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FAIRBORN — The face fronting one of contemporary country music's most popular acts is, surprisingly, slightly pudgy, has spiky moussed hair and hails originally from Columbus.

Gary LeVox, main vocalist for megawatt star trio Rascal Flatts, might not seem to be an obvious country hit-maker. But a hit-maker he is, along with his second cousin, Jay Demarcus (also from Columbus) on bass and vocals and "honorary Buckeye" Joe Don Rooney on guitar and vocals as well.

The threesome, accompanied by a five-piece backup band, concluded their extended Still Feels Good Tour on Saturday night with a sold out concert at Wright State University's Ervin J. Nutter Center. Originally scheduled for this past February, the show had to be reset when a band member got sick.

LeVox told Saturday night's assembly that the fault was his, and he apologized for making everyone wait. But nobody seemed to hold it against him. The multigenerational crowd, which mostly stood — and danced and sang along — throughout the nearly two-hour show, just seemed thrilled to be there.

But then Rascal Flatts isn't up for this year's Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year award for nothing. (The awards ceremony is May 18 in Las Vegas.) These guys know how to put on a show. The staging, lighting, pyrotechnics and video components all combine to create an almost dizzying display, girded by an eclectic musical style that's ostensibly country, but draws as well from pop, rock, gospel, R&B and even funk influences.

And they manage to give more ticket holders "stage front" seats then most acts, bringing some fans into a "pit" like area within the main stage, and lowering a bridge-like walkway from the ceiling to link the main stage to a smaller in-the-round style stage — which revolved, too — in the middle of the stadium.

They opened the show from the middle stage, starting out with the title track from "Me and My Gang." The concert's beginning had more dramatic flash and flair than a lot of bands' finales. But Rascal Flatts isn't shy about starting out big and going on from there.

At the same time, much of their lyrical material is of a sweetly earnest nature. There's a strong affirmational aspect to the trio's work, with titles like "Stand," "Feels Like Today," "My Wish."

What's not to like. It's nice, happy stuff.

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