If you walked into a Dierks Bentley show in 2024 expecting a standard, buttoned-up country concert, you probably left feeling a little bit confused—and a lot more buzzed. Between the bluegrass pickin' and the 90s-era wigs, the dierks bentley setlist 2024 was less of a "greatest hits" recital and more of a multi-genre fever dream.
Dierks has always been a bit of a shapeshifter. One minute he’s the sensitive pilot singing "I Hold On," and the next he’s basically a caricature of a 1994 country star. The 2024 Gravel & Gold Tour took that duality and cranked it to eleven.
The Core of the Setlist: Gravel, Gold, and Anthems
The show usually kicked off with "Gold," the title track of his tenth album. It’s a high-energy opener that sets the tone: looking for the good stuff in the everyday "gravel" of life. Honestly, it’s the perfect metaphor for a Dierks show. You’ve got the gritty, technical musicianship of his band—who are legitimately some of the best players in Nashville—paired with the "gold" of those massive, radio-ready choruses.
From there, the set usually dove straight into the nostalgia. "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do" and "I Hold On" were early staples, grounding the night in the hits that built his career. But what made the dierks bentley setlist 2024 stand out wasn't just his own songs. It was the way he integrated covers that felt more like a jam session than a rehearsed segment.
A Typical 2024 Main Set Looked Like This:
- Gold
- Lot of Leavin' Left to Do
- I Hold On
- Am I the Only One (often featuring a cheeky snippet of Toby Keith’s "Red Solo Cup")
- Living
- Burning Man
- American Girl (The Tom Petty cover that honestly should just be a permanent part of his discography at this point)
- Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go) (usually mashed up with Alabama’s "Mountain Music")
- Gone (frequently a duet with tour opener Chase Rice)
- Say You Do
- Black
- Up on the Ridge / Callin' Baton Rouge (A high-speed bluegrass breakdown)
- 5-1-5-0
- Somewhere on a Beach / Beers On Me
- What Was I Thinkin'
- Drunk on a Plane
The Bluegrass Pivot
Most modern country stars give a passing nod to traditional music. Dierks lives it. Somewhere around the middle of the show, the stage usually transformed. The drums would drop back, the lights would tighten, and the "bluegrass moment" would happen.
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In 2024, this often featured a blistering medley of "Up on the Ridge" and the Garth Brooks-popularized "Callin' Baton Rouge." It’s a section that proves Bentley isn't just a face on a poster; he’s a student of the craft. Seeing his band rip through these songs with acoustic precision is a reminder of why he’s survived twenty years in an industry that usually chews up and spits out artists every five.
The Hot Country Knights Chaos
You can't talk about the dierks bentley setlist 2024 without mentioning the encore. Just when you think the night is winding down after "Drunk on a Plane," the lights go dark. Then, out comes "Douglas 'Doug' Douglason" and the Hot Country Knights.
This is Dierks’ 90s-country parody alter ego, and for the 2024 tour, they went all out. It wasn't just one song; it was a relentless medley of every karaoke classic you’ve ever loved. We’re talking:
- T-R-O-U-B-L-E (Travis Tritt)
- Meet in the Middle (Diamond Rio)
- Heads Carolina, Tails California (Jo Dee Messina)
- Achy Breaky Heart (Billy Ray Cyrus)
- Man! I Feel Like a Woman! (Shania Twain)
- Friends in Low Places (Garth Brooks)
It’s ridiculous. It’s loud. It involves bad mullets. And honestly? It’s usually the part of the night the crowd screams the loudest for.
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Why 2024 Was Different
While the 2023 leg of the Gravel & Gold tour was about introducing the new album, the 2024 dates felt more like a celebration of the journey. He leaned harder into collaborations. Depending on which city you were in, you might have seen him bring out Zach Top for a cover of "Sounds Like the Radio" or join forces with Lee Brice for a rowdy rendition of "Beers On Me."
The inclusion of Noah Kahan’s "Stick Season" in some late 2024 setlists was a surprise to many. It showed that despite being a veteran of the scene, Dierks is still keeping an ear to the ground of what’s happening in the broader folk and indie-country world. His bassist, Cassady Feasby, usually took the lead on that one, giving the crowd a temporary breather from Dierks’ raspy baritone.
Logistics and Variations
Setlists aren't static. If you saw him at a festival like Wildlands in Montana or the Coast City Country fest in Vancouver, the set was naturally shorter and heavier on the hits. The amphitheater shows, however, were where the real deep cuts lived.
Songs like "Sun Sets in Colorado" or "Riser" would occasionally pop up during the VIP acoustic sessions before the main show, making the experience even more specialized for the die-hard fans who showed up early.
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Looking Ahead
As we move into 2026, the landscape is shifting again. With the announcement of the Broken Branches tour and his upcoming stadium appearances as a special guest for Luke Combs, the 2024 setlist serves as the final chapter of the Gravel & Gold era.
If you're heading to a show this year, expect the bluegrass to stay, the 90s humor to get even weirder, and "Drunk on a Plane" to remain the mandatory closing anthem.
Next Steps for Fans:
If you want to recreate the 2024 experience, your best bet is to look for live recordings from the Nashville Bridgestone Arena show on September 7, 2024. It was one of the most complete representations of the tour, featuring the most guest spots and the full Hot Country Knights encore. You can also find most of these tracks on his official "Gravel & Gold" tour playlists on Spotify or Apple Music to get your fix before the 2026 stadium run kicks off.