Dierks Bentley
St. Leonard — The men and women of the St. Leonard Volunteer Fire Department sure know how to put on a show. This year’s concert series at Bayside Toyota Pavilion was a huge success artistically and financially. The season was capped off Friday with a concert by country music superstar Dierks Bentley that brought a packed house of concertgoers from Southern Maryland and from far and wide.
Women are especially appreciative of Bentley and his music. And he plays to that appreciation in a concert that has him interacting with the audience along a walkway that juts out from the stage.
Bentley broke onto the country music scene with his first Number 1 single more than a decade ago (“What Was I Thinkin’”) and he’s been a consistent star ever since. Subsequent Number Ones include “Come a Little Closer,” “Settle for a Slowdown,” “Evert Mile a Memory,” “Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go),” “ Feel that Fire,” “ Sideways,” “Am I the Only One, Home,” “5150,” “I Hold On,” and “Drunk on a Plane.”
Bentley opened his set in St. Leonard with 5150, which is the California police code for “Criminally Insane Person.” The first responders in the audience could appreciate the irony.
But before the night was over Bentley had performed many of his hits to a wildly enthusiastic audience that obviously not only loves his music but loves him as well.
Opening act was Jon Pardi, a newcomer singer/songwriter who performed a more subdued set that didn’t quite get the audience going like the top biller. His highest charting single was last year (Number 10) with “Up All Night.”
The St. Leonard volunteers who all pull together to perform many essential tasks at the concerts can now take a deep breath as the organizers start preparing for next season and the monstrous job of trying to top what they did in 2014.