CAMROSE -- They were standing before Reba even walked out onto the Big Valley stage. The moment the band struck the first notes of the intro.

The Queen is in the house.

And her Majesty immediately grabbed the stage the way only performers of that stature can.

TV hasn't dulled Reba McEntire's stage sense. And she looked awesome in jeans and tasselled leather. Still an Oklahoma gal. Queen of the rodeo, Queen of the people.

After that, all she had to do was sing her songs to complete the command performance.

Chris Cagle is not a straight-ahead hat act. He's a hat act with a hard-rock edge.

He said it himself. "Where I come from we find a big, old pasture, start a bonfire, circle the tailgates and throw on some AC/DC and George Strait."

Backed by a solid band, he won over the Camrose crowd by coming across as a hard-working cowboy kind of guy.

And he threw "Camrose" or "Canadian" into every song.

The crowd probably didn't need to be "warmed up" for Reba, but he did it anyway.

One thing wrong with Trick Pony's set. It wasn't long enough.

They are Three Trick Pony, actually. Co-founders Keith Burns and Ira Dean add their strengths but it's Heidi Newfield that puts them over the edge.

Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Reba.

They rocked down Highway 101 with an excellent mix of country-pop, southern-edged rock and a little showbiz cheese. But not the processed cheese. The real good cheddar.

And they have Heidi. Oh yeah, Heidi.

The girl rocks.

The Pony also rocked out a version of Cry, Cry, Cry by the artist who has become the most-covered here at BVJ 2004: the late, great Johnny Cash.

An awesome suppertime performance that had the people dancin' in the aisles.

And standing for the ovation.

When Jamie O'Neal introduced the members of her band, she didn't introduce the sequencer. It's a good thing because the sequencer screwed up the beginning of the next song.

That can happen when you rely on an electronic tool instead of a human keyboard player to play the cheesy-sounding fiddle parts.

Too bad. O'Neal has a strong voice, but doesn't seem to have the songs to make her stand out in a crowded field of Martinas and Trishas.

The standout was a hot cover of Linda Ronstadt's You're No Good.

If Sean Hogan, Inc. is selling shares, you might want to buy some. Judging by the songs he played from his next album, the boy may have a couple of hits on his hands. In particular, the title track, Catalina Sunrise.

A solid set throughout.

Hogan's cover tune wasn't by Johnny Cash. It was a strong take on John Hiatt's Slow Turning.

It was probably too early in the day for girls to be screaming, because they'll do that for B.C. boy Aaron Pritchett. (He'll have heard a few of those, no doubt, last night when he closed the beer gardens.)

Pritchett does cover tunes. He closed his set with My Way. Just kidding, sort of. He did do a Cash song, but his My Way isn't the Sinatra/Elvis anthem. It's his own.

All in all, great weather always makes for a great day on the BVJ mainstage. Great weather and Johnny Cash.