MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Amid banjo solos, bobbing cowboy hats and beer cans raised aloft, country superstar and “American Idol” judge Luke Bryan had his crowd at Shoreline Amphitheatre kicking the dust up with their boots on Saturday night. The show fell on the third leg of his Country On tour.

“Kick the Dust Up,” Bryan’s first single from his fifth album, Kill the Lights, starting the show energetically. Bryan made his entrance in a black T-shirt, jeans and a black baseball cap turned backward.

The 47-year-old country singer mixed classics from every era. After 2019 hit “Knockin’ Boots,” from 2020 album Born Here Live Here Die Here, he kicked it back to one of his No. 1 songs from 2011, “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” from Tailgates & Tanlines.

Between those two songs, Bryan thanked fans for coming out and pointed out he’d sold out Shoreline several times.

“You guys have been the best,” he said, later adding, “This is one of the most badass venues.”

Bryan zoomed back to center stage with the anthemic “What Makes You Country” and this spring’s “But I Got a Beer in My Hand,” which prompted fans to raise drinks up while dancing.

During “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day,” one of six singles from Kill the Lights to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (making him the first artist with that achievement), Bryan took on his lead guitarist in a soloing showdown.

During the song, he also gave a shoutout to Jason Aldean—currently the center of a firestorm for song accused of being a racial dog whistle with a video filmed at a lynching site—and that prompted roaring cheers from the crowd.

Bryan then shifted to his summer anthem “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset,” from 2017’s What Makes You Country, before a mashup of runaround-love tune “Games” (2015 EP ) and “What She Wants Tonight” (Born Here Live Here Die Here).

After breakup song “I See You,” Luke Bryan knocked out the tour’s namesake, “Country On,” which acted as a tribute to first responders and the military.

“Hey fireman, boys and girls in blue/ We could sure use a lot more like you/ You come runnin’ in anytime, anything goes wrong/ Country on/ Hey soldier, wherever you might bе/ Hats off to keepin’ us free,” he sang as images of servicemen and women flashed on the screen behind him. The crowd erupted in chants of “USA, USA.”

Bryan slowed the pace for “Strip It Down,” which got couples slow-dancing, “Drunk On You” certainly made “the speakers go boom boom” in Mountain View.

Bryan then gave a heartfelt acoustic performance of “Drink A Beer,” which touches on receiving tragic news of a loved one passing away.

The evening’s openers, Alana Springsteen, Chayce Beckham and Conner Smith, joined Luke Bryan on stage for the upbeat “Buy Dirt,” as well as a cover of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” with vibrant solos on keys, violin and banjo.

The stage all his again, Bryan and his band performed a brief rendition of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” before transitioning to “One Margarita,” during which a crew member delivered a margarita to him.

Fan favorites “Rain is a Good Thing” and “I Don’t Want This Night To End” led up to “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” and closer “That’s My Kind of Night,” which had the Bay Area country fans dancing even after four hours of music.

Nashville singer-songwriter Alana Springsteen preceded Bryan. Springsteen’s been releasing music all year long as interconnected EPs, forming an album called Twenty Something. Her set included songs from that series like “Twenty Something,” “Here’s to All My Exes” and “You Don’t Deserve a Country Song,” and a stellar rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”

“All I wanted to do my whole life was write and sing country music,” Springsteen said. ” You all are making my dream come true.”

“American Idol” season 19 winner Chayce Beckham, from rural Southern California, opened the show and made a statement with autobiographical single “23.” The 27-year-old’s six-song set included unreleased tune “A Little Less Lonely” and “Till the Day I Die,” about one of Beckham’s friends who passed away.

Conner Smith took the stage about a half hour later, and it was hard to say whether he or his guitarists were having more fun on stage. At one point, he hopped off stage and ran alongside the crowd, greeting fans, which caused a blast of excited screams. The 22-year-old Nashville artist performed songs like “Learn From It” and “Take It Slow.”

In between sets, DJ Rock, a regular with both Luke Bryan and the country scene, kept the crowd pumped up.

 

Follow writer Amelia Richardson at Twitter.com/ARich_25. Follow Chloe Catajan at Instagram.com/riannachloe.