POP REVIEW : JENNINGS SPINS SOME MAGIC

Waylon Jennings can still pack more vitality into a performance than nearly any singer you would care to name, even during a set as succinct as his one-hour first show Monday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.

One of country music’s original outlaws, Jennings obviously delights in turning concert cliches inside out. Like his longtime associate Willie Nelson, the Texan brings on stage with him a larger-than-life image. But unlike Willie, who seems a prisoner of that persona in his frequently rote performances, Jennings delves beneath the celebrity to reveal a living human being.

When he introduced his wife, singer Jessi Colter, they bantered playfully and spontaneously, avoiding the corny canned dialogue that often makes such family affairs insufferable. Sharing in the evening’s inspired atmosphere, Colter followed with a scorching performance of her first hit “I’m Not Lisa.”

Rather than cruise the safe and easy “greatest hits” route, Jennings and his crack five-man band veered off onto musical side roads that, if less familiar to most fans, were far more scenic.

Although the 20-song set began with a slightly hurried version of Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country,” Jennings quickly moved to “Working Without a Net” from his 1986 album “Will the Wolf Survive.” The song’s message about living life without crutches--emotional or chemical--took on a strongly autobiographical tone in the wake of Jennings’ publicized admissions last year of a long-standing cocaine habit that he finally kicked.

Most importantly, Jennings’ voice--one of pop music’s genuine treasures--showed renewed vibrancy and richness, qualities that had faded in recent years.