Country icon Reba owns stage, delights Utah with her classics

WEST VALLEY CITY - Country icon Reba McEntire has become almost a corporation in recent years, what with a television show, a starring Broadway role and her own clothing line.

But, headlining the first summer concert at the Usana Amphitheater on Saturday night, she proved she's still got it as a popular concert draw.

The diminutive redhead with the big voice used masterful staging as she ran through nearly 30 years of hits.

From the opening moment of the show, it was obvious that McEntire was a pro who possesses a commanding stage presence.

If anything, her performance might have been even a bit too staged. Though she sang "Happy Birthday" to a member of the audience, and used video clips of Salt Lake City effectively, Reba lacked the spontaneity of opening acts Brad Paisley and Terri Clark.

But the crowd of 10,000 certainly wasn't going to quibble as McEntire ran through a medley of hits, including several from her latest album, "Room to Breathe." Wearing a lime green bejeweled jacket and black jeans, Reba cut an impressive figure as she strutted and posed in front of a three-tiered stage, giant video screen and nine-piece band.

At times, the band threatened to overwhelm Reba, but the sound crew got things right after the opening few numbers.

She mixed in traditional country songs such as "The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia," with ballads, blues and medleys.

The crowd loved it, screaming and standing through much of Reba's set that ended four hours of country music on a beautiful starlit night.

Paisley, performing hits such as "Alcohol" and "Mud on the Tire," kept the crowd on its feet much of the evening.

The only male to headline this bill, he put both the video screen and his numerous paisley-print electric guitars to good use. In fact, the best part of the set was Paisley's strong guitar playing, backed by a six-piece band that obviously enjoyed itself.

He called this the "Dr. Phil" portion of the show, as he mixed typical country themes of family, booze, trucks and lost love. But the highlight of his set was "Whisky Lullaby," which Paisley turned into a duet hit with Alison Krauss. Krauss wasn't on stage, but Paisley effectively used her on video to make the hit work.

Canadian singer Clark started the show right on time, giving the arriving audience a hard time for hanging out at the beer stands.

"Don't you need to be at a club or something here?" quipped the energetic Clark, who wore a bright pink T-shirt that read "No beer goggles necessary."

Considering the fact that her bus got stuck in a snowstorm Friday night in Cheyenne, and the singer and her band used borrowed equipment and arrived two hours before the show, Clark was amazing.

She ran through a litany of her greatest hits, including Linda Ronstadt's "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" and her own "Emotional Girl" and "When Boy Meets Girl."

Clark called the current tour "the two hats, a raincoat and a redhead" tour, and obviously enjoyed the beautiful weather after enduring rain at every other venue.

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