George Strait offered fans at the Mellon Arena last night a show that demonstrated the breadth of his influences and styles. Strait is seen here in a Phoenix performance.

The music ranged from ballads to barnburners, with nods to classic country, western swing and the blues. The vocals sounded warm and pitch-perfect. The 10-piece band adeptly picked, plunked and pounded.

So why did George Strait's Mellon Arena show last night feel a bit flat? Maybe it was just too much of a good thing -- 25 songs in 90 minutes, followed by a 3-song encore.

While all those songs afforded Strait the opportunity to demonstrate the breadth of his influences and styles, they also pointed to formulaic overindulgences. While Strait's clearly proud of his Lone Star state roots, the place names ("Amarillo By Morning," "Somewhere Down in Texas") and contrivances ("How 'Bout Them Cowgirls," "Cowboys Like Us," "I Ain't Her Cowboy Anymore," "The Cowboy Rides Away") grew wearisome.

Not that the crowd didn't love it -- they did. And not that there weren't fine songs in the show like the winning shuffle "Honk If You Honky Tonk," the poppy and lyrically sharp "She'll Leave You With a Smile" and the Bob Wills nod "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa." Ultimately, though, the show stayed firmly in the middle of the commercial country road.

Seventeen-year-old Taylor Swift, who noted that she was "from right down the road in Reading," opened with a fun 5-song set. Swift chatted a lot, from saying that she sang the national anthem at a Steeler game to introducing her tune "Should've Said No" by explaining that it was "about a guy who cheated on me and shouldn't have because I write songs." Her hit "Tim McGraw" drew the biggest response.

Ronnie Milsap was the most pleasant surprise of the night. The singer/keyboardist has lost none of his vocal prowess, wailing the high note at the end of "Stranger In My House" and giving a credibly gritty reading of the Stones classic "Honky Tonk Women." While he did include one six-song medley during his 55 minutes, he still found time for full-length takes on "Houston Solution," "Lost in the Fifties Tonight" and "Smoky Mountain Rain", plus two tunes from his latest album "My Life." Milsap's set actually managed more energy and fire than the headliner's, though the crowd seemed more in tune with George Strait's steady parade of hits.