Music review

Concertgoers attending Patty Loveless’ afternoon show Friday got the usual greatest hits package common to shows at the Bangor State Fair.

Often at such concerts, those audience members in the nosebleed seats would be better off listening to a CD at home. But Loveless gave the crowd, packed up to the third balcony, something more — her warmth and charm.

While cramming 15 songs into a 55-minute set, Loveless took the time to shake hands with the dozens of children who wandered to the front of the stage. She spent a goodly portion of the concert squatting to greet her young fans.

She also managed to work in some playful banter with the audience. Early in the show, she said to a couple of amateur photographers, “Go ahead and take the picture. We can wait.”

Loveless, dressed in black jeans, jacket and boots and a white pullover, covered the full range of her career, from her first Top 10 single, 1988’s “If My Heart Had Windows” to her current single “Can’t Stop Myself From Loving You.”

She also displayed her musical roots in the Kentucky hills, with the mountain blues song “How to Carry On.” She was achingly accompanied by Tim Hensley on acoustic guitar and Carmella Ramsey on mandolin, and the pair also provided harmony vocals.

Loveless also crafted live versions of her hits, from the ballads “The Night’s Too Long” and “Don’t Toss Us Away,” to the honkytonking “Goin’ on Overtime” and “On Down the Line” to the rocking “Jealous Bone.” She kept the crowd clapping and singing along with her.

Loveless’ vocals were supported by an able six-member band, with Ramsey and Hensley adding smooth harmony vocals.