Dierks Bentley’s lyric, “Am I the only one who wants to have fun tonight?” was answered by a full country crowd at Shoreline Amphitheater ready for cold beers and a lotta fun.
On a warm sunny Saturday in Mountain View CA, country fans are gathering in the Shoreline Amphitheater for a country artist who has been around making hits since 2003 — and one artist who is getting ready to break it big soon. Dierks Bentley is out on road promoting his newest album Broken Branches which is also the name of the tour. Along with Dierks at this show he brought along Zach Top and The Band Loula.
As the crowd started to stagger in for the first opening act from Georgia called The Band Loula. They are a country duo with a gospel sound who had a good set out there in the hot sun, even for a small crowd. It wasn’t until later in the night when Dierks brought them out to sing along with him that magic happened. The harmony of singers Malachi and Logan were heard across the full house. When Logan sang, the crowd as in awe. Those powerful pipes and range of her voice had just won everyone one over.
There was a “Came here for Zach but stayed for Dierks” kind of feel from some and it was great. For the second act, fans got to see the fast-rising country artist Zach Top. With his sound nodding to the very traditional 90s era of country music, fans are really taking a liking to him — it could definitely be seen and heard during his set. Zach’s live band is a talented group. It’s always a joy to see a steel guitar player up on stage. During his performance of biggest hit, “I Never Lie,” the crowd sang along word for word so loud that I’m sure it could be heard echoing out into the city. With only one full album out, fans got to hear most of its tracks. He also played a new single “Good Times & Tan Lines.” Later during Dierks set, Zach Top came out to sing a song with him also — well, more than one song — but more on that later.
Dierks Bentley started his set with a melody of “Well Well Whiskey” with his band members all gathered front and center stage. Then they went into “Up on The Ridge.” It’s not until “Burning Man” that you could feel the party is about to kick out with a night full of fun. The stage light along with the great visual upon the large screen display across the stage set the mood for every song. With hits spanning from 2003 until current, there was no way to play them all, but we got to see ones like “Somewhere On A Beach,” “Free and Easy(Down The Road I Go),” “5-1-5-0,” “Am I The Only One,” and of course his first big hit “What Was I Thinkin’.”
I’ve been to many country concerts, but the showmanship of each individual member of this band was something I haven’t seen before. They all played part in making this show a memorable one for everyone to remember… down to the best encore EVER! The “Danger Zone” encore begins with Dierks and his band members joining the stage with Zach Top. Everyone was dressed in full 80s/90s themed bright colored costumes and sporting mullet wigs. Together, they sang a mashup medley of classic country favorites: “Chattahoochee / T-R-O-U-B-L-E / I Like It, I Love It / Meet in the Middle / Heads Carolina, Tail California / Achy Breaky Heart / Man I Feel Like a Woman / Friends In Low Places.” The show is really a good laugh and listen as well — if you can’t catch it live, I do recommend doing a search for some live footage. With that being said, there is still plenty of time to get a ticket to Dierks Bentley’s The Broken Branches Tour to experience a fun entertaining show — and the chance of seeing Zach Top before he starts headlining his own tours soon enough!
GALLERY: Dierks Bentley with Zach Top and The Band Loula at Shoreline Ampitheater in Mountain View, California (June 28, 2025)
