It's a quarter after 1, Hillary Scott is all alone and she needs Charles Kelley now.

No, it's not a booty call. Scott needs him because she wouldn't be a rising country star if it weren't for her singing partner Kelley. Scott may put the lady into Lady Antebellum, but it was obvious at the red-hot group's sold-out concert Friday night at Northrop Auditorium that Kelley makes Lady A into true stars.

Yes, Lady A is a two-guys-and-a-gal trio that has the best-selling album ("Need You Now") of 2010. But, onstage, multi-instrumentalist/harmony singer Dave Haywood is little more than Kelley's wingman. And try as she might to step into the spotlight, Scott was, at best, Kelley's foil. He was the one who made this feel-good country-pop concert feel even better.

Kelley, 29, is tall (6-6), movie-star handsome and, judging by the reaction of the women at Northrop, naturally sexy. He has the most luscious male voice to come along in country music since Keith Urban. In fact, he came across like a bearded, height-enhanced Urban with a deeper voice, without a guitar but with a higher cuddly quotient. And he could sell a song, with his graceful moves, intense body language and flair for facing Scott and making her feel as if he was emoting those feelings for her. Just one month into his first headlining tour, he looked to be having the time of his life.

Scott, 24, gave it back to him. She's a passable harmony singer but as a lead vocalist, her nasally twang didn't blend in smoothly with his honey-kissed baritone. Moreover, whenever Scott sang lead, she couldn't muster the power to overcome the too-loud kick-drum. When she essayed the quiet piano plaint "I Can't Make You Love Me" that Bonnie Raitt made into a pop hit, it was clear why this colorless karaoke-like singer was twice rejected on "American Idol."

While Lady Antebellum started as a country trio that crossed over to pop with this year's smash single "Need You Now," the trio's sound in concert owed more to hair-band rock than to honky-tonk country. Booming drums (think Def Leppard and Shania Twain) defined nearly every song and loud riffing guitars (think AC/DC and Pat Benatar) were featured on nearly every up tempo tune. That vibe added to the feel-good energy.

The 4,800 fans loved the spirited "Lookin' for a Good Time," the soulful bluegrassy "Something 'Bout a Woman," the John Mellencamp-tinged "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and the strutting "Slow Down Sister."

The three members of Lady A often performed next to one another (but not in a stagey way), making it clear they're a trio. And each singer took a solo turn, with Haywood showing his one-dimensional voice on "Do I" (that he and Kelley wrote for Luke Bryan), and Kelley making the women swoon on his mashup of Bruce Springsteen's sultry "I'm on Fire" and Sting's seductive "Every Breath You Take," using Lady A's own lyric as a bridge between the songs: "It's a quarter after 1 and I'm a little drunk."

The trio closed the main part of its 90-minute set with the blockbuster "Need You Now," casting it as a doubly dramatic ballad with Scott and Kelley ultimately pining for one another, then him walking away -- as it should be with Lady Antebellum.