Entertainment

It's so good to see Sara Evans happy for a change. She threw off a 1,000-watt glow Saturday night at the Majestic Theatre that just about erased all memories of her troubled last couple of years – that nasty divorce and having to leave Dancing With the Stars midseason.

REX C. CURRY/Special Contributor

Newly engaged Sara Evans seemed about to bounce off the stage with glee Saturday night in a benefit performance at the Majestic Theatre.

The audience for Saturday's concert, a benefit for Contact Crisis Line, certainly enjoyed the perks of Ms. Evans' nearly palpable glee. At times it seemed she was about to bounce right off the stage, and she couldn't help flashing her ring – she and her fiancé, former Alabama quarterback Jay Barker, announced their engagement last week. She even changed up the lyrics of "Born to Fly" to "Is there a blue-eyed boy in my future" (he used to have brown eyes), one suspects in homage to Mr. Barker.

But the real reward for the nearly full house was that not only did concertgoers get to help out a good cause, they got to see Ms. Evans back in peak form. It was a terrific concert from the get-go, but she kicked it into superstar gear with "Bible Song" from 2005's CD Real Fine Place. That song showed off both Ms. Evans' growling yet pristine vocals, as well as the quirky edge that has made country fans take notice all the way back to her debut album, 1997's Three Chords and the Truth.

The Majestic might seem an odd place for a country concert, but for the most part it was a perfect fit of artist to venue – intimate enough for fans to enjoy Ms. Evans and her top-notch band (which includes three of her siblings) up close, yet big enough to contain that huge voice.

And hers wasn't the only amazing voice onstage – when Ms. Evans and her sisters, Ashley Evans Simpson and Lesley Evans Lyons, belted out an a cappella, three-part-harmony version of the traditional "In the Pines," I'm sure I'm not the only one who was thinking, "OK, where's the CD or MP3 version of that, 'cause I want it!"

Ms. Evans sang most of her big hits, though she entirely (and sadly) ignored any cuts from that brilliant first album. But she did "Real Fine Place," "Perfect," "I Could Not Ask For More," "Cheatin,' " "Born to Fly" and the showstopping "Suds in the Bucket." Yeah, OK, it's not the most profound song, but it's impossible not to move when she's singing it.

She showed a little more of that fabulously edgy side with "Coalmine" and even in her hairdo, a newly dyed blue-black "so dark I'm surprised you can see it." And she gave a funny little shout-out to Amy Winehouse by pushing it up into a brief bouffant. I can't imagine Carrie Underwood pulling that off.

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