Sat. Feb. 23

k.d. lang is sort of like the female Lyle Lovett: She came from a country-ish background and then took country music to a new world. A world far from Nashville, certainly. lang also moved incorporated pop balladry and faux-Vegas staging into her act - soap bubbles and all. She's got one of the most powerful, soaring voices around and it's heartening to see that she's kept her audience - playing places as large as the Opera House, which she does Saturday Feb. 23 - and transcended the notion that what she does might be a novelty. It's far from it; she just displays a sense of humor, both broad and wry. And she's one of those artists - like say Erasure - who appeal to straight and gay crowds equally. lang's music is lush, layered, gorgeous; it can be thoroughly transporting. A funny aside: I interviewed her in New York in the '90s and we were talking about her voice and she bemoaned the fact that she just can't really sing rock 'n' roll - not like Chrissie Hynde! And, while she's right (and Hynde is a great rock singer) lang has range and dynamics to die for. She had the honor of singing - and matching voices perfectly - with one of our heroes, Roy Orbison. (It's not a boast, but I was the last to interview Roy and cover his final show. I so wish he was still with us - the gentlest, kindest man I've met in music.) She's also famously dueted on "A Wonderful World" with Tony Bennett, for which she won her fourth Grammy. lang's signature song may be her own "Constant Craving," but she's a marvelous interpeter, too, as 2004's "Hymns Of The 49th Parallel" suggests. (It was a covers album of songs by artists from her native Canada.) Her latest album, "Watershed," is her first album of original material since 2000's "Invincible Summer." There's country, pop, Brazilian music, a symphonic slam, sometimes. All good. Oh, and believe it or not, this is lang's 25th year in the music world. Tickets: $63.50-$43.40. Starts at 7:30.

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