O.C. Pop Music Review : No Quarters--Tritt Gives It 100% : The singer’s energetic performance at The Pond provides plenty of thrilling moments as he takes many unexpected twists and turns.

Travis Tritt may be “Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof,” but apparently, he’s far from Quarterproof.

Just before his set at The Pond of Anaheim on Sunday, an announcement was made that the show would be terminated immediately if anyone were to throw a quarter on stage.

The quarter throwing in response to Tritt’s hit, “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares),” had to be stopped a couple of years ago after Tritt was injured when a quarter hit him just above the eye.

The warning was hardly necessary. Tritt’s 1-hour, 45-minute set was so compelling that not only did no one feel the need to get into the act by flinging quarters, but Tritt’s performance of his signature tune was only a minor high point in a show filled with thrilling moments.

At first it seemed as though Tritt was determined to revisit the arena-rock overkill of the ‘70s when he was introduced by a whoosh of synthesizers, a laser eagle and theatrical fog.

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Borrowing a trick from Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Tritt came roaring onto the stage astride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He immediately launched into full-bore versions of his hit “Put Some Drive in Your Country” from his first album, “Country Club,” and “Wishful Thinking” from his current release, “Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof.”

Swinging his hips, doing jumping jacks and a modified duck walk, Tritt bounded back and forth across the stage like Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and U2’s Bono rolled into one.

If Tritt was going to unleash so much energy during the first two songs, what would be left for the rest of his set? Plenty as it turned out.

Tritt not only played such hits as “Here’s a Quarter,” which he delivered out of quarter range from the riser at the back of the stage, “Country Club” and “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’,” he also took the audience down many unexpected twists and turns as he ignored several of his hits (“I’m Gonna Be Somebody,” “Anymore” “Lord, Have Mercy on the Working Man”) in favor of other artists’ songs.

Early in his 22-song set, Tritt belted out ominous renditions of a couple of ornery Southern-boy anthems: Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” and Charlie Daniels’ “Long Haired Country Boy.”

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For a change of pace between the hard-rocking opening and close of his show, Tritt settled in for an extended solo acoustic interlude.

“You know, country music today is great,” he said, “but something’s wrong. No, it’s not Billy Ray (a joking referring to his overpublicized feud with the ‘Achy Breaky’ heartthrob); it’s that we’re forgetting our roots.”

Tritt then paid tribute to three of country’s legends by delivering spine-tingling readings of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line,” Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” and George Jones’ “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will).”

Tritt also revamped two of his own songs “Can I Trust You With My Heart” and “No Vacation From the Blues” with acoustic arrangements. On the latter song, a selection from his new album, Tritt accompanied himself with some great blues guitar playing.

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Tritt brought his band back and finished the show with no-holds-barred versions of several of his hits as well as high-spirited covers of the Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.”

He brought opening acts Joe Diffie and Lee Roy Parnell on stage with him to belt out a medley of rock and country classics that included Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie” and Hank Williams’ “Move It On Over.”

Throughout the evening, Tritt kept the focus on the music with a performance so dynamic that all the high-tech trappings--flashing lasers, a futuristic drum riser, glowing initials (“T.T.”) and a liberal use of video--seemed almost superfluous.

Tritt could have delivered the same set on a stark bare stage and little would have been lost.

Preceding Tritt was Joe Diffie, who has the voice and hit songs to have pulled off a convincing set by doing nothing more than standing still and singing. Yet he was a surprisingly energetic performer.

The majority of his 11-song set consisted of hard-rocking versions of his raucous honky-tonk anthems including “John Deere Green,” “Honky Tonk Attitude” and “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die).”

Throughout his 45-minute set, Diffie ran around the stage swinging his guitar in unison with members of his band, Heartbreak Highway. Although he had the appreciative crowd clapping along and screaming during the upbeat numbers, the high point of Diffie’s set was his dramatic version of his poignant hit “Ships That Don’t Come In.”

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He drew a standing ovation when he held a note at the climax for so long that he might have been auditioning for a “Is it live or is it Memorex?” commercial. In contrast to the pure honky-tonk of his set, Diffie encored with a rocking version of ZZ Top’s “Tush.”

Lee Roy Parnell was equally dynamic in a 30-minute opening set that seemed way too brief. He belted out a half dozen of his hits including “Tender Moment,” “On the Road” and “Love Without Mercy,” attacking the numbers with his soulful vocals and his terrific blues-guitar work.

* Travis Tritt, Joe Diffie and Lee Roy Parnell play Thursday at Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion, 2555 Devore Road, Devore. 7:30 p.m. $12.50-$22.50. (909) 886-8742.