How appropriate that Toby Keith rolled into town on Saturday, the very day the Rocky Mountain Rangers held a parade to celebrate 100 years of service to Canada.

While the local contingent of soldiers and their supporters marked a century of defending freedom, Keith was on stage in a sold-out Interior Savings Centre, putting on a patriotic (Stars and Stripes and the Maple Leaf) performance that had the jacked-up crowd calling for more.

Keith is known for a raft of hits, many of which he played to a frenzied crowd Saturday — As Good As I Once Was, Get Drunk and Be Somebody, I Love This Bar, Should’ve Been a Cowboy and on and on.

He is also known for his allegiance to Old Glory, an unwavering defence of all things United States of America that has seen him spar with the Dixie Chicks and other critics of the Bush administration and its decision to invade Iraq.

(Surprisingly, Keith was actually a registered Democrat until just last month, when he registered as an Independent, due to his distaste for the Dems’ attacks on Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin).

But back to the music.

From the opening explosion of pyrotechnics that followed a trailer for Keith’s movie, Beer For My Horses (out of DVD on Remembrance Day), to his encore performance of Angry American (“Oh, justice will be served, and the battle will rage, this big dog will fight, when you rattle his cage, and you’ll be sorry that you messed with the U.S. of A. , ‘cause we’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American way”), Keith ramped up the emotional meter and never turned it down.

And lest anyone dismiss the third-highest earning musician (Keith made $45 million last year) as a one-country pony, the man from Oklahoma paid tribute to Canadian troops in Afghanistan and to police and firefighters on the front line north of 49th by repeated displays of the red and white Maple Leaf flag on the jumbo screen overlooking the stage.

Keith even made sure to flip his American-flag-decorated guitar to reveal the Canadian flag, to more insane applause.

Jingoistic? Sure.

But it fit with the concert, as did his quips to the fans, almost all of whom were enjoying their drinks and not too shy to dance up a storm, much to Keith’s encouragement.

Hell, Kamloops was even treated to a duet with Willie Nelson, singing with Keith via the video screen.

Keith was preceded by a couple of B.C. singers who held their own while sharing a stage with a country-music monster.

Jessie Farrell was enthusiastic as she smiled and danced her way through a short set that included Fell Right Into You and Let’s Talk About Love.

Aaron Pritchett followed Farrell and set the tone for the rowdy night, sweating his way through a number of songs from his Thankful album before whipping fans into a party mood by ending with Hold My Beer.

(Pritchett has obviously been to a gym a time or two, so it might have been more appropriate for him to hold aloft a keg of Canadian or Lucky Lager, rather than a can of Heineken during the down-to-earth song).

ENCORE — The attendance of more than 5,800 should go a long way in convincing bigger acts that Kamloops is a worthwhile tour stop.

Plus, the atmosphere in Interior Savings Centre is positively intimate compared to cavernous GM Place in Vancouver.

n The sound system was outstanding, with every song in the sets of Farrell, Pritchett and Keith sounding as though it was emerging from an IPod.

n The promoters of the concert — Live Nation, Jelly Events and Country 103 — did a magnificent job in ramping up interest to the concert and an even finer job on Saturday.

From nailing the schedule down pat, to allowing fans to have fun, to a painless wait in the beer lines, the show was first-class.