A new generation of Okie from Muskogee brought her brand of country music to the O’Connell Center’s stage Sunday night as Carrie Underwood performed before a near sellout crowd of 6,200 fans.

Unlike the usual college concert, Underwood brought out all ages. College students still predominated but the O’Dome looked an awful lot like family night as parents brought the next generation to see one of the most popular singers in music today. Of the students present, the men were heavily outnumbered as packs of young women, dressed in cowboy boots, short skirts and cowboy hats ruled the night.

“It’s my Christmas present,” said UF student Ali Lacey, 21, of Bradenton. Her concert partner, Emily Jones, 19, of Gainesville, had bought her the ticket.

“It’s a good night to get the girls together,” said Laura Browning, 19, a UF elementary education major. She brought four other women with her for the show.

Of course, not everyone was there just for the music.

“Look at the boys,” squealed Whitney Hines, 19, a Santa Fe College student who came dressed in boots, miniskirt, cowboy hat and Texas-sized belt buckle. Hines and her similarly dressed concert buddy, Ashley McDaniel, 16, were attending their first Underwood concert.

“She’s way better than Taylor Swift,” McDaniel said.

The evening opened when Little Big Town took the stage at 7:30 for a one-hour set. Little Big Town has a considerable following of its own. Jeff and Donna Burdge of Newberry brought out 10-year-old Blake to see Underwood but confessed they were really here for the opening act.

The crowd was clearly in sync, standing and singing along with the band. The only odd point came during the introductions of the band members as the crowd (prompted by the flanking video screens) booed when the musicians announced their roots in Georgia and Tennessee.

The band made the peace by performing the Gator Chomp to roaring approval. During their last song, UF mascot Albert, dressed in a Santa outfit, came out on stage and danced with the band as they closed their set to applause usually reserved for the headliner.

The crowd came to its feet as one when Underwood rose up out of the two-tiered stage at 8:50 p.m. and immediately took the theatrical aspect of the night to another level.

With a half-moon video screen showing a close-up of the singer that People Magazine has listed as one of the “100 Most Beautiful People” for the last two years, Underwood looked more ready for a runway than a concert stage.

Clutching a glittering microphone, she immediately opened with two high-intensity songs before backing off the gas, just a bit, with her hit, “Wasted.”

Throughout the evening the Grand Ole Opry member worked an extended stage that included a runway stretching halfway across the stadium floor. Making use of the three video screens to add digital fireworks and video footage, the singer punched out song after song, with the strong, distinctive voice that has garnered her three Grammy awards in the last two years.

If anything seemed odd, it was the video footage of Underwood winning awards, making magazine covers and doing charity work. A promotional video seemed out of place in a concert but gave the singer time to change outfits as she moved from boots and a dress to an evening gown.

Underwood changed pace along with costumes, dropping the speed, if not the intensity. As she belted out her hit “Jesus Take the Wheel,” faces young and old sang along in the dimly lit arena.

Between songs the singer talked about going home to Checotah, Okla., for Christmas and her troubles finding a man, an interesting confession for the woman PETA twice called the “World’s Sexiest Vegetarian.”

Underwood seemed to revel in changing the mood over and over, at one point breaking into a smoking rendition of The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” before segueing into a rocking version of “Last Name.” Later on Little Big Town joined her for a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way.”

More than a few members of the crowd have been fans of the singer since her winning performance on “American Idol” in 2005.

“We picked her for the winner,” said Imez Colson, 60, of Gainesville, who came to see the show with her husband, Lewis.

This is Underwood’s first trip to Gainesville and the last night of her Carnival Ride tour, supporting her second album, “Carnival Ride,” which has sold about 3 million copies since its release date in late October.

Underwood came to fame in 2005 as the first country singer to win the immensely popular reality contest. Her debut album, “Some Hearts,” went on to become Billboard’s top country album for two years in a row, racked up multiple awards and records and sold more than 7 million copies.

Her new album has pushed her catalog over the 10 million mark. She has toured regularly with country heavyweights such as Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban.

Source: Gainesville