Anyone who caught singer Brandi Carlile at the Michigan Theater a year ago and wondered if she would do anything special for Sunday night's show to change up what could have been essentially a repeat performance needn’t have worried.

Although many of the songs were the same — she is still touring in support of the CD “Give Up the Ghost” — the performances, plus a few surprises, turned the evening into something special.

Among the concert’s high points were a killer guest spot at the piano from indie darling-turned-University of Michigan student Vienna Teng on “Caroline” (Elton John played the part on Carlile’s album), Carlile’s stunning solo acoustic take of Patsy Cline’s signature tune “Crazy,” and the performance of Alphaville’s 1984 hit “Forever Young” that closed the show. The two cellos, keyboard and Carlile’s voice on the latter number sent chills running down my spine.

The evening was clearly a lovefest between the performer and the crowd. Carlile — with her ever-present, guitar-slinging twin-brother duo Tim and Phil Hanseroth backing her up — has played here something like five times in as many years at venues spanning The Ark, the Blind Pig and the Michigan. It’s not surprising Carlile has a huge local fan base.

Carlile drew from all three of her albums, starting the show with “Again Today,” and going on to “Looking Out” and “Have You Ever," complete with yodeling. In addition to the Hanseroth twins, she was backed superbly by hard-working drummer Allison Miller and cellist/keyboard player Josh Neumann.

Carlile’s powerful, multi-octave voice, with that little emotional catch in it, was in great form Sunday, especially for her signature tune, “The Story,” which has to be one of my favorite songs by any performer ever. Neumann contributed some lovely cello on “What Can I Say” and “Promise to Keep," the audience was divided into a 3-part harmony choir for “Turpentine,” and the kick-drum-fueled “Dreams” kept the crowd clapping along. For “Dying Day,” Carlile and the band unplugged completely, proving she has the pipes to fill the Michigan even without amplification.

The was one clear departure from last September’s show: this time around, no theater smoke was used, so the fire alarms didn’t get a chance to add their tones to the evening’s festivities.

Another Ann Arbor favorite, Katie Herzig, opened the show, pleasing her fans with songs like “Forevermore” (this was a favorite when she played at a past Ann Arbor Folk Festival) and “Hey Na Na.”

Herzig and her two backup musicians also offered strong contributions to Carlile’s encore set, which started off with a version of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” (yes, she encored with this a year ago as well) that featured some blistering guitar work. Carlile and Herzig traded vocals for “Wish You Well,” while Claire Indie, Herzig’s cellist, joined with Newmann on “Forever Young,” with Carlile handling vocals and piano. Forget about the recent remake topping the charts — this version packs an emotional punch Jay-Z can’t hope to match.

As the show came to a close, Carlile vowed “we never have and never will skip Ann Arbor when we go on tour.” Great news, and I think we should to hold her to that promise. I can't imagine anyone who was at the Michigan Sunday night would disagree.