This past Saturday night, Dierks Bentley brought his highly anticipated Sounds of Summer tour to Mansfield’s Xfinity Center. The A-list line-up also included Canaan Smith, duo Maddie and Tae, and the sensationally entertaining Kip Moore. It was truly a show not to be missed and that was apparent as the majority of the crowd stayed through the encore rather than skipping out early to beat traffic out of the generally-difficult Xfinity Center parking lots.
Fresh off the release of his debut studio album, titled ‘Bronco,’ the up-and-coming Canaan Smith kicked the show off at 7PM and treated the capacity crowd with songs off his album including ‘American Muscle,’ ‘Two Lane Road,’ and ‘Hole In A Bottle.’ As he began the fourth song in his set, there was an apparent buzz coming over the crowd as Canaan led into a cover of Nick Jonas’ recent hit ‘Jealous.’ Similar to other country artists who cover songs outside of the country genre, Canaan put his own spin and sound to the pop song and the crowd was loving it! Fans were singing along and Canaan was going around, slapping hands with fans, taking pictures and more. For the Virginia native, there was only one way to end his set, and that was with his top-ten hit, ‘Love You Like That,’ during which he changed the lyrics to “I wanna love Massachusetts like that,” which naturally got the crowd going again. While most opening artists do not get a big crowd to play for, they are still expected to get that crowd ready for the night ahead, and Canaan Smith did just that with energy and great music.
After a quick change of the instruments and backdrop on the stage, one of the hottest duos in country music over the past year took the stage, Maddie and Tae! The ladies had already had a busy day as they joined Alex and Ani at Patriot Place in Foxborough earlier in the day to play some music, tell some stories, and meet their fans. But there did not appear to be any fatigue on Maddie and Tae when they hit the Xfinity Center stage. As the duo took the stage, the crowd began to roar, as these two have made male and female fans alike since coming out with their chart-topping ‘Girl In A Country Song.’
Throughout their set, they ladies played songs like ‘Shut Up And Fish,’ saying that it’s a song about when they took some city boys out to fish, to their current single, ‘Fly,’ and ‘Sierra,’ a song written about a bully in Maddie’s high school who told Maddie she would never make it in country music. As Maddie explained earlier in the day at Foxboro, Sierra (the bully’s real name!) has heard the song and she is not a fan of it! Looks like Maddie had the last laugh though! One of the most rousing moments of Maddie and Tae’s set was when the duo did an incredible cover of Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella,’ which had thousands of fans singing and dancing along. For this duo, there was only one way to end their set, by treating the crowd with their first number one hit, ‘Girl In A Country Song.’
There was already a buzz in the amphitheater but that buzz grew even louder and bolder as Maddie and Tae’s backdrop was ripped down to show a background with what we think of as the ‘Jumpman’ of country music. If y’all don’t know what the Jumpman is, it’s the logo of basketball great Michael Jordan. When you see the ‘Jumpman,’ you know it’s Michael Jordan, and with Kip’s silhouette of him running onto a stage with his hands out to his sides, you know it’s Kip Moore. The stage was completely dark but slowly started to become illuminated as Kip came into sight from stage left, his hand in the air with a red solo cup, saluting the crowd, the crowd screaming, welcoming him to the stage as they have done many times before. If you didn’t know, there is a special relationship between Kip Moore and Boston. Simply put, Boston loves Kip Moore, and Kip has similar feelings with the city of Boston and he made that apparent as he told the crowd, “This is my town, right here. This is my town.”
The Georgia native kicked his set off with the title track off his upcoming album, titled ‘Wild Ones,’ that is scheduled to come out later this summer. And for those seeing Kip for the first time on this night, Kip had them hooked from song one with raw emotion and soul that he put into this song. His set continued with songs like ‘Crazy One More Time,’ and former top-five hit, ‘Beer Money,’ as well as a cover of Jimmy Eat World’s ‘The Middle.’
Kip treated the crowd to another track off the upcoming album, his current single, ‘I’m To Blame,’ before a stripped down acoustic performance of ‘Hey Pretty Girl,’ getting the reaction from the female fans in attendance that he always do, before transitioning into an amazing cover of Ben E. King’s ‘Stand By Me.’
When potential setlists were being discussed before the show, many fans were disappointed that ‘Dirt Road’ was one that Kip would not be playing. But it seems that Kip heard his fans as he played the song that so many fans were hoping to hear. Kip completed his set with an energetic performance of his first number one single, the double-Platinum, ‘Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck,’ before ending his set saying, “Y’all have my heart, Boston.”
As the crowd awaited Dierks Bentley, it was somewhat disappointing to know that the show was already 75% over. Many fans could have gone home happy after three incredible performances but then again, Dierks Bentley was still left to play. I think the biggest reason why Dierks is so popular is he’s that kind of blue collar, hard working artist who has come up the ranks from playing small shows in small clubs and has worked his way up to headlining these big amphitheaters.
A grayish-white backdrop was hanging across the stage with Dierks’ famous logo on it. The music started to get louder as the lights behind the translucent backdrop started to pop and shine. The illuminations of Dierks and his band started to become apparent through the material and with a loud pop, the cloth dropped to show Dierks up in the air on a raised platform and his band down below him. The one-time Vermont Catamount began his set just the way he ended it, with unprecedented energy! Dierks began with ‘Sideways’ and continued with his 2011 hit ‘Am I The Only One,’ which had the crowd dancing and singing along. And the energy continued with ‘5-1-5-0.’ Dierks slowed it down and caught his breath a little bit with the toned down performances of ‘Tip It On Back,’ ‘Every Mile A Memory,’ and the always-emotional ‘I Hold On.’
When Dierks began to sing ‘Feel That Fire,’ the fans in the front of the PIT had no idea what was about to occur. During the performance, Dierks spontaneously jumped into the crowd to crowd-surf! His security quickly came out from backstage and pulled him back on stage, and as Dierks kept singing his tune, he looked back at the retreating security staff with some disappointment. And then he did it again, jumping into the crowd to crowd-surf before his security would again appear from backstage to drag him back onto his catwalk.
Off his most recent album, and the name of the tour, Dierks next performed ‘Sounds of Summer,’ and while it was a great performance, it was something that Dierks did during this song that made it memorable. He got the whole crowd to wave their hands back and forth, and jokingly saying “I’ve waited a long time to feel like Kenny Chesney. It feels good.”
After performing ‘Riser,’ which again brought up high up above the crowd on a platform that gradually raised higher and higher, Dierks came back to the main floor for ‘Lot of Leavin’ Left To Do,’ and when Dierks introduced Kip Moore, bringing him back to the stage, the crowd roared! Together the duo performed this song perfectly before it ended with Kip putting on one of the pink lei’s that WKLB was giving out around Dierks’ neck.
While performing ‘Come A Little Closer,’ Dierks told the crowd on the lawn that he wishes he could come a little closer, and he did just that, as he ran up the ramp on stage right, saying hi to fans, shaking hands before taking his place on the B-stage. Dierks then invited his band to join him, and they obliged as Dierks equated this stage to his back porch. Any Dierks fan knew what song was coming next, ‘Back Porch.’ After finishing that song, Dierks explained that Boston also has a special place in his heart. He said that he remembers the first time playing Boston. It was at the Paradise Rock Club and there were 603 people in attendance. He went on to say that he has always wanted to headline the Xfinity Center and was honored that he was doing so tonight and for a capacity crowd. Dierks also explained that his wife had run the Boston Marathon last year so Boston felt a little home-y to him. Amid a sea of fans, Dierks went on to perform ‘Home’ and a few chords of ‘Shipping Up To Boston’ before returning to the main stage for ‘Up On The Ridge,’ which featured some fiery pyrotechnics that left the fans in the PIT feeling the heat on their faces
Shortly after starting ‘Free and Easy,’ Dierks invited Maddie and Tae back to the stage, and wow! Amazing harmonies with these three! It may have been one of our favorite parts of the entire show!
And then Dierks also invited Canaan smith back to the stage to join him and Maddie and Tae, only enhancing this awesome performance already before ending his set with ‘Say You Do.’
As the lights went dark, the fans were not moving. At most shows, you will see a mass exodus of fans leaving before the encore to try to beat traffic. But not tonight! The fans, for the most part, were staying put. And Dierks did not disappoint. Dierks returned to the stage in a run to perform ‘What Was I Thinkin” before ultimately finishing the night with what could have been the biggest song in 2014, ‘Drunk On A Plane.’
With even more pyrotechnics, Dierks and his band took a bow and said goodbye to the Mansfield crowd. This tour rolled into Mansfield with high anticipation and they rolled out of town leaving fans happy with fans posting on social media the next day that they wish they could relive it all over again.
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