Published Thursday
April 8, 2004

Review: 'One and only' Prince wows Omaha crowd

BY NIZ PROSKOCIL



WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Make no mistake about it. His name is Prince, and he is funky.

The superstar singer got the royal treatment Wednesday night from nearly 14,000 fans who packed the Omaha Arena for a sizzling show from one of the music world's ultimate showmen.


Prince at his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The nearly 21/2-hour concert opened with a video montage of some of the Purple One's greatest hits, along with a replay of singer Alicia Keys' speech from last month when Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"There are many kings, but there is only one Prince," Keys gushed on video. "Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to get on your feet and pay homage to the one and only Prince."

Amid a deafening roar from the crowd, the 45-year-old superstar took the stage dressed in a long black jacket, white shirt, white pants and white boots.

He opened the show with the title track from his forthcoming album "Musicology," which concertgoers received for free on their way into the arena. During the night's second song, "Let's Go Crazy," white confetti fell from the ceiling.

On a six-foot-high stage in the middle of the arena, Prince strutted his sassy stuff on the stage's four runways while he and his eight-piece New Power Generation band tore it up, working the crowd into a frenzy.

There were no flashy back-up dancers or glitzy special effects. His talent was all fans needed.

The diverse crowd was a mix of teens, Gen-Xers, baby boomers, punk rockers, hip-hoppers and suburban soccer moms - all shaking their groove thang and loving every minute of it.

The show featured a medley of abbreviated Prince hits, including "I Would Die 4 U," "When Doves Cry" and "Baby, I'm a Star."

He also treated the audience to full versions of classic songs like "Controversy," "D.M.S.R.," "Sign O' the Times," "Nothing Compares 2 U," "The Beautiful Ones" and "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man."

He grinned and thanked the crowd repeatedly for their adoration. One fan held up a handmade poster that read "Nothing Compares 2 Prince."

One of the highlights of the evening came toward the end of the show when about two dozen fans were invited up on stage for one big dance party with Prince, now clad in white pants and a loose-fitting white shirt with tiny red polka dots.

The lucky group included Omahans Marq Manner and Richard Schultz, who got down while his Purple Badness sang songs like "Take Me With U," "Kiss," "U Got the Look' and Sam & Dave's classic "Soul Man."

For the encore, Prince sat on a swivel chair alone on stage with just an acoustic guitar and delivered amazing acoustic versions of "Little Red Corvette," "Sometimes It Snows in April" and other tunes. The band returned for the concert's closer, "Purple Rain."

Compared to the Britney Spears "concert" two weeks ago, Prince's performance was real music from a real musician.


Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom

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[Edited 4/23/17 23:58pm]

CreoleFreak said:

You didn't make it to the March 29th gig man?

Which one or ones are you going to?

never mess with omaha!!

Word! Don't mess w/ The River City!! See my review thread for a fan's eye veiw of the show!!

Glad to see the good ol' "Omaha Weird Harold" gave P's show a good review. I first discovered Prince back when I lived in Omaha, so its cool to see him getting respect there.

He played ICNTTPOYM. Yes!

I am curious, has he played the ONE since the LA show? I have tried to read every concert review but I haven't seen it mentioned? I hope he includes that with the setlist when he hits the Twin Cities.
MS
[This message was edited Fri Apr 9 7:50:31 2004 by MilkSode]

did he really play "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" ???

MilkSode said:

He played it in Omaha! It was awesome. He also checked NPS by doing little chants of "freaks on this side" and "I like funky music" at different points. He didn't play those songs but he asked people to chant along with him. Tres cool!

CalhounSquare said:

Yes he did. During the acoustic encore set. It was awesome!

As soon as he started it this woman in front of me turned around and sat on a chair in a semi-fetal position. She appeared to be weeping. Did this song remind her of a love affair gone bad? Did it first come out when something terrible happened in her life? As the song went on I wanted to go over and comfort her. She seemed to be there alone as no one else was looking at her or seemed to miss her.

Just as I was about to aproach her she stood up...

And put away her cell phone. She was taking a phone call from the front row at a Prince concert...

I'm such a melodramatic dork!

DAMN I WISH I WAS THERE 2 EXPERIENCE IT MAN WHOEVER WAS THERE ARE LUCKY

REMEMBER LIFE IS DEATH WITHOUT ADVENTURE
PEACE AND BE WILD
EROTIC KID

Did anyone hear anything about the gentleman in the purple suit? My girlfriend swears that she has a half-dozen reasons to believe that his presence was planned or staged. I don't see it personally, but... Also - Is it me, or are the acoustics at the Quest Center... well... shitty (this was the first show I had attended there)? I was in the fourth row up from the floor, so I think I got a little more of the stage mix than others did, but I really expected better from such a new building. Also, a good friend of mine (who is also something of a studio/sound monkey) had nose-bleed seats, and he said that he was not impressed with the over-all sound. I've heard others express similar opinions in the past, but nobody I knew well - so they may have been full of it, or victims of bad sound crews. Who knows.

Anyway... Kick ass show. I was really afraid that we might not be treated to the acoustic set at the end (I read that he had left it out of other recent shows), so I felt lucky in that respect. Definately the most entertaining and awe inspiring show I've seen in a long time. Too bad he won't be back (at least not any time soon). Later...