-- Alaskan folk star Jewel kicked off the American leg of her This Way tour Friday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, thrilling a near sellout crowd of 2,500 with more than 90 minutes of her intensely personal, poetic reflections on life. Having broken her collarbone and a rib in April, Jewel relied on her backing band to provide the music for most of her set, focusing her energy on soaring vocals that entranced the audience. She played several songs from her latest CD, including the hit Standing Still and the skewering Jesus Loves Me. Jewel also reached back for the crowd pleasers Foolish Games and You Were Meant For Me, which became a sing-along, as well as more than a dozen other tunes. Band members Mark Oakley and Stuart Mathis on guitar, T-Bone Hannon on bass, Steve George on keyboards and Trey Gray on drums skillfully bolstered Jewel's performance, never getting in the way. Perhaps most pleasing, though, was when she shooed the band away for a 30-minute acoustic set for which Jewel slung a guitar around her neck and played. When she could remember the songs, that is. She trotted out one number, only to toss it aside remarking that she did not recall how it went. "Okay, we're not doing that one," Jewel said with a laugh, quickly moving on. Out came a silly polka in which she sang, "When your nose is running, it's a perfect time for kissing and hugging. Do you want to catch a cold with me?" Next was the gorgeous ballad Grey Matter, followed by a remembrance of a friend she said had died of cancer. The band returned to close out the show with Jewel, whose voice was in fine form. She ranged from coquettish, getting guys to scream as she sang, "Do you want to play?" to a belt in several songs that would have made Janis Joplin proud. She only looked uncomfortable in that she seemed not to know what to do with her hands when she did not have a guitar in them. But Jewel bantered with the crowd, and they loved her back. A couple of fans shouted so much that at one point she urged them to shut up so she could play. The rest of the audience burst into applause. Jewel released This Way in late 2001, and then toured Asia and Europe before heading back to the states. She plays Fort Lauderdale tonight and Orlando on Sunday, with her 40-date tour ending in September in California. The Norwegian teen duo M2M opened with a 25-minute set of mainstream pop about absent boyfriends and bad days. Impressively, the girls, Marit Larsen and Marion Ravn, wrote many of their lyrics. At first clearly apprehensive, they seemed to warm to the crowd toward the end of the performance. Raven, the primary singer of the two, had a powerful if sometimes breathy voice that could take her places.