Despite a two-hour wait from 10 p.m. to midnight in frigid temperatures for the ball to drop with the talent long gone, New Years in Grand Rapids was met with excitement and success.

    Grand Rapids’ Rosa Park Circle, which brought upwards of 30,000 people together for a second year of New Year’s celebration, appeared to be a nice boost for local businesses that were filled to capacity with long wait lines out every door throughout the night.

    Sponsored by 105.3 FM and Citadel Broadcasting, local rock and roll fans enjoyed ringing in 2010 with musical artists Pricilla Renea, Uncle Kracker, and the feature act, Boys Like Girls.

    Before I arrived downtown, Pricilla Renea, well known for her new hit "Dollhouse," kicked off the evening for the early crowd.

    Uncle Kracker then did a nice job warming the crowd at 6 p.m. with favorites like "Follow Me" and "Smile" from his own albums; he also forwent posturing his new work in an effort to energize a multigenerational group that had been standing on an ice rink for several hours.

    For this endeavor, he choose songs like "Drift Away," originally by Dobie Gray, and the sure best "All Summer Long" from Michigan Native and pop bad boy Kid Rock. This proved to be an effective move as feet began to stomp and arms flew in the air to welcome Boston’s own, Boy Like Girls, to Grand Rapids around 8:30 p.m.

    While Boys Like Girls has a fluffy name, they are all heart and surprisingly edgy while remaining clean cut with an unmistakable authenticity despite sounding a bit produced.

    Boys Like Girls bore more than a slight resemblance to Bon Jovi, the 1980s’ breakout rockers from New Jersey headed by Jon Bon Jovi. Minus the hair, they demonstrated the similarity in their business approach as lead singer, Martin Johnson, found a way to integrate the name of the band into his dialogue in nearly each speaking set.

    Johnson also demonstrated a genuine graciousness to the sponsors, making sure to mention them. This graciousness was generalized to the crowd as he insisted they attain the group’s music even if it meant downloading it illegally.

    Johnson opened several water bottles, took one sip, and passed them to eager fans. At one point, he made a show of kissing a girl on the cheek and bringing another on stage to watch the remainder of the show because she was getting crushed.

    The band suspended their performance for this very reason and insisted the crowd step back, a respectful and bold act for rockers who often pride themselves on being rebels and whipping crowds into dangerous frenzies for the purpose of additional media hype.

    Opening with "Love Drunk" off of its new album, the band forwent cutesy choreography moves that often alienate male fans and stuck with anthem-based songs anyone and everyone could pump their fists to and readily did.

    Also, off the new album was "Two is Better than One," which is traditionally performed with country artist Taylor Swift. This song sent the crowd into a collective sway. In a marketing friendly move, Johnson promoted his new album by teaching his fans the lyrics to a new song, "Heart Heart Heartbreak."

    The group played one encore before surrendering the stage and crowd back to a DJ, which caused an instant thinning two hours before the ball was to drop.

    Looking at 2011, it would be nice for the feature band to play until midnight.