Shelton rocks the Huntington Center

County star Blake Shelton enchants the nearly sold-out crowd at Huntington Center. He performed 21 songs over 95 minutes. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Some people may have walked into the Huntington Center on Thursday night wondering whether they were going to see a comedy show or one of the best male vocalists in country music.

Those same people probably hadn’t decided by the time Blake Shelton finished his 21-song, 95-minute performance.

That’s the beauty of Shelton. He has an incredible gift for humor, but he also has an underappreciated, powerful voice that can at times almost move you to tears.

Thursday night was a huge night for Shelton. It was the first night of his “Well Lit & Amplified” tour – his first all-out, headlining tour. He was in town at various times throughout the week, beginning on Monday, and he ran through a full blown rehearsal on Wednesday night at the Huntington Center to get the final kinks out.

Judging by the reaction of the near-sellout crowd, he did it pretty successfully.

He opened with “Footloose,” then blasted through “All About Tonight,” before slowing it down with “She Wouldn’t Be Gone” and “Don't Make Me.”

At this point, Shelton took his first chance to talk with the crowd, acknowledging the strain he’s been under in putting his show together.

“I can’t begin to describe to y’all the different emotions I’ve been going through. Thank you for letting me open my show in Toledo,” he said, then joked about his inexperience as a headliner. “This is all new to me, so please be patient with me. When I get nervous, I drink,” he said, raising his cup in the air to the delight of the partying crowd.

Shelton, of course, is known almost as much for his wit as he is for an ever-growing catalog of No. 1 hits, and he took several opportunities to catch his breath and interact with his fans, something they were more than happy to do.

Blake Shelton and his band gave a 21-song, 95-minute performance to Toledo fans Thursday night. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

At one point, Shelton pointed to a man in the crowd and remarked, “I’m not into guys taking their shirts off, but that is a cool tattoo.”

But he saved his most crowd-pleasing moment for a comical song he made up about Toledo, a place he said he now considers home since he was in town so much this week. The crowd roared as he joked that it was really hard to find stuff to rhyme with Toledo, but he drew the biggest laugh when he sang, “If all the cities of the world had outfits to wear, Toledo’s would be a tuxedo.”

Besides the surprise song, Shelton had an even bigger surprise when he brought Kelly Clarkson on stage to perform “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” a song she took to No. 1 with Jason Aldean. Next month, Clarkson will be singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl while Shelton and his wife, Miranda Lambert, will sing “America the Beautiful.” Clarkson is also a coach for Shelton’s team this season on The Voice.

Another touching moment took place when Shelton brought Dia Frampton out to sing a duet with him – a cut called “I Will,” which is on her new album, “Red.”

It was a special night for Frampton, who Shelton mentored to a runner-up finish on the first season of The Voice. After years of traveling the country with her sister, Meg, playing wherever she could find a gig, and sleeping in Wal-Mart parking lots , Frampton got her first taste of an arena setting by opening the show. Surprisingly, she looked comfortable, dancing around the stage in her bare feet and at various times in her six-song set using an acoustic guitar, tambourine, or piano. It obviously helped that her sister was by her side, showing an incredible range of musical talent herself by playing electric guitar, drums, and piano while backing Dia up vocally.

Rising star Justin Moore, who was in Toledo last summer as the opener for Brad Paisley, returned one step closer to being a headliner. He followed Frampton with an 11-song, 50-minute set, and the crowd rarely sat down. It was obvious how much his stage presence has improved since the Paisley tour.

The difference in styles between Moore and Frampton was striking. Frampton is cut from a pop, rock background, while Moore is all country, delivering his songs with a heavy twang. Unfortunately, the night’s lone, obvious technical glitch popped up at the end of his final song, “Backwoods,” when his microphone cut out as he continued to belt out the song.

But, it didn’t matter. The crowd stood throughout, saving its biggest cheers for “Bait a Hook” and “Smalltown USA.”

But this night was about Shelton, who showed a masterful ability to segue between uptempo songs and ballads without ruining the flow of the show. It should be obvious that it’s effortless for Shelton to deliver the funny songs like “Some Beach,” but a lot of people may not have known how effortlessly he can also deliver a ballad. “Home,” “Austin,” and “God Gave Me You” were simply powerful. There’s a reason the man has five straight No. 1 hits and is likely to pile up several more.

But with all those hits thrown into his set, it’s probably safe to say most Toledoans will still be humming the chorus to his song about the city: “Give me a ‘T.’ Give me an O.’ Give me a ‘ledo.’ If you can spell, what the hell, that spells Toledo.” He joked that, “No, you won’t be able to find that on iTunes, but you might be able to get it on YouTube.”

Yes, he can be a comic – and sometimes a poet. But more than anything, he’s an entertainer, and, really, that’s all you can ask.

Contact Brian Dugger at: bdugger@theblade.com or on Twitter @DuggerCountry.