PORTLAND – After the near-standing-room crowd of 900 fans packed into the State Theatre Friday night were given The Samples, Bruce Hornsby came out and delivered the groceries.

Hornsby’s entrance onto the stage was greeted with thunderous applause as he said a polite “hello” and launched into an unplugged version of “A Night on the Town,” followed by “Sad Moon,” both featuring just his voice, his piano and the blue, red, lavender and orange stage lights that set a mellow mood for the entire show.

Hornsby’s five-man band of J.V. Collier (bass), Bonny Bonaparte (drums), J.T. Thomas (keyboards), Doug Derryberry (lead guitar) and Bobby Read (saxophone) then joined him for a spirited version of “Great Divide” from his “Spirit Trail” album. The middle of “Divide” morphed into a minimedley of songs (“Turkey in the Straw” and “Will it Go Round in Circles?”) before finishing and then giving way to a raucous delivery of fan favorite “Look Out Any Window,” that had the Greco-Early American-style theater roaring with applause.

Hornsby, casually dressed in a gray, long-sleeve sport shirt and khaki pants, delivered a flawless, high-energy show to kick off his 20-city Portland (Maine) to Portland (Oregon) Tour.

The 46-year-old said he wanted this tour to reflect the intent of his latest album: a two-disc live offering titled “Here Come the Noise Makers.” What he does is work hard to make sure his songs and song styles don’t become pigeonholed into one musical cubbyhole.

To that end, he did a good job of driving the point home by departing from his own hits and performing another medley with such unlikely selections as “Happy Birthday” (an audience request), “Over the Rainbow,” “Big Rumble” and “Comfortably Numb” (Yes, the Pink Floyd song, which he performed with Roger Waters at a European concert) interspersed around his own “Fortunate Son.”

Fans thundered appreciative hoots, applause and whistles as the familiar piano strains heralded the start of Hornsby’s classic “The Way It Is,” and after a soft start, the band joined in as girlfriends danced with boyfriends, strangers danced with strangers, and others just simply danced with no one in particular.

From there, it got no less interesting as Hornsby charged right into a rocking-good version of “On the Western Skyline” which kept ’em dancing to the point that he invited two sisters-in-law on stage to showcase their moves. Two more women climbed up and joined in and soon, four became eight, eight became 20, and before security could react, 40 or more men, women and children were on stage dancing.

Despite the crush of humanity, no one was hurt, the dancers remained respectful of the performers (although Hornsby eventually had to climb atop his piano for some extra elbow room), and everyone had a great time.

The rest of the 132-minute musical bonanza featured hits such as “Across the River” and an encore featuring “Mandolin Rain,” “Fields of Gray” and “Rainbow’s Cadillac.”

The Samples – a band hailing from Burlington, Vt., which hasn’t quite crept into the mainstream music world despite having been around 14 years and selling one million albums worldwide – delighted fans with a nine-song, 45-minute set that had people dancing in their seats and shouting for an encore.

Despite a slightly tinny sound affecting a couple of the songs, The Samples’ Dave Matthews Band-meets-Jethro Tull style – which they classify as “pop-folk” – doubtlessly won over and welcomed some converts into their appreciative throng of fans.