Half way through Brooks & Dunn’s show at Shoreline Amphitheatre, a nearby fan turned and asked a question, “Which one do you think is cheesier?”

Tough call.

A strong case could be made for Ronnie Dunn, who plays the cowbell like he’s auditioning for a “Saturday Night Live” skit, tosses dozens of drumsticks into the crowd and carries an electric guitar that he never actually seems to play. Or it could be Kix Brooks, who runs about the stage like a wild man, mugs for the camera with Paris Hilton-esque glee and uses an air-powered gun to shoot T-shirts into the audience.

Let’s just call it a draw. And let’s also call it a match made in country heaven.

Brooks & Dunn are country music’s version of Hall and Oates _ only more successful _ in that it’s hard to imagine either partner achieving much fame without the other. Dunn is a solid singer, but he needs his sidekick _ the goofy, guitar-totting Brooks _ just as much as Darryl Hall needs John Oates.

He also obviously needs a huge amount of bells and whistles for the duo’s stage show to work. Friday night’s concert in Mountain View featured big video productions, mammoth stage props (like the crosses wheeled out during the religious number “Believe”) and plenty of party tricks (such as the forest’s worth of paper streamers shot out into the crowd at the end of the main set).

The endearing thing about Brooks & Dunn is that none of the theatrics come across as ego-driven, which separates the duo from just about every other major act on the planet. Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks seem to understand, and relish, their roles as performers and are willing to do whatever it takes to entertain their fans.

Clearly, it’s working for them. In terms of album sales, Brooks & Dunn are the most successful duo in country music history. They also rank as the 71st best-selling act, just a notch below Frank Sinatra and right above Janet Jackson, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Following opening sets by Jack Ingram and Sugarland, the latter of which thrilled the crowd with the starry-eyed anthem “Baby Girl,” Brooks & Dunn took the stage and kicked this Friday the 13th party into high gear.

The duo’s nearly 90-minute set was an expertly paced, spotlessly executed, show that married rowdy honky-tonk numbers like “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” with sweet ballads such as “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone.”

Dunn’s gentle take on the lonely heart ballad “Neon Moon,” from 1991’s debut “Brand New Man,” was an early highlight, as was the rowdy “Rock My World (Little Country Girl)” off 1993’s sophomore effort “Hard Workin’ Man.”

Impressively, the band’s newer songs, including “Building Bridges” and “Play Something Country,” sounded even better than the classics on this night. Perhaps that’s because I’ve heard the old tunes so many times on past tours. An equally plausible reason is that the duo’s last album, 2005’s “Hillbilly Deluxe,” is one of the strongest of its career.

The Country Music Association apparently agrees with that assessment, which is why Brooks & Dunn leads the pack with seven nominations at next month’s 40th annual CMA Awards.

The Shoreline crowd will likely be rooting for the duo come November, especially in the hotly contest category of Entertainer of the Year. Brooks & Dunn had certainly done all they could do to prove their credentials on this night.