Home Free leads triumphant Sing-Off Tour in their hometown

Congratulations to "The Sing-Off." NBC's a cappella TV competition has accomplished what "American Idol" hasn't been able to pull off in its 12 previous seasons: Putting together a consistently entertaining live concert tour.

The inaugural Sing-Off Tour delivered a winning show Friday night at sold-out Mill City Nights in the hometown of Season 4 winners Home Free.

The smartly conceived, two-hour concert featured Home Free and two other "The Sing-Off" competitors, VoicePlay from Orlando and the Filharmonic from Los Angeles. The 32-city tour is visiting nightclubs and theaters, which makes more sense than "American Idol" essaying arenas with a cast of singers who've never been onstage in such big venues before.

The three "Sing-Off" groups performed all together (the closing, reverent reading of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" without microphones was a highlight), in "ultimate" face-offs with another group as they traded verses on the same song, and their own individual sets. Plus the beat boxers from all three ensembles teamed up for a percussion showcase.

Although Mill City Nights felt intimate, it seemed odd to see this kind of a show in a club (with most of the audience standing) rather than a theater (with the audience sitting).

Here are a few thoughts about each of the ensembles.

Home Free

Doing a truncated version of their own concert, the country-leaning Home Free did a silly guilty pleasures segment (featuring mostly bubblegum pop hits like "Call Me Maybe" and "Friday") as well as their "Sing-Off" signature moment, Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire."

VoicePlay

There was a bit of a personnel change. Gone was Honey, the woman the long-time Orlando quintet recruited for "The Sing-Off." Instead, joining VoicePlay on a few numbers Friday was Amani, the frizzy-haired vocal powerhouse who sang with Ten, runners-up on "The Sing-Off." She showed a high, piercing soprano, a nice touch that made VoicePlay stand out on Friday – especially since she was the only woman in the show.

VoicePlay had a sense of drama both in the theatrical sense and the musical sense. That was evident in a bit where the five guys sat in an imaginary vehicle and acted like they were going on a road trip. Quick, clever and resourceful, they did various sound effects (from locking the door to revving the engine), kept changing the radio stations and ended up with the age-old and ageless bit of passing gas, which, of course, led the offending person to sing Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry."

The Filharmonic