SunFest 2006: Carrie Underwood's Appetite for Axl!

Meet Carrie Underwood: America's sweetheart, American Idol winner and expert Axl Rose impersonator.

OK, so the perky blonde 22-year-old didn't break out a flannel shirt, backwards ball cap and a bunch of drunken tatooed sidekicks at her SunFest show on Thursday. But she did insert not one, but two Guns N Roses numbers, "Patience" and "Sweet Child O' Mine," into her repetoire of breezy country upliftedness and sweetness.

And here's the thing - when Underwood quite convincingly grabbed the mic stand and rocked out at the end of the '80s arena love classic "Sweet Child," it was pretty much the best part of her set.

Back when Underwood was an "Idol" contestant, some critics (OK, me) decried her seeming lack of
connection or light behind the eyes, even with those amazing pipes of hers. But I'm happy to report that
the soon-to-be college grad has broken down whatever wall was holding her back, and gave an engaging, smile-laden show, which included hits "Jesus Take The Wheel" and the wistful "We're Young And Beautiful."

Still, there were some slow sections, not because of Underwood's performance, but because of the blocks of pretty but slooow numbers like "Starts With Goodbye" and "Lessons Learned." Nice songs, but when you're standing, and it's slightly warm, that gets old real fast. But she's really grown as a performer, and if she gets her songlist straight, I'm sure the next show's going to be even better.

And if she throws in "Welcome To The Jungle," she's gonna kick butt.

Carrie Underwood seems an unlikely choice for a Guns N Roses cover act, but Canadian punk pop pixie Fefe Dobson, pogoing her cute and angry way on the The Real Yellow Pages Stage, seems a more natural candidate. There were very few people standing around to watch the energetic, kinetic singer snarling it up through "Bye Bye Boyfriend" and "Miss Vicious," probably because she started 15 minutes before Carrie. And that's too bad, because she's awesome. She looks like she'd beat you up. But somehow, she made that awesome.

The bulk of the crowd that wasn't watching Carrie was down at the Tire Kingdom Stage experiencing the Family Stone Experience. And this show, ladies and gents, just might convince me not to roll my eyes at these re-packaged 60s and 70s acts who tour with barely half an original member and still use all or part of the original name.

Why? Because original Sly and the Family Stone sax man Jerry Martini, trumpet player Cynthia Robinson and keyboard player Rose Stone, as well as a well-chosen set of newer members, have a firm grip on the funk. They threw that in with some soul, some horn-based grooving and some of the best "get off your chair and move" songs ever written - "Dance To The Music," "Everyday People" and "Hot Fun In The Summertime." The result - an instant party, even without Sly's crazy white Mohawk from the Grammys.