Brandi Carlile likes us. She really likes us. Honest.

On Sunday at the State Fair grandstand, the rising pop singer said she was looking forward to this gig more than any other on her tour. See, the Twin Cities is her biggest market. And, at the fair, she recounted almost all of the places she's performed here -- 400 Bar, First Avenue, Varsity Theater, the O'Shaughnessy, the fair's bandshell.

"Getting to play here tonight feels like a milestone," the big-voiced singer from a small town in Washington told 5,851 fans. (She said the first concert she saw was the Judds at the Washington State Fair.)

And Carlile, 29, carried on like it was a victory lap. The 90-minute show lacked the surprises and explosiveness of many of her previous Twin Cities gigs. Much of the time she seemed more giddy than fully invested emotionally in her emo folk songs.

Moreover, her voice, usually a rich instrument with warbles, hiccups and sheer gorgeous power, lacked its full-on brilliance. At times, she sounded road-weary, perhaps suffering from singer's dreaded air-conditioning throat or over-excitement for her big gig or the last night of a long tour syndrome.

In the middle of the set, voice and focus improved. Things turned around halfway through "My Song," a fiercely determined anthem. Nothing showed her vocal beauty more than Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" (she grew up on country), as her duet partner, opening act Amos Lee, did some nasally singing a la Nelson and she unleashed her twangy vibrato with a hiccup.

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was greeted with pindrop silence but delivered with "American Idol" dullness. However, the ensuing "Dreams" oozed Roy Orbison-like rock drama, "Turpentine" was spot-on, and "The Story," the closest thing Carlile has had to a hit, found her screaming like Melissa Etheridge.

Carlile was more convincing on the encore of "Jackson," during which she sang the parts for both Johnny Cash and June Carter. And then she lit up for Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."

The crowd and Carlile seemed delighted. Even though the performance didn't merit a blue ribbon, it will go down in the State Fair record books because she is only the second performer to graduate from the bandshell to grandstand headliner. Country star John Michael Montgomery did it in 1995.

For a set list, go to Artcetera blog at startribune.com

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719