Students soaked up the sun in late October at the Sheryl Crow show Saturday.

Crow and Gary Allan co-headlined the Convocation Center show as part of their Free and Easy Tour. Maggie Rose opened the night with Southern twang, honky-tonk blues and soul renditions from her recently released “Cut To Impress.” With an accompaniment of slide guitars, violins and a church organ, Rose and her band performed “I Ain’t Your Mamma.”

A recipient of nine Grammy awards, Crow stepped onstage just after Rose and her band concluded with “Preacher’s Daughter.”

“I got a feeling there’s a party going on right here in DeKalb,” Crow said from the stage, looking at the crowd before playing one of her earliest pop singles, “All I Wanna Do.”

Beginning the show with pop songs from the start of her musical career — “My Favorite Mistake,” “If It Makes You Happy” and “Soak Up The Sun” — Crow slowly transitioned into country.

After playing an electrical set embedded in soft rock ’n’ roll, Crow and her band added mandolins and violins and played from her newest studio album, “Feels Like Home.” During the acoustic performance, Crow incorporated musical mashups of her earliest single hits with other pieces, mixing her 1995 single “Can’t Cry Anymore” with “Picture,” a 2002 love ballad co-written with Kid Rock.

Mike Kurtis, a 25 year-old clinical lab science major, attended Crow’s concert with friends.

“She was great,” Kurtis said. “I always wanted to see her since I was 19.”

During a brief intermission, Crow spoke about her memories and friendship with songwriter Johnny Cash during a performance of “Redemption Day.” While an a capella recording of Cash played in the auditorium’s background, Crow sang along with the deceased “man in black.”

“I’ve always followed [Crow],” said Tasha Lawrence, 30, of DeKalb. “It doesn’t really matter what she’s doing. Whatever she does is awesome.”

Crow left the stage with the resonance of country music, leaving enough room and anticipation for country music artist Allan to continue the tour. Allan opened with hit single “Her Man” and closed the night after fans were cheering from their feet.

Dale Heights, 22-year-old art education major, attended the concert to see Allan’s performance.

“It’s fantastic,” Heights said. “It’s something to draw people in, even though there are very few students here tonight.”