middle of the amphitheater, "Riser" began as an acoustic performance, haunting and somber, before Bentley brought it boldly home with his band by his side.
He paid homage to country royalty, summoning Pardi about a third into the evening for a lively cover of George Strait's "Troubador."
There are silly songs, of course _ take the encore "Drunk on a Plane," for example _ that could easily be tossed aside like flat beer, but Bentley opts to keep them in his repertoire. He knows his audience, and lively bits like "Stewardess is someone sexy / Leanin' pourin' Coke and whiskey" get his fans out of their seats and up on their feet.
But even before the encore, Bentley already got almost everyone up and dancing to "Sideways," the 2009 single whose up-tempo arrangement featured the great combination of electric guitar and banjo.
Supported by a solid backing band, Bentley delivered a highly polished, arena-worthy concert that was at once powerful and vulnerable, much like Bentley himself.
In the end, there were indeed songs about women and beer, lost loves and muddy tires. But somewhere in the middle of all that cliche, Bentley found just the right mix to make it all work.
And we raise our red Solo cups to that.
DIERKS BENTLEY: WHAT THE HELL TOUR _ SAN DIEGO SETLIST
What The Hell Did I Say
5-1-5-0
Am I the Only One
Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)
Say You Do
Lot of Leavin' Left to Do
Troubadour (George Strait cover)
Every Mile a Memory
Up on the Ridge
Different for Girls
Black
I Hold On
Riser _ B stage
Home _ B stage
Flatliner (with Cole Swindell)
Somewhere on a Beach
What Was I Thinkin'
Sideways
Drunk on a Plane (with Cole Swindell and Jon Pardi)
