Picky tastes may have kept concertgoers away from Black Eyed Peas and Veishea Center Stage, but those who attended were more than satisfied.

By the end of the night, Black Eyed Peas had the crowd jumping up and down, ripping out the seats and clearing the way for a dance floor. The group’s unique brand of hip-hop featured a live band including a bassist, drummer, guitarist, keyboardist and singer. These elements combined to create a shockingly refreshing sound.

However, expectations were low as the evening began. The M-Shop-sized crowd was unsure and a bit apprehensive of what they would be seeing that night.

After a 30-minute wait, Cornbread, the victor of Veishea’s Battle of the Bands, walked onstage in a single file line. The jazz sextet, wearing all black, launched into a pleasant 45 minute set of instrumentals.

Cornbread’s set balanced out original songs like “Dr. Muff” and “Dance of the Hubris Monkeys” with covers of “Jungle Fever,” from “Boogie Nights,” and Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloop Island.”

No matter the song, Cornbread was met with approval.

Blackalicious took the stage with “Say Hello,” and spent their set trying to connect with the audience. They were mildly successful.

Five minutes into the set, Blackalicious’ MC, The Gift of Gab, encouraged the audience to wave their hands in the air. A few seconds later, DJ Chief XCel sounded the first of many thunder claps, which appeared to signal the ends of the songs.

Blackalicious didn’t seem to understand that an M-Shop-sized crowd isn’t capable of making enough noise to fill Hilton Coliseum.

“We came all the way from Oakland to do this show,” The Gift of Gab protested near the end of the set.

The Gift of Gab also supplied the night’s only intoxicant reference. As Blackalicious was leaving the stage, he said, “If anyone has some weed, come and smoke with me.”

Black Eyed Peas’ DJ The Motives came out and spun some background music between sets. It was a long time before the audience saw any other members of Black Eyed Peas, and they were left wondering if the whole group would ever show their faces.

All questions were answered when Black Eyed Peas finally took the stage in full. The band had just returned from a two month tour of the U.K. opening for Macy Gray, and they took the small crowd in stride, making Hilton’s energy level rise dramatically in a matter of minutes.

“Joint and Jam,” and “Fallin’ Up” were some of the songs that really got the crowd moving.

During “Keep Original,” a track on the Black Eyed Peas album due out in August, a group of audience members piled up chairs near the stage, and the majority of Hilton spent the rest of B.E.P.’s seemingly short set dancing near the stage to the live band and three MCs.

Black Eyed Peas may never become nationally known, but they made themselves famous in Ames Saturday night.