Sheryl Crow's dramatic encore moment quickly gave way to rock 'n' roll fun, which made it fall in line with the rest of the show.

        The neo-classic-rock singer spent most of her 80-minute show at Riverbend Friday night singing about the sunny side of life — be it sun-bathing in the existential sing-along “Soak Up the Sun” or working on a tavern tan in the drinking anthem “All I Wanna Do” — and the crowd bounced along to the good-time groove.

        Ms. Crow has scored enough hits in her 10-year career as a major-label artist to nicely fill a set. Most of them happen to be musically simple and lyrically innocuous.

        There were two notable exceptions, and both seemed to have 9-11 connotations.

        She introduced the first one, “Weather Channel,” by saying, “I want to play a song that means more to me now than when I wrote it.” With lines in the song like “Sunny morning, you can hear it, siren's warning...” it was safe to assume what the new meaning is.

        The second poignant moment opened the encore. A piano was wheeled to the center of the stage, and Ms. Crow sat and played “Safe & Sound,” repeating her New York City-tribute performance at the MTV Music Awards last month.

        “It's really fitting for what's going on,” Ms. Crow said of the song before playing it. “Hopefully we can move out of this time and not have to worry if we're safe and sound.”

        It didn't take her long to move out of serious-time, as the baby grand that served as the centerpiece instrument of the ballad became Ms. Crow's personal dance floor. She climbed on top of it, and she and her four-man band launched into Led Zeppelin's “Rock and Roll.”

        Other carefree crowd-favorites included “Steve McQueen,” “Every Day is a Winding Road,” “C'Mon C'Mon,” and “A Change (Would Do You Good)” which segued into a version of the Who's “I Can't Explain.” For whatever reason, drummer Jim Bogios sang lead. It's hard enough to play like Keith Moon, and it's an impossible task when the drummer must sing, too.

        Opening act Michelle Branch made the headliner seem deep by comparison. The young hit singer's 45-minute set was rather forgettable. The two hit songs, “All You Wanted” and “Everywhere,” were the highlights for her young fan base and Ms. Crow's older crowd alike.

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