The Soul Patrol was out in force Thursday night to hear Taylor Hicks, winner of the 2006 edition of “American Idol,” bring his idiosyncratic blend of blues, soul and rock to the sold-out Seneca Events Center.

The center is a big barn of a place, with 2,200 chairs on the carpeted floor, and it takes a lot of sound to fill it. Hicks and his tight five-man band did it well, without a misstep, through a 75-minute set that included Hicks’ own tunes, as well as music from the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Elton John.

Throughout the demanding show, Hicks showed impressive depth and versatility, though he seemed happiest, and most at home, singing his own tunes.

The band’s entrance brought cheers from the crowd, and when Hicks strode onstage, his iconic silver hair shining in the spotlight, the cheers became screams.

His first tunes, kicking off with the uptempo, rocking “Give Me Tonight,” showed off a more polished voice and movement than the chubby Taylor Hicks with the bowl haircut familiar to Idol viewers. Hicks is now lanky, and even the dance moves — which he laughingly referred to as “soul aerobics” in a preshow interview — are more coordinated and refined.

When he switched from the rocking opener to the slower “Gonna Move,” his voice grew in depth and color and he showed off the pipes to nice effect.

Hicks was a perpetual motion music machine onstage, playing guitar, harmonica and tambourine. He even took a few whacks at a cowbell during “Heaven Knows,” a complicated, soulful tune that pays homage to two of Hicks’ early influences by sampling Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say” and Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar.”

He slyly flirted with the crowd during “Wherever I Lay My Hat,” with Hicks arching one eyebrow as he sang, “By the look in your eyes/I can tell you’re gonna cry/Is it over me?/If it is, save your tears/For I’m not worth it, you see/For I’m the type of boy who is always on the roam/Wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home.”

One of his best songs all night was “Soul Thing,” which originally appeared on “Under the Radar,” his second self-produced album from the days when, he remembers, he was lucky to sell 20 CDs a night after a gig in a bar.

“Soul Thing,” which, like many of the other tunes Thursday night, was featured on his debut 2006 platinumselling album, is an get-upand- dance narrative of what his music isn’t — not jazz, not country, but “a soul thing.” The melody incorporates classic jazz and blues riffs, expertly produced by his band, and had the crowd singing along. It’s a cleverly written song, and Hicks has been performing it for so long that it seems to come from somewhere deep inside.

As if his body recalled the days when he was “traveling all these years, just barely getting by,” Hicks slipped back into his pre-fame persona, with bent-over, manic dancing. He was having fun, and so was the crowd.

Hicks put his own distinctive spin on the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down,” bringing down the room’s energy before springing back into his lively mood. As he was rocking out to “Heaven Knows,” he turned his back to the crowd and danced, swinging around and asking, “That’s what you came for, right?” to roars of approval from the mostly female crowd.

The drum-driven, pop-inflected song “The Runaround” had Hicks spinning in place every time he sang the chorus, and many fans on their feet. He showed off his deeper range and had some fun with “Big Boss Man,” an Elvis tune, shouting “Soul Patrol” between lyrics.

The show ended after an hour, and a chorus of calls and applause summoned Hicks back to the stage. He appeared alone for the encore, sitting on a tall stool and singing the tender “The Fall,” a song he wrote when he was 19 that alludes to a complicated emotional link — “I climbed the ladder, baby, and you took the fall.”

“Has anybody won any money yet?” he quipped as his band dashed back to their posts for the final tune, Elton John’s rousing, rocking “Take Me to the Pilot.”

Go to the PopStand blog at www.buffalonews.com to to read more of the exclusive interview with Taylor Hicks before Thursday’s show.

REVIEW

WHO: Taylor Hicks

WHEN: Thursday night

WHERE: Seneca Events Center, Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel