MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Hootie & the Blowfish topped a rock bill at Shoreline Amphitheatre that included Collective Soul and Edwin McCain. While it wasn’t the highest-profile concert in the Bay Area on Wednesday—not even in the South Bay—the three acts delivered with performances  that dipped into country, folk and more than a little bit of bluegrass by the headliners.

“I guess you guys couldn’t get tickets to the Stones tonight,” Hootie frontman Darius Rucker said, not only to attendees but his own band. That wasn’t necessarily true, of course, as there were plenty of tickets unsold for the Rolling Stones, who were playing just south at Levi’s Stadium and with resale tickets dipping to $50. No, those who came to Shoreline chose to see the beloved acts from South Carolina and Georgia.

Both Hootie & the Blowfish and Collective Soul are celebrating 30th anniversaries (for Hootie, their debut album, Cracked Rear View, turned 30), so the show included plenty of hits to go around. And both bands called upon McCain, the opener, to jam with them. This allowed him to show off his versatility, not just as a folky singer-songwriter but also as a blues rocker.

Rucker and co. focused not only on their 1994 debut album but covers, several of which paid tribute to other Southern acts. Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” was received as well as the band’s own hits, with touring multi-instrumentalist Garry Murray nearly making his fiddle strings catch fire during the intro.

Toward the end of the show, Hootie & the Blowfish showed off another brand of Southern rock with a cover of R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion,” a faithful recreation with guitarist Mark Bryan on mandolin.

“We wanted to be them; we wanted to sound like them,” Rucker said by way of introduction to the song.

Not all the covers worked perfectly. Stone Temple Pilots’ “Interstate Love Song” was the hardest-hitting song of Hootie’s set and an instant highlight when Rucker walked to stage-right, where the stage meets the seats, and was immediately mobbed; however, a medley of “Old Man & Me” with the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo Money Mo Problems” and “Big Poppa” came off corny as Bryan and Rucker took turns rapping (more like speaking quickly). Led Zeppelin’s “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” fit well alongside Hootie originals, as did the band’s take on Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” But Tom Waits’ “I Hope I Don’t Fall in Love With You” was ho-hum, pulling attendees down into their seats.

The latter song was part of a folkier segment of the show.

“I like to pretend we’re a bluegrass band,” Rucker said before his bandmates joined him on chairs at the front of the stage while the video screen behind them played a crackling campfire. The frontman played mandolin for a one-two kick of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” and hoedown tune “Desert Mountain Showdown.”

The band was at its best on its biggest hits. Twangy bop “I Go Blind” was a firecracker of a show opener. A couple of songs later, the band was firing on all cylinders for “Time” (which Rucker and Bryan began and ended while playing guitars while standing back to back at the front of the stage) and “Running From an Angel.” Bryan talked about playing the latter acoustically at Shoreline at a Bridge School Benefit concert in 1995.

Following another fan favorite, “Hannah Jane,” Rucker showed the most emotion he did all night on the gospel-tinged “Not Even the Trees,” during which he belted with a gravelly voice while clutching the bottom of his shirt.

The only song Hootie & the Blowfish played from their most recent album, Imperfect Circle, was twinkling and atmospheric guitar ballad, “Miss California.”

Next, Rucker called McCain back to the stage for a performance of his song “Solitude,” which began with the two playing acoustically while Bryan walked in shadows adding electric accents. The rest of the band eventually rejoined them to push the energy upward. The latter end of the set included hits like “Let Her Cry,” “Hold My Hand” and “Only Wanna Be With You,” interspersed with covers, including uptempo Rucker country tune “Alright.”

Playing before Hootie, Collective Soul delivered blues rock riffs and fiery solos, doing their best to show the Atlanta band deserved more stage time.

Ed Roland and his bandmates began with two songs from their latest album, Here to Eternity, before breaking into some of their biggest hits, which alternated the pace but not the energy that kept on climbing. Roland, clad in a Panama hat, blue-rimmed glasses and a tunic vest over a colorful shirt was every bit the showman. He worked the stage, jumped, waved his arms and demanded attention.

Even the new songs with which Collective Soul started, bass-laden, growling “Mother’s Love” and blistering “Bluer Than So Blue” stood up alongside the band’s strong songbook (seriously, more people need to be talking about Collective Soul in 2024).

That led into “Heavy,” the first of several signature songs by the band, followed by the muscular “Shine” (and another impressive solo by guitarist Jesse Triplett, who’s been with the band since 2014). For “The World I Know,” Roland strapped on an acoustic 12-string but first kicked off a bluesy jam session.

He also talked about playing his first instrument, the clarinet, and how he played dress-up in his “mama’s clothes” to pretend he was in a rock band as a kid.

“It’s the gateway to rock and roll, the clarinet,” he said.

McCain’s involvement in Collective Soul’s set was on a cover of AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” He ran out to scream the chorus before hopping into the audience and running among attendees. As he and Roland traded lines, they looked like they were having a blast.

Another jam session, this one sounding like didgeridoo riffage, transitioned to the hard-hitting “Where the River Flows.” Then during “December,” Roland sat on the drum riser next to Johnny Rabb while Triplett delivered the song’s final rousing burst. The band concluded with the rhythm-led “Run,” from 1999’s Dosage, the entire band getting up from their instruments, taking their bows and leaving the stage as Roland continued to play.

For his opening set, Edwin McCain played bluesman, crooner and storyteller. He, a lead guitarist and saxophonist began their five-song set with “Darwin’s Children,” led at first by skronky sax before the guitars joined in and the song turned folky but with a wah-wah-inflected bit.

Before hit “I Could Not Ask for More,” he talked about playing Shoreline in ’96 or so. He also shared about a time his grandmother got to see him perform, but it was not without incident as a burly security guard stopped her from walking around with a beer in her hand. She replied that he’d have to take it from her, McCain recalled.

Following “Promise of You,” during which the trio used guitar effects to mimic a whale song, and emotional ballad “When it Does,” McCain concluded with his biggest hit, “I’ll Be.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.