Garth Brooks showed why he’s one of the hottest performers not just in country music, but in popular music in general, with a sizzling performance Friday night at the Bangor Auditorium.

Some have wondered how a husky man with a receding hairline has become a sex symbol with more than 20 million albums sold in five years.

But there’s more to the performer than just the package. There’s his energy, unprecedented in country music. More than anything else, Brooks is a showman, right up through swinging on a rope ladder after the encore of “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.”

The air of excitement was palpable inside the auditorium, as Brooks ranks as one of the biggest acts to play at the old facility.

During the one-hour, 40-minute concert, he played all his hits, from his first, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” to his latest, “We Shall Be Free.”

But Brooks also worked the crowd, bounding from one side of the stage to the other in seemingly every direction.

He shook hands wherever he was. A human tidal wave would form on whichever apron the Oklahoma native would stand on, threatening to crash over his human shield and flow onto the stage. He treated each gift, from the single flower to homemade presents, respectfully and thankfully.

And, for a superstar, Brooks never treated himself too seriously. One of the evening’s highlights was his harkening back to his humble beginnings at Wild Willie’s nightclub in Stillwater, Okla.

“I promised myself then that, after I was playing auditoriums like this, I would always play one song with just me and my guitar,” he said to introduce “Unanswered Prayers. “A lot has changed since 1985, but my guitar playing still sucks.”

He continued in that vein when introducing his next number. He explained how, at 1 a.m. in that club, people would ask him to sound like a popular singer.

“It seems like a strange request, but you’re a …. when you’re playing for tips, so you do it,” he said. With that, he launched into “For All The Girls I Loved Before,” imitating both Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias.

Although the evening was tightly choreographed, one of the concert’s spontaneous moments happened next. A fan left Brooks a $1 tip. He called that fan up, then autographed his guitar and handed it to the fan. It’s those little human gestures that kept the sell-out crowd screaming, whistling, clapping and stomping for Brooks throughout the evening.

Opening act Martina McBride also held her own. Faced with an impossible act to introduce, she still got the audience well warmed up during her seven-song, half-hour set.