OAKLAND — Bear Rinehart didn’t have to bring it up at all, but the frontman and guitarist of South Carolina rock band Needtobreathe clearly had to get the venue switch for his band’s Wednesday concert off his chest. The show was first scheduled to be held at Toyota Pavilion in Concord before being moved to the more intimate Paramount Theatre. The problem was that the show had been undersold.

“We’ve been a band for 20 years and still don’t know how to handle this; tonight’s gonna be a weird night,” he said, before speaking on the promoter, Live Nation: “They let us lose a lot of money with them.”

Rinehart, who thanked fans for coming out to a different city, said that despite the difficulties, he felt fortunate that his band—which is packing amphitheaters nationwide—got the chance to perform for Bay Area fans.

“Every band oughta want to be here. We don’t take nights like this for granted, and we’re gonna give you everything we got,” he declared. And what happened after is the sort of thing Rinehart may be recalling for years to come. The room filled up, and the band delivered a raucous two-hour set that kept many on their feet for most of the night, with an extra song to boot.

Needtobreathe opened with “The Cave,” a bombastic blues rocker from its latest album, 2023’s Caves. A guitar solo and a jam session started off “Don’t Bring That Trouble,” where black and white old video clips of classic troublemakers like “The Three Stooges” rolled by on a large screen behind the band.

Rinehart paused to thank the band’s crew for pivoting at the last minute to stuff Needtobreathe’s production into the smaller building, and also said that the band planned to have a good time performing.

“This is the most intimate venue we’ve played the last few months,” he later added.

The band played on a two-tiered stage, with drummer Randall Harris and two back-up singers on the top tier. Surrounding Rinehart were keyboardist Josh Lovelace, guitarist Tyler Burkum and bassist Seth Bolt. After some more high-octane songs for the first part of the set, including the rollicking countrified rocker “State I’m In,” the band slowed things down with “Banks,” a song Rinehart said he wrote for his wife, but which resonates with a lot of people.

Rinehart prefaced “Who Am I?” with an explanation: “This song is a surprise for me. When you write a song and it kind of embarrasses you, you know it’s good,” he said.

“Riding High,” about making bad decisions, was decidedly more country. Needtobreathe went straight into Southern rocker “Wasting Time,” which sounded a bit like Kings of Leon. The screen showed comedic faux-TikTok reels with the band members taking on new hobbies, such as a Doritos protein shake challenge, makeup tutorials and crocheting projects—the sort of stuff people typically waste time watching. The song ended with an extended harmonica jam.

Before “Fall On Me,” Rinehart spoke about the band’s main non-music cause, raising money to benefit kids in the foster system who are about to age out. There was an opportunity to donate to For Others, saying the money raised would stay in the community.

“Fall On Me,” which Rinehart said he wrote for his own children, kicked off a four-song acoustic set, for which the entire band moved to the bottom of the stage, close to the audience. This segment also included a funny story about Taylor Swift once inviting Needtobreathe to open for her; at the time, the frontman explained, she was popular only to a certain demographic, which made the band uncertain, due to the “ballerina vibes.” That was, until she told them how much she was paying, which quickly helped them make up their minds.

Next came the surprise, an extra song in “The Reckoning,” which spoke of fame and going to California.

“They didn’t get that in San Diego,” one of the members quipped. Then came fan favorite “Washed By the Water,” which kicked off a singalong.

Another surprise came during “West Texas Wind,” which the band played not only acoustic but completely unplugged, lit up by a floor light, as if they were singing around a campfire, and the harmonies carried well into the silent room.

Following “The Outsiders” and “Girl Named Tennessee,” Needtobreathe arrived at a cover medley that doubled as band introduction, with the members’ nicknames flashing on the screen as they took turns singing and playing The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m Goin’ Down,” The Romantics’ “What I Like About You” and Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.”

During crowd-pleaser “Brother,” Rinehart walked down the aisles of the Paramount, high-fiving fans. “Multiplied” began with the female backing vocalist singing the chorus, gospel-style, before the rest of the band joined in for the first verse. “Let Us Love,” with a snippet of “Be Here Long,” concluded the main set. The band returned for “Dreams,” an anthemic rock song with an infectious chorus, where Rinehart traded lines with Judah Akers of openers Judah & the Lion.

Nashville folk-rockers Judah & the Lion opened the show with their own raucous set, which even included a brief synchronized dance routine.

Singer-guitarist Akers and mandolin player Brian Macdonald were accompanied by a four-member backing group. They played several songs from their forthcoming album The Process, which will be released on May 10. They opened and closed their set with “Long Dark Night.”

The performance started with the entire six-member lineup standing in a row near the lip of the stage, with the drummer striking a single tom, before they separated into a normal configuration. New song “Is What it Is” began slowly before exploding in a cacophony. Akers pulled out his in-ear monitor to hear the audience sing to him at the end.

Akers asked for audience participation on the anthemic “Only Want the Best.” The band also covered The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” having a fan who’s followed the group from Vancouver, B.C. join in on singing the second verse. The band’s biggest hit, “Take It All Back,” had a rollicking finish.

Follow photographer Sean Liming at Instagram.com/S.Liming.