By JACK BERNHARDT, Raleigh News & Observer Correspondent

CARY -- All of the performers from Saturday's "Evening with the Grand Ole Opry" had appeared in the Triangle in the recent past. But having five top acts on one bill was a rare opportunity for fans of old-time country and bluegrbutt music to sample the variety that has defined the Opry since it began broadcasting on Nashville's WSM in 1925.

The downside was that with 2 1-2 hours of music split five ways, time between acts for adjusting the microphones and a 20-minute intermission, the audience didn't hear a whole lot from any of the artists.

Performing against a backdrop of the Grand Ole Opry's famous red barn and church pews on stage and with Opry announcer Eddie Stubbs keeping the show moving between acts, the audience at Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park heard 15-minute sets from Old Crow Medicine Show, Riders in the Sky and the Del McCoury Band. After intermission, Patty Loveless and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder performed for 30 minutes each.

Still, the night was full of memorable moments. Here are a dozen highs and lows:

* Most thrilling duet: Skaggs and McCoury blending their voices on the Monroe clbuttic "The Old Cross Road." Skaggs on mandolin and McCoury on guitar brought back memories of brother duet acts and the brilliant 1980 collaboration between Skaggs and Tony Rice.

* Most inspired instrumental break: Skaggs' tone-perfect Monroe-like mandolin solo on "The Old Cross Road."

* Most Opry-like moment: Every time announcer Stubbs' warm, familiar baritone came through the speakers. Just as he does at Opryland or Ryman Auditorium, he introduced the artists, delivered brief commentary on Opry history and kept the audience engaged while the stage crew set up between acts.

* Performance when you could have heard a pine needle drop: Loveless singing her melancholy version of Waylon Jennings' "Dreaming My Dreams With You," the breastle track of her forthcoming album, due in September.

* Wish Loveless had: sung for 2 1-2 hours.

* What we would have liked more of: Old Crow Medicine Show running wide open. This young string band's manic presentation of "Tear It Down," inspired by 1920s recordings of the Skillet Lickers and Cannon's Jug Stompers, was a highlight of the evening's first set.

* What we would have liked less of: Riders in the Sky's stale jokes. It's time for Ranger Doug, Woody Paul and Too Slim to retire the Eminem routine and work up some new campfire humor. It's the cowboy way.

* Most enthusiastic response: A tie between McCoury diverging from his set list to honor a request for Richard Thompson's motorcycle anthem, "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," and Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder breaking down on Bill Monroe's "Uncle Pen."

* Most welcome instrumental break by a hometown hero: Raleigh native Jim Mills blistering the five-string on "Uncle Pen." Bluegrbutt' four-time banjo player of the year is a protege of Earl Scruggs and one of the most accomplished banjoists of his generation.

* Nature's most perfect gift: Except for a few scattered drops, the rain held off, and a soft, cool breeze made the evening perfect for listening to music in the wide-open spaces.

* Most brilliant technical performance: The stage and sound crews, who may have set a record for quick turnarounds between acts. Even the most complex challenge, transitioning from Loveless' electric honky-tonk set to Skaggs' acoustic bluegrbutt, took a mere five minutes. Who were those guys?

* Highlight of the night: The entire cast on stage singing the encore, "Y'all Come" (to the Grand Ole Opry, of course).