SAN FRANCISCO — Country crooner Orville Peck didn’t tour at all in 2023, canceling shows to work on his mental heath.

The masked singer-songwriter, born Daniel Pitout in South Africa and based in Canada, explained at his show at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Friday that he’d found himself in the same place that led to him writing “Hexie Mountains,” which he said was his favorite song from 2022 hit album Bronco.

As he introduced the song, he said he dealt with heavy depression back then, leading to him writing about his own mental health for the first time on the song, but that the depression returned in 2023. He also apologized to anyone affected by his show cancellations, but added that those cancellations helped save his life.

“I’m now the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been,” Peck said before he, banjo and pedal steel player Dillon Casey and the rest of their band kicked into the banjo-tinged song that flowed like an aural river.

The happiness, and the emotions of his other songs, translated directly to the performance.

Taking the stage to Scott McKenzie’s “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” in a black cowboy hat and matching sparkly pants, vest, boots and mask, the artist pulled from the Johnny Cash playbook when he walked up to his microphone and said, “Hello, I’m Orville Peck.”

The band began with an intro song in “Big Sky.” Peck’s thundering baritone was accompanied by a funereal and wistful guitar melody until the song exploded, and his voice morphed into a growl as the drummer wailed away at his toms with mallets. Orville Peck got more and more dramatic as the night went on. During driving rock song “Turn to Hate,” he kicked up his leg and then climbed atop the drum riser for a blistering jam.

And on “The Hurtin’ Kind,” one of a handful of songs from two-part 2024 album Stampede, he emphatically pointed upward with his pointer finger and flexed his bare biceps while strumming. The show’s production was low-key with a large half-circle lit up in the colors of the sun and a row of spotlights. There were no distractions from the musicians on stage.

Chatting with the audience for the first time, he spoke about visiting Castro gay bar Hi Tops the previous day and then explained that an Orville Peck show has three rules.

“The first is you have to sing, even if you don’t know the words. Because that’s funny for us,” he said. “The second is to dance along if you’re able. The third is very serious: If you feel like crying, you have to cry. I’m going to make you cry.”

That was the introduction to another pulsating rock tune, “C’mon Baby, Cry,” but it could have worked for any number of the artist’s emotional songs, such as “No Glory in the West,” during which his voice rested heavily on a lonesome guitar melody.

Bronco was the most-represented album (which makes sense since Stampede is a duets album), but he was still able to knock out a stellar, euphoric rendition of “How Far Will We Take It?” on which vocalist-guitarist Emily Rose stepped in to sing Noah Cyrus’ parts.

And so it went, with the band traversing simmering and slow-building songs like “Dead of Night” and raucous thumpers like “Daytona Sand” and “Blush,” during which he skipped around while strumming an acoustic guitar; and “Lafayette,” which had him shimmying like Elvis and swinging his Gretsch electric.

During new tune “Conquer the Heart,” he had a guitar duel with guitarist  Evan Weiss. For power ballad “Drive Me, Crazy,” he sat down at a piano at the front of the stage with Weiss soloing over him. Orville Peck added a gravelly texture t his voice on barn-burner “Any Turn.” He also handed out roses to fans he deemed worthy, including a couple of “young buckeroos” near the front. Another fan tossed him a bouquet of his own.

Toward the end of the set, he explained how the concept of a duets album came about—an “old guy in Texas” asked him to record one song. The guy was Willie Nelson, and the song was a cover of Ned Sublette’s “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other.” Peck even changed his inflection while singing the Nelson’s parts. It of course went over great with attendees, who cheered every time he reached a lyrical climax.

Nashville artist Nikki Lane preceded the headliner with an energetic 10-song set and a story of her own. She and her band began with bass jaunt “Highway Queen,” the title track of her 2017 album, and “700,000 Rednecks,” which began as a mid-tempo Southern rocker until the pedal steel player joined in.

“First time I ever played [“First High”] was at the Fillmore,” Lane said while introducing the song. “You think about the old Bill Graham venues. A lot of psychedelics have been done here.”

Her set included the melodic and poppy “Send the Sun,” fiddle-led “Man Up,” bittersweet down-tempo ballad “Faded” and bluesy rock song “All or Nothin’.”

“Jackpot” and “Black Widow” were energetic highlights, with Nikki Lane swinging her hips around.

“You know how to pick a girl up when she’s feeling down,” she said as the crowd joined in the clap-along during “Denim & Diamonds.”

California-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Emily Nenni opened the concert with a set of honky tonk tunes. She also pointed out that her parents and sister were in the audience, which is why she was both excited and sweaty.

“Bay Areeeeaaaaa!” she began. “I’m sorry; I don’t talk like that.” She quickly picked up a drawl.

Nenni’s four-member backing band was tight, especially pedal steel player James Wyatt Woodall, who shined on “Get to Know Ya” and “Drive and Cry.” She followed those up with “Don’t Wanna Cry,” “Long Game” and the uptempo “Rootin’ For You.”

“This is wild. Thanks to my parents for having me, and thanks to my sister for being my favorite,” she said, before concluding with a cover of Terry Allen’s “Amarillo Highway.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Mariana García at Instagram.com/marianagphoto.