He turns the Tweeter into his humble home

MANSFIELD -- There are reasons Alan Jackson is so tough to beat as entertainer of the year in any country music competition. He not only sings well and has an impeccable band, he uses video better than any country artist -- and, most of all, he never puts himself above his audience.

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Although Jackson played for 15,500 at Sunday's Country Music Festival sponsored by WKLB-FM (99.5), he turned the sprawling Tweeter Center into an intimate honky-tonk. His pacing and execution were excellent -- and his bliss at just being there (''I'm one of the fortunate few to do what I do," he sang) was inspiring.

Jackson is a living testament to another of his song lyrics: ''Too much of a good thing is a good thing." He dazzled with his homespun decency, as well as with video clips of his dancing cheek-to-cheek with his wife on ''Remember When." He was also shown hanging out at the Grand Ole Opry with elders such as Porter Wagoner and Little Jimmy Dickens. Jackson believes he is just a link in country music's chain -- and he keeps his ego to a minimum.

His image was larger-than-life on the three Jumbotron screens at the rear of the stage, but he never played the star. He just sang his heart out on signature hits such as ''Don't Rock the Jukebox," the blue-collar anthem ''Little Bitty," the homey ''Chattahoochee," and well-placed covers of Hank Williams's ''Hey, Good Lookin' " (given a pronounced New Orleans beat) and Nat Stuckey's playful ''Pop a Top." His Everyman persona was further reinforced on ''Where I Come From," in which he roused the crowd with footage of many Bay State landmarks. The message: Be proud of your roots.

Openers Sara Evans and the Wrights also left positive marks. The Wrights featured Jackson's nephew Adam and Adam's wife, Shannon, but they could make it on their own based on their bursting set of neo-traditional country. And Evans was a brassy belter who captivated on the hit ''Born to Fly."