DeKALB | Carrie Underwood blew the audience away Monday night with her powerful voice.

About 5,000 fans, ranging from preteens to grandparents, came to the Convocation Center to see Carrie Underwood perform 15 songs , lasting a little more than an hour and a half. She sang a variety of songs from both her albums, “Some Hearts” and “Carnival Ride.”

Carrie succeeded in getting the audience into each song by taking a personal approach to transitions. Before singing “The More Boys I Meet,” she talked about her experience with relationships by adding jokes about the media.

“At least I get to read about whoever I’m dating,” Underwood said, adding that the only boy in her life is her dog.

During the third song, “Out of This Town,” Underwood pulled out a guitar and played with the band. Out of all her televised performances on music awards shows and videos, her talents never seemed to go beyond vocals, so the guitar was a shocking yet pleasant surprise. She took out a different guitar later in the concert while performing a semi-accustic version of “Don’t Forget to Remember Me.”

The audience was left wanting more after each group of songs. The talented band contributed to the energized audience. During the band introduction, each member, from the violinist to the back-up singer, individually had a chance to rock.

Overall, each performance appeared to be successful with the crowd. People even sang to lesser-known songs.

However, during the hit songs, the audience sounded like it nearly tripled. Different-colored lights dazzled the stage and enhanced Underwood’s performance, making up for her not-so-great choice of outfit changes.

“There are not many stars bigger than Carrie Underwood,” said Kevin Selover, assistant director of marketing at the Convo. “It’s a huge kudos to the city of DeKalb and NIU because it brought a lot of people who have never been to DeKalb here.”

Selover also said that if any concert at the Convo had the potential to sellout, it was this one.

“I’ve been a Carrie fan for about a year,” said 8-year-old Peyton Withrow from McKinley Park, adding that his favorite song is “All-American Girl.”

Opening the show was The Lost Trailers. The group played a mix of cover songs to get the audience pumped up for Underwood.