Low-key Jackson sings of life, love

They were in love with her, baby, and they didn't even know her name.

Alan Jackson's fiddler caused more of an uproar than the singer did Saturday night when audience members interrupted the show, shouting "We love the fiddler!", asking for her phone number and even offering up bids for her, as per Jackson's joking suggestion.

Polite clapping and an occasional hoot or holler was all Jackson could get out of the crowded Bryce Jordan Center as he played to a subdued crowd made up of mostly middle-aged and older men and women.

The long-legged traditional country star walked out onto the stage to the hit "Chattahoochee" and kept the hits coming with "I Don't Even Know Your Name" "Livin' On Love" and "Summertime Blues."

The simple stage design, lined with shiny silver hubcaps, featured three large screens suspended in front and at each side of the stage. Unfortunately, the screens, which showed clips from music videos and other special multi-media features, were often more fun to watch than the statue-like Jackson.

Moving his mouth enough to only let his deep baritone voice belt out songs from his eight-year recording career, Jackson displayed his trademark low-key performance style, one that differs greatly from showmen such as Garth Brooks.

Brandon Peterson (junior-civil engineering) compared Jackson's laid-back style with Brooks' energy-filled performance last year at the center.

"This was classic country," Peterson said. "It was a more down-to-earth concert -- Garth was better, more active, but Alan's just a laid-back kind of guy."

About halfway through his performance, Jackson brought out some stools and sat down for some storytelling and what he called a "half-wired" performance.

"I don't really like the word 'un-plugged' 'cause it's not really true -- we're really half-wired here, so that's what we'll call it," Jackson explained.

During the set Jackson talked about the origins of older songs such as "Neon Rainbow," playing 30-second versions of each selection. Jackson even treated the audience to bits of the No. 1 Clay Walker hit "If I Could Make a Living" and Faith Hill's "I Can't Do That Anymore," both of which he wrote.

Clad in an oversized Penn State football jersey, No. 98, and '70s inspired bell-bottoms, the barefoot singer bounced around the stage smiling and singing her upbeat singles from Did I Shave My Legs For This?

Bernie Punt, marketing manager for the center, said the first thing Carter asked for when she stepped off the bus was a Penn State sweatshirt for her husband, a University graduate.

Carter's voice was beautiful -- never wavering and very strong during her laid-back modern country singles. But medium-tempo songs are not what this up-and-coming star seemed to want to play. With songs like "We Danced Anyway" and "If This Is Love" the giddy Carter was truly at home, dancing and clapping along with the audience.

The biggest audience response came when Carter began her first release, the No. 1 hit "Strawberry Wine," which details a young summer love affair that ends in a loss of innocence.

But young fans were few and far-between in the mostly full center. Dan Kearney and Chris Boyles, both 18 and from Carlisle, were the overexcited Jackson fiddler fans who said they were disappointed in Jackson's subdued performance. Carter's upbeat performance made the day for them, they said.

Two more country stars will soon perform at the center, Punt said. It was announced before Carter took the stage that 15-year-old country crooner LeAnn Rimes and Bryan White are scheduled to appear 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 5.