David Menconi, Staff Writer

RALEIGH - Nickleback, Creed and Fuel are names that come up in comparison to Chris Daughtry, and the McLeansville "American Idol" star sounds a lot like them all. But here's another name: Hootie & the Blowfish.

Seeing Daughtry at Raleigh's sold-out-to-the-gills Lincoln Theatre on Friday night was very much like seeing Hootie during that band's first flush of success in 1995. Like Hootie, Daughtry put out a debut album that far surpassed anyone's commercial expectations (double-platinum and counting, one of 2007's top sellers), benefiting from television exposure and friends in high places. Tune in "American Idol" this year, and you'll hear Daughtry's "Home" as the departure song for losing contestants.

Another Hootie similarity is that Daughtry's set suffered from too many samey songs, exacerbated by the fact that the show's best moment was a cover. But just like with Hootie back in the day, the crowd was too caught up in the moment to care much, and why not? Daughtry has come a long way since his old band Absent Element played Walnut Creek in 2004 -- a Saturday morning gig in the parking lot. No doubt, he found this audience a lot more appreciative.

Daughtry has about three onstage moves, which he worked repeatedly: throwing water over the crowd, holding his microphone out to the audience and striking a heroic pose with a foot up on the monitor. Still, he seems like a genuinely nice fellow who hasn't let stardom change him much. He poked fun at himself after knocking over his microphone with a beachball and skillfully deflected the, shall we say, more avid enthusiasms of some female audience members.

"See that man right there?" Daughtry said, gesturing toward a guitar tech. "He's single, I'm not."

His four-piece backup band was both highly competent and anonymous, which was unfortunate because the sound mix buried Daughtry's voice under the roaring guitars (the fact that Daughtry was apparently battling a cold also didn't help his voice stand out). The 11-song set started with "Crashed" and included most of the songs from "Daughtry" (RCA Records), which is still comfortably ensconced in Billboard's top-10 after five months on the charts.

For all the skill on display, problems cropped up here and there. "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson would've described Daughtry's vocal on "Breakdown" as "pitchy," and "closure" (from the chorus of "Over You") is a word he should be forbidden from ever using in a lyric again.

But the show's best moment was its most scaled-down, a cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man." Daughtry played the song on acoustic guitar, backed up only by drums, and it showed off the timbre of his voice well. Not coincidentally, the song's wordplay and imagery pretty much clobbered the verbiage of every original he played.

Can't wait for Daughtry's classic-rock covers album. In the meantime, somebody give him Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin's phone number.