Loveless concert lacks past> Old favorites missing from exuberant show

Country fans got to hear quite a few of their Patty Loveless favorites Sunday night at the Maine Center for the Arts.

Which was fine, as far as it went. But something was missing during the one-hour, 40-minute concert, namely many of the Epic Records artist’s songs from before 1992. This meant few of the hits from her MCA years, skipping tunes such as “If My Heart Had Windows,” “On Down the Line,” “Chains” and “Jealous Bone.” Actually, “I’m That Kind of Girl” was one of the few older songs Loveless performed for the crowd of about 1,300.

In short, Loveless didn’t present the kind of career retrospective expected at concerts given by veteran performers, which kept the show from being all it could have been.

But what Loveless and her nine-member band did play, they performed with exuberance and virtuosity. They played seven of the 10 cuts on her current album, “Long Stretch of Lonesome,” including the odd choice of the title tune for her single-song encore.

They also brought new life to such ’90s No. 1 hits as “You Can Feel Bad,” “Lonely Too Long,” “Halfway Down,” “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am,” “Here I Am” and “Blame It on Your Heart,” as they painted a picture of the many shades of love in front of a giant backdrop featuring Loveless’ name and portrait.

Loveless was ably supported by such talented musicians as Wayne Patten on acoustic guitar and backup vocals; Tom Britt on lead guitar; Cindy Richardson on fiddle, mandolin and guitar; and Carmella Ramsey on backup vocals, fiddle, mandolin and guitar.

One especially well-received section came when the Kentucky native and her band gathered around two microphones to play a couple of bluegrass songs. Richardson especially shined during these numbers, which gained the evening’s loudest applause.

While Loveless and company enjoyed a warm reception from the audience, there was little, locally oriented banter from the star and little interplay with the audience, aside from a sing-along or two. On the whole, her monologues consisted of such cookie-cutter phrases as “It sure is beautiful here in (fill in the blank).”

Still, there were times when Loveless veered away from the set list for a moment or two. When a woman screamed out, “I love your outfit!,” the singer, garbed in a white pantsuit with a white print jacket, replied, “I get nervous wearing white. It makes me stand out more.”

In the end, the fans rewarded Loveless with a standing ovation. They may not have gotten all of her, but most went away feeling they had gotten plenty.