In a country music world that seems hell-bent on overhyping power, substance and flash, Alan Jackson's sold-out Corel Centre show last night presented an alternative: Anti-hype.

Though the blond-haired Stetson-hatted Georgian who's been blessed with a decade-long career filled with several No. 1 hits, album sales well over the 20-million mark, Jackson and his just-an-ordinary-guy demeanour found plenty of anti-hype favour among the 13,500 jean-clad audience members. (The show being a fundraiser of sorts for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, substantial applause greeted Jackson after he signed a $25,484 donation cheque.)

Mind you, anti-hype did take some getting used to. Rather than plow through his plethora of hits, Jackson and his able-bodied band strolled through early numbers Gone Country, Tall Tall Trees and She's Got the Rhythm (I Got the Blues), each of which could have used a little more horsepower. Proper cruising speed didn't fully click in until Don't Rock The Jukebox (buoyed by a heavy guitar intro), then again later during the gospel-flavoured What Kind of Man, Summertime Blues and encore number Don't Even Know Your Name.

And anti-hype can be finicky. Just as Jackson flourished with an adventurous I'll Go On Lovin' You and up tempo Little Bitty, he floundered during snippets of Here in the Real World, Wanted and (Who Says) You Can't Have It All.

In those cases, large screens boosted in some flash in the form of video entertainment to offset the few acknowledgements Jackson delivered to the crowd. Not that he's the hyping kind.

JAM! Rating: 3 out of 5