Dierks Bentley says the Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach is one of his all-time favorite venues, which sounds like the kind of polite nothing an entertainer might say about any place he’s scheduled to appear. But then Bentley backs it up with a very specific observation.

A lot of places, he plays to people who are coming off a week of work, with all its stress and aggravation. They’re looking to have a good time, but you have to nurture that. At The Wharf, close to the beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, you can take it for granted that a big chunk of the crowd has been vacationing for a few days.