I’m back at the hotel — do you think Im going to camp in the woods when Im working? — ready to report on 14.5 hrs at Soo Pass Ranch.

Musical impressions: John Anderson is still swingin.’ Josh Turner has a Johnny Cash-like voice and a Randy Travis-like style, sincerity and stage manner. Carrie Underwood was underwhelming. The loudest response she received was for her cover of Guns N Roses’ “Sweet Child of Mine.” No one clapped when she started her breakthrough hit “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” The choruses to most of her non-hits sounded the same: overly aggressive power ballads.

As for headliner Alan Jackson, I’ve never seen him more talkative or upbeat in concert. He actually said a paragraph’s worth — instead of his usual one-sentence comments — several times. And he seemed more animated than usual and energetic. Well, for him. He usually has the stage presence of a handsome statue.

Impressions and images as I walked around the concert bowl during A-Jax’s set:

Four young gals line-dancing — three wearing cowgirl boots, one flip-flops, allwith matching homemade Ts declaring “Wasted in 07″ (”Wasted” is anUnderwood hit.)

A couple slow-dancing (making goo-goo eyes at each other) as Jackson and his wife were seen on the giant video screens slow-dancing as he sang “Remember When” live.

We Fest’s new so-called sky box is really a new two-tiered, roofed pavilion with plastics chairs. It’s close to the stage and far from the maddening crowd.

Other moments:

At the VIP dining tent, the music was so loud from the mainstage that I couldn’t tell if the woman said it was bourbon or urban chicken. (It was bourbon, Keith Urban plays tonight).

Backstage, K102 DJ Mike Mussman caught a falling drink from the hand of a sales-person for FM107, a competing station.

A backstage worker asked Alan Jackson’s road manager if he could do the star’s signature on a few photos. Said the roadie: “I can’t do Alan but I can do a great Loretta Lynn.” He used to work for her.

A Hummer stretch limo — from Fargo, no less — maneuvered through the narrow, winding roads of the VIP campground at 1 a.m.

When I was partying with Terri, Dianne and the gals at Hay Bale Corner, Scott, A-Jax’s video producer, stopped by. He shared stories about A-Jax, Brad Paisley and other clients before a loud horn summoned him back to the tour bus for a 1:45 a.m. departure.

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