Grammy-nominated country music artist Dierks Bentley brought his “Burning Man” tour to the Save Mart Center on Feb. 15, 2019 to much delight of Fresno’s country music fans.
This was Bentley’s latest stop in Fresno since his “What the Hell” tour in 2017.
The concert started with a band called Hot Country Knights. The band members wore wigs, dark sunglasses and fake facial hair, and made jokes during the 20-minute set. The band is a creation of Bentley, who has said that he likes to have fun with the crowd before the show.
In between acts, the crowd was entertained by DJ AyDamn, who played mixes of hip-hop, rock and, of course, country music.
Canadian country singer Tenille Townes was the next act up, bringing a more pop-style of country music to the stage. Townes talked about how she liked California during her set, getting cheers from the crowd.
Next up was Jon Pardi, who got the crowd dancing and singing along with every lyric of his songs. Pardi apologized to the crowd for being sick with a cold, which he said made his voice sound hoarse, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind.
His set continued for about an hour. In between songs, Pardi thanked the crowd for coming to the show and reminisced on the times he’d been invited to play at the Fresno Fair, which got loud cheers from the crowd.
After Pardi’s set, it was time for the headliner of the tour. Bentley came out to a cheering crowd that was ecstatic to see him perform.
Bentley’s performance was a spectacle, with lights, smoke and a big screen that projected images that were related to each song he played. Bentley himself started getting close to the crowd near the stage, giving high-fives and shaking hands while singing his songs.
Once he played his first few songs, Bentley gave an anecdote of his last performance in Fresno. Right after that concert he went to Yosemite, but he said that he wouldn’t be doing that this time — tonight he was drinking instead.
Halfway through his show, Bentley performed a couple songs with Pardi, but since Pardi was not feeling well, Bentley did a duet with Townes for the song “Different for Girls.”