CLAY WALKER: THE BIG-TIME COUNTRY MUSIC STAR GOODS (CONCERT REVIEW)

A youthful audience of 2,787 went delirious over the soulful singing of Clay Walker Thursday night at the Show Me Center.

The Four Star Blowout concert also offered three well-received up-and-coming singers -- Mark Wills, Lee Ann Womack and Kevin Sharp in an evening that should have provided something for almost everyone.

From his first song, the hit "Rumor Has It," Walker demonstrated why he is one of country music's most dynamic performers. Powerful and buttery, Walker's voice filled the arena on such hits as "If I Could Make a Living," a rousing version of "This Woman and This Man," and "Live Until I Die.

As traditional as Walker's sound tends to be, beach balls appeared in the audience when he threw in a fun-loving Caribbean-tinged number called "Then What."

His soulfulness showed through some more when he summoned up Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl."

Walker, who last year was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, danced across the stage with the grace of a Rockette, drawing more screams every time. Watching him in action left no doubt that this is the big-time country music star goods.

Sharp's arrival onstage was the occasion for a love fest, at least in part because most country fans know he had to overcome cancer five years ago to be there Thursday night.

Today he's living the neon dream a No. 1 hit like "Nobody Knows It But Me" can bring. And he acts like someone who's very happy to be alive.

He made frequent forays into the audience, where fans delighted in rubbing his shaved head. Lots of country performers touch the hands with their fans from the stage. Sharp is one who actually shakes hands.

He also pulled various water blasters from a toy chest onstage, the better to playfully spray those fans.

Midway through his set he'd organized a game of Twister onstage.

It was an unusual performance in a day when so many country concerts are orchestrated down to the last "Yee Ha." Something about it, perhaps the joy that was apparent both on and off the stage, seemed healing.

The highlights of Womack's set were her hit "The Fool," one of the best achy country songs of recent years, and a breathy version of the classic "Crazy." Her voice is a more fragile instrument than those headlining country concerts these days -- the pipes of her namesake LeAnn Rimes comes to mind -- and Womack almost disappeared onstage sometimes.

But these tours are where new country performers learn the moves that enable them to make the jump from clubs to arenas.

Wills is a cleancut performer who demonstrated a fine baritone. He also wore no hat and played an electric guitar, two habits that separate him from the country singer crowd.

His hit, "Jacob's Ladder," is a catchy tune, and his next single, "Don't Laugh at Me," has the sound of a potential hit.