Not even close.

Thursday was a day when thousands of music lovers gathered to see Blake Shelton perform a once-in-a-lifetime free show on the beautiful Atlantic City beach.

Fans gathered to see one of the hottest artists in country music perform and they weren’t disappointed.

The party went all day and really kicked off when country duo Dan + Shay took the stage in the late afternoon to open up for Shelton.

Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney make up the country duo who are quickly approaching superstar status ever since their hit tune “19 You + Me” reached No. 11 on the US Country Airplay charts. The crowd absolutely loved the group and, even after drinking and partying on the beach on this beautiful, sunny day, were up dancing around and loving every minute of the opening set.

Their set also included many of their other songs, including “Show You Off,” which is quickly rising up the chart. The duo also broke out an amazing cover of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” making it one of the best moments of the opening set.

In addition, they covered tunes by Guns N Roses and Bruno Mars. The crowd seemed to love every song they performed.

The party was just getting started. Then Blake Shelton took to the beach stage and things reached a whole other level.

“I didn’t come here to play volleyball, go swimming, or build sand castles,” Shelton exclaimed, to the delight of the crowd. “I came here to drink beer and play country music.”

Shelton’s set kicked off with the tune “All About Tonight,” and the hundreds of thousands of people on the beach were loving it already. The set continued with “The More I Drink,” one of his older singles, along with “She Wouldn’t Be Gone,” a hit that was certified gold.

Even though the crowd was already energized, Shelton really got them going with his smash hit “Doin’ What She Likes,” one of his many No. 1 hits. You could see the crowd dancing along the beach and having a blast singing along with every word. He followed that song up with “Mine Would Be You,” yet another one of his No. 1 songs and the crowd continued to dance and sing with Shelton.

He also continued to talk about how much he loved how many country fans were on the beach to see him perform.

Shelton also performed his song “Some Beach,” fitting for a show on the beaches of Atlantic City. The crowd went wild.

Shelton had the crowd engaged, energized and dancing right from the beginning of the show — something few other musicians today can claim. To put it simply, he is a star and he proved it on the beach Thursday.

A few surprising moments of the set, which lasted about 90 minutes, came when Shelton covered a few popular songs.

During his encore, really got the crowd dancing when he performed Kenny Loggins’ hit “Footloose.”

A surprising moment of the set came when country star Danielle Bradbery performed her hit “Heart of Dixie.” She is performing in AC this weekend.

But the crowd loved Shelton performing hit after hit of his country music tunes.

One of the best moments of the set came when he performed three of his more popular songs, “Hillbilly Bone,” “Sure Be Cool If You Did” and “My Eyes,” the third of which is a more ballad-type love song.

Three of his final four songs were more of his with “Honey Bee,” “Boys ‘Round Here,” and “God Gave Me You,” which closed off his fantastic, crowd-pleasing set.

On Thursday people flocked to the boards all to see one of the hottest country music stars performed. And they weren’t let down.

Instead of wearing baseball caps to the beach, people wore their bathing suits but with cowboy hats and country boots.

And it was a day no one will soon forget.

Contact Andrew Atwal:

609-272-7190

aatwal@pressofac.com

@andrewatwal on Twitter