Bonnie Raitt has performed in St. Louis often enough in her long career to know what summers can be like. As she strolled onstage Friday night at Fair St. Louis amid exceedingly pleasant temperatures, she enthused, “Man, are we glad it’s not steaming hot!”

Not surprisingly, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and her band heated things up considerably with a blazing 90-minute set that Raitt said would include “songs you know, some old favorites and some surprises.”

She delivered on the latter promise immediately, opening the show with a thumping cover of the Equals’ 1968 chestnut “Baby Come Back.”

Raitt quickly dug into her latest album, “Slipstream,” playing the funky “Used to Rule the World” and a reggaefied take on Gerry Rafferty’s “Right Down the Line,” a song she said dates from the era of her own first hit, “Runaway.”

“Seems like a long time ago,” she quipped. “Glad to still be here.”

Effusive as ever in her praise of St. Louis’ importance in blues and R&B history, Raitt said that she was proud to have been friends with the late Johnnie Johnson. She also dedicated a pair of songs to ailing bassist Preston Hubbard, a St. Louis resident for the last decade.

Raitt showed off her own blues chops with a version of Mable John’s “Your Good Thing (Is About to End)” that spotlighted her stellar slide guitar work. Often undervalued on lists of the all-time great guitarists, Raitt seems to know why. She dedicated a song later in her set to “all you women guitar players out there.”

“Something to Talk About,” “Love Sneakin’ up on You” and “Love Letter” provided the promised fan favorites.

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For the most part, Raitt kept the set upbeat, which was appropriate for the festival setting. She slowed things down only for her gorgeous reading of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” and the aching “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” the latter tune saved for the encore, she said, because “it’s hard to follow.”

Raitt duetted with keyboardist Mike Finnegan on the rollicking “I Believe I’m in Love with You,” which threw the hottest instrumental sparks of the night. She even turned the stage over to Finnegan for a run-through of Ray Charles’ “I Got News for You.”

That song pointed out how Raitt’s performances tend to educate as well as entertain. She’s always drawing from interesting sources and pointing out musicians worthy of further research, whether it be African guitarist Oliver Mtukudzi (“Hear Me Lord”), one of her primary mentors, Sippie Wallace (“Women Be Wise”), or even Elvis (“A Big Hunk o’Love”).

“Let’s protect the Earth,” Raitt said before leaving the stage. “Let’s stay responsible and give back. Now we get fireworks. Yay!”

Set list

Baby Come Back

Used to Rule the World

Right Down the Line

Your Good Thing (Is About to End)

Hear Me Lord

Not Cause I Wanted To

Women Be Wise

No Gettin’ Over You

Something to Talk About

I Believe I’m in Love with You

Angel from Montgomery

I Got News for You

Love Sneakin’ up on You

Encore

I Can’t Make You Love Me

Love Letter

A Big Hunk o’Love