LONDON, Ont. - The slickest act in country music proved to be pretty much unstoppable at the John Labatt Centre on Thursday night. U.S. vocal trio Rascal Flatts had plenty of everything for the 7,600 fans who jammed the downtown arena.

It helps having a spectacular encore touch like Life is a Highway -- yeah, the Tom Cochrane classic -- ready to bang home the finale after about 100 minutes of polished entertainment.

Lead singer Gary LeVox was there to sing the sweet ballads, like Bless the Broken Road or power up the rockers like the truck anthem Bob That Head. For a biggish guy with hair that sticks up funny, LeVox proved to be pretty nimble with the mic, able to rove around the elaborate stage that snaked almost to the back of the rink. He signed casts and touched the hands of fans without missing a step or a note.

Bassist, singer and joker Jay DeMarcus explained why Canada is so attractive. "It's an easy reason. The beer is so much better," DeMarcus said. Just when he's played the fool, DeMarcus would spin off some tasty piano licks, making up for an awkward cover of Lean on Me. Guitarist and singer Joe Don Rooney is the hunky one who keeps firing off the rock riffs.

At one point, Rooney was way down one of the walkways, blazing away. DeMarcus was taking charge of another part of the stage. LeVox was walking down at crowd level, wearing a cowboy hat he'd borrowed from a fan and then returned on his way back to the stage.

With all this going on, nobody seemed to miss a note. No wonder it's called the Unstoppable tour.

Rascal Flatts did falter at times. Some Hannah Montana references in a comedy bit strayed too long. A cover of the Beatles' Revolution late Thursday didn't do the Fab Four or country's superstar trio justice.

Typical of some U.S. country acts that seem to need reassurance about the concert's location, there were far too many mentions of Canada. But those little excesses must be forgiven because of the magnificent O Canada inspired by the backing band's fiddler. The Rascal Flatts fans spontaneously sang our anthem, loud and proud. Beautiful.

The slicker touches had fireworks sparkling down from above the stage, fog flowing around the band and LeVox smoothly getting a fan to sing a little when a cast-signing duty took him out of the loop for a moment.

The opener on Thursday was Darius Rucker, who joined Rascal Flatts for that big, big finish on Life is a Highway. In a previous incarnation, he was the frontman of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish. Now, Rucker is a country star big enough to be rewarded with a full house, rare for an opening act.

His set finished with a country-styled version of Prince's Purple Rain, getting marks for cool. Rucker also has a lot of honky tonkin' songs, which he brings up to date. In Rucker's world, the big danger is drinking and dialling your ex. The cellphone that needs impounding because the drunk holding it is bound to dial the wrong honey is a whole new genre. Good for Rucker.