Jann Arden will always stand up in a crowd.

The Calgary singer-songwriter, whose songs often ache, kept a packed Centennial Hall under her sway last night by spicing the time between the tunes with standup routines that zinged.

The combination, spread over two busy hours, was good for a couple of standing ovations from the audience of about 1,500 and multiple encores from Arden and her excellent band.

Either way, she stands out.

Arden is touring Canada to support her new release, Blood Red Cherry (Universal) and last night's concert served up plenty from it. Standouts included the anthemic and unapologetic I Only Wanted Sex and an early selection, Into the Sun, which mourns fallen heroes from Jesus Christ to John Lennon to Janis Joplin.

She's also learning how to handle Mend, one of the prettiest and most upbeat songs on Blood Red Cherry, as a solo item. Her duet partner on the recording, Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy, is engaged elsewhere -- apparently touring Australia. So, like a couple of other new tunes, it's settling into a different format.

Arden made room for some of her classics from the 1990s -- including Insensitive and Could I Be Your Girl? -- in an "unplugged" style. The approach worked as a change of pace from the high energy pop and rock of the Blood Red Cherry material.

Arden's comedy is definitely improv friendly. Her band -- including long-time guitarist Russell Broom -- squashed one punchline by starting before her story was completed, but she still got her laugh by remarking the group must be sick of her.

Her favourite comic target -- and it's an affectionate one -- is her mother. Arden's mom apparently thinks her daughter has the makings of another Baby Spice if only she'd quit wearing those boots and check out some tube tops.

Other topics for Arden's routines included her fellow performers, the Leahys. The many membered, multi-talented East Coast musical family should be "colour-coded" to help outsiders keep them straight.

When superfans from Chicago let her know they'd driven 10 hours to get to the show, Arden was touched. "No boy ever drove two hours from me," she announced.

To go with all the laughs, there were poignant moments. One song was dedicated to Arden's late grandmother, who died recently.

Among her encores was a stately version of Scarborough Fair, the old Simon and Garfunkel hit that was an early favourite of Arden's.

Opening for Arden was Vancouver singer-songwriter Bob Kemmis. Like the headliner, he mixed in jokes -- often about being totally unknown to the audience -- with songs about the frustrations of love. He warmed up the crowd for Arden's one-two punch.