ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Thousands made their way to The Wharf amphitheater on Sunday evening for the annual July 4 concert and fireworks celebration, and despite a few stray raindrops, everything went off without a hitch.

Trenton, Fla., native Easton Corbin got the show started with a 20-minute set that included his hit single “A Little More Country Than That.”

As the sun was going down, Kay Kay Grocholl, a recent graduate of Gulf Shores High School presented the National Anthem to a very responsive and appreciative crowd that overflowed into the standing-room-only area.

The show kicked into overdrive when James Otto, brother-in-law of Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus, hit the stage.

Otto, who signed his first recording contract with Mercury Nashville Records in 2002, and was the opening act for Shania Twain’s 2004 Up! Tour, is also a member of the MuzikMafia that includes the likes of Gretchen Wilson, John Rich, and Cowboy Troy.

Doing a mostly high-energy set, Otto got the crowd on their feet with tunes like “These Are The Good Ole Days” and “Groovy Little Summer Song,” but did slow things down for a minute with the ballad “You Don’t Act Like My Woman.”

Venturing away from his country genre, Otto and his band performed “Night Moves,” then tagged his tune “Shake What God Gave Ya” with a fairly mild version of Nelly’s “It’s Getting Hot In Here” and The Rolling Stones “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

Otto finished his set with and upbeat version of the 2008 Country Song of the Year “Just Got Started Loving You.”

Country duo Montgomery Gentry, who has become a regular part of the Orange Beach Independence Day celebration, hit the stage about the same time as the rain, but outlasted the short downpour to entertain for almost an hour and a half performing hits like “Gravel Road,” “If You Ever Stopped Loving Me,” “Back When I Knew It Åll,” and “Some People Change.”

Troy Gentry and Eddie Montgomery were originally members of a band called Early Tymz that also featured Eddie’s brother John Michael Montgomery. After John Michael quit the band to venture out on a solo career, the name of the group was changed to Montgomery Gentry.

In 1999, Montgomery Gentry won the American Music Award for Favorite New Country Aritst. The following year, they won Top New Vocal Duo from the Academy of Country Music and was voted Vocal Duo of the Year by the Country Music Association. Every year since, Montgomery Gentry has been nominated for Top Vocal Duo by the Academy of Country Music.

Saving most of their big hits for last, the concert turned into a party atmosphere with the band reeling off numbers like “Something To Be Proud Of,” “Lucky Man,” “Hell Yeah,” and “There’s One In Every Crowd.”

Just before belting out “My Town,” Eddie Montgomery said, “Somebody needs to tell BP this is our town, and they better take care of it or somebody’s gonna get an (explitive) whooping” which brought a huge response from the 10,000-plus.

For some added excitement, the band came back out on the stage for an encore in KISS-like fashion, without the makeup of course, singing “Rock and Roll All Night.” They ended the show with “Gone.”

Most of the crowd stayed in their seats and enjoyed the 20-minute fireworks show.