Bob Moad lost sleep over it. Shera Hartman was there to collect a signature. And John Nyberg summed it up this way: "She looks good."

Fans cheered wildly when country music legend Reba McEntire took the stage for a nearly sold-out crowd at the Redding Rodeo Grounds on Friday night. Nearly 5,800 of the 6,200 seats available had sold by 5:30 p.m. said Chuck Broadway, a spokesman for the Redding Rodeo Association. Fans shelled out from $52.50 to $75 for tickets. The concert benefited Habitat for Humanity.

McEntire, a 49-year-old fiery redhead from Chockie, Okla., hit the stage wearing a silver lame top and black pants with silver beads. Fans, decked out in clothes ranging from Western wear to shorts, applauded wildly as the award-winning performer belted out tunes ranging from classics -- "Whoever's in New England" and "The Greatest Man I Never Knew" -- to recently released tunes like "Somebody."

"Boy, it's good to be back in California again," McEntire told the crowd in her distinctive drawl. "It's good to be back in Redding."

It's that voice that drew Sharon Desjardins, 56, of Redding and other fans to see the show.

"She has a very distinctive voice," Desjardins said.

John Nyberg, wore his "bull riding" duds -- Wranglers, southwestern cowboy shirt and black felt hat -- and dipped his hat as Reba sang.

"She's the queen of country music," the Cot- tonwood man said before McEntire took stage.

Nyberg's friend, Tom Bertrand, topped his cowboy attire with straw hat signed by Terri Clark. He hoped to add McEntire's autograph to the hat.

"I'm going to have my hat signed," Bertrand said.

Shera Hartman was ready for a hat signing. The 25-year-old Oroville woman had a black marker at the ready. Her goal: To add Reba's signature to her straw hat, which had black scrawl from Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, she said.

"I will either get a guitar pick, a handshake or a signing," Hartman said.

Before the show got under way, Laurie Slocum held up a $30 black Reba T-shirt at a souvenir booth near the arena. The 51-year-old Anderson woman said she usually shells out about $30 for concert T-shirts.

"It's not a good price, but what can you do?" Slocum said. Besides, she explained, the T-shirt lists Redding as part of the Reba tour on the back.

Score.

Daniel Watson, 35, also bought a Reba T-shirt. The Chico man, who sported a collection of KISS and Motley Crue tattoos, said he became a Reba fan about two years ago.

"I sort of had a change of heart," Watson said of his music preferences.

And Moad overnighted at the Rodeo Grounds to snag tickets when they went on sale in April. He'd seen the legend before. It's was his wife, Sharon Desjardins' first time, although both said they were longtime fans.

"Her music touches the heart and has a lot of meaning to it," Moad said.