Barbara
Mandrell
held
her
saxophone
as
she
sang
Thursday
at
The
Riverside
Theater.
--Sentinel
photo
by
Jack
Orton
Mandrell
wows
crowd
with
presence,
delivery
By
Tim
Roets
With
a
slick,
fast-paced
selection
of
songs
that
leaned
toward
the
pop
side
of
country
music,
Barbara
Man-
drell
wowed
a
capacity
crowd
at
the
Riverside
Theater
Thursday,
the
first
night
of
her
sellout
two-day
engage-
ment.
From
the
minute
she
strolled
on-
stage,
it
was
obvious
why
this
dimin-
utive
singer
has
chalked
up
so
many
music
awards
and
hits
in
the
past
decade
and
a
half.
Simply
put,
Mandrell
is
an
engag-
ing
performer
with
a
smooth,
full-
voiced
delivery
that
lends
itself
to
a
wide
variety
of
country
styles.
She's
also
striking
onstage.
Adorned
in
a
shimmering
gold
and
black
gown,
with
her
cover-girl
fea-
tures
framed
by
a
puff
of
silky
blond
hair,
she
oozed
unassuming
energy
whether
prancing
to
the
beat
or
en-
gaging
in
banter
with
her
fans.
'
Kicking
things
off
with
the
up-
tempo
"Get
to
the
Heart,"
Mandrell
and
her
fine
eight-piece
_backup
group,
the
Do
Rights,
stormed
through
a
staggering
number
of
songs
and
musical
styles.
She
was
best
on
the
traditional
numbers,
growling
and
belting
with
down-home
glee
amid
the
din
of
the
pedal
steel
guitar
and
barrelhouse
piano
on
"Roll
In
My
Sweet
Baby's
Arms"
and
a
hit
medley
of
honky-
tonk
weepers
and
sultry
declarations
of
love.
The
show's
only
drawback
was
pacing.
The
songs
were
short
and
seemed
to
roll
by
too
fast
--
especial-
ly
the
medley
that
featured
snippets
of
17
songs
in
less
than
10
minutes.
Her
"I
love
you
all"
patter
also
seemed
somewhat
plastic.