At Qwest, 40 years of music in 4 concerts in 5 days
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BY MICAH MERTES / Lincoln Journal Star
With baby-faced teen idols, jam band vets and a pair of legend taking the stage, it’s gonna be a busy few days in Omaha.
Starting this weekend, the Qwest Center will bring a quadruplet of big-name acts to the area in less than a week.
Here’s the nitty gritty of the Omaha shows and a quick primer on the musicians. Find more info about the concerts at www.qwestcenter.com.
Related Link(s):
Read more about Neil Diamond from the legend himself Friday at www.journalstar.com/living/gz.
Reach Micah Mertes at 473-7395 or mmertes@journalstar.com.
Sunday: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Ticket prices: $99 and $55
Biggest single: “You Don’t Know How It Feels” (1995)
Biggest album: “Greatest Hits” (1993)
Debut album: “Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers” (1976)
Great years:
1979-80: Band releases “Damn the Torpedoes,” which goes triple-platinum and features the hits “Here Comes My Girl” and “Don’t Do Me Like That.”
1990-91: Petty goes solo with “Full Moon Fever,” which also goes triple platinum and features a couple of his most popular songs, including “I Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” He likes to drop those g’s, doesn’t he?
2002: Petty inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Bad years:
1978: Petty and Co. are dragged into a legal quarrel after ABC Records is sold to MCA Records. Petty refuses to be moved to the new label, which hurts him financially, forcing him to declare bankruptcy.
2003: Former band bassist Howie Epstein dies at 47 from a suspected drug overdose.
‘Nowness’ factor: Not bad. The band is featured in a recent documentary, “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” The group played at the Super Bowl XLII Halftime Show. And in January, they reissued their “Greatest Hits” CD with more tracks.
Definitive songs: “Learning to Fly,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”
Monday: Jonas Brothers
Time: 7 p.m.
Ticket prices: $77, $61.50 and $51.50
Biggest single: “Year 3000” (2007)
Biggest album: “Jonas Brothers” (2007)
Debut album: “It’s About Time” (2006)
Great year:
2007: They release their second album, “Jonas Brothers,” which hits No. 5 in the Billboard 200. They guest star on “Hannah Montana.”
Bad months:
October 2006: The Jonas boys cover “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” along with a music video, for the two-disc special edition release of “The Little Mermaid” soundtrack.
February 2007: The boys start appearing in Baby Bottle Pops commercials, singing the jingle.
November 2007: While performing “SOS” at the 2007 American Music Awards, Joe Jonas slips and cuts his hand on a shard of broken glass.
‘Nowness’ factor: White hot. The brothers will release their third studio album, “A Little Bit Longer,” on Aug. 12. They’ve got a reality show on Disney and they’re in the middle of a North American tour that will be made into a major film in 3D.
Definitive songs: “Burnin’ Up,” “Hold On,” “Mandy.”
Tuesday: Dave Matthews Band
Time: 7 p.m.
Ticket prices: $65
Biggest single: “Crash Into Me” (1997)
Biggest album: “Under the Table and Dreaming” (1994)
Debut album: “Remember Two Things” (1993)
Great years:
1994-97: The guys release their major debut, “Under the Table and Dreaming,” and follow it up with “Crash.” Both albums go platinum a few times over. And the singles ... they get A LOT of radio play. “What Would You Say,” “Satellite,” “Ants Marching,” “So Much To Say,” “Crash Into Me”: all huge, all part of the band’s brightest era.
1998: DMB release its third album, which sells more than 420,000 copies in its first week and knocks the “Titanic” soundtrack out of No. 1 on Billboard. It features “Stay” and “Don’t Drink the Water.”
2001: DMB releases its slickest effort yet, “Everyday,” which sells 730,000 copies in its first week.
Bad years:
2000: Matthews and Co. hole up to record their next album. After the death of his uncle, Matthews writes some of the darkest songs of the band’s career. The label considers them too depressing, so the sessions are scrapped. Later, the band goes back and puts down what will become “Everyday.”
2008: Keyboardist Butch Taylor leaves DMB. Also, last month, saxophonist LeRoi Moore was injured in an ATV accident.
‘Nowness’ factor: Teetering on irrelevance. Last December the band released its umpteenth live album, “Live at Piedmont Park,” but that’s nothing new. The group is supposedly in the early stages of recording its seventh studio album, though.
Definitive songs: “Crash Into Me,” “Stay,” “Satellite.”
July 24: Neil Diamond
Time: 8 p.m.
Ticket prices: $120, $85 and $55
Biggest singles: “Sweet Caroline” (1969) and “Cracklin’ Rose” (1970)
Biggest album: “The Jazz Singer” soundtrack (1980)
Debut album: “The Feel of Neil Diamond” (1966)
Great years:
1966: Diamond breaks into the big time. He gets his first chart entry as a recording artist with “Solitary Man.” The Monkees’ recording of “I’m a Believer,” which Diamond wrote, becomes the most popular song of the year. And Diamond releases his debut LP, “The Feel of Neil Diamond.”
1969: Diamond bounces back from a commercial slump with the single “Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good),” one of his most popular (and covered) songs ever.
1980: He stars in “The Jazz Singer.” Though the movie bombs, the film’s soundtrack ends up being his biggest disc ever.
2002: Claiming 115 million in worldwide record sales, Diamond is ranked third (behind Elton John and Barbra Streisand) on the list of Billboard’s bestselling adult contemporary artists.
2008: After nearly 30 studio albums, Diamond scores his first-ever chart-topping album, “Home After Dark.”
Bad years:
1969: Diamond leaves his wife for a TV production assistant, gets a divorce and is married to the other woman a little more than a week later. Yikes.
‘Nowness’ factor: Smokin’. The man just scored some of the highest sales and best reviews of his career with “Home After Dark.” Somewhere along the way, he transcended man status and became a God. His live shows have continued to soar.
Definitive songs: “I Am ... I Said,” “Sweet Caroline,” “Cherry, Cherry.”
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Concert Goer wrote on July 17, 2008 10:09 am:
desmoinesguy wrote on July 17, 2008 10:31 am:
Jim Jones wrote on July 17, 2008 11:04 am:
Well done Omaha, well done. "
Chris wrote on July 17, 2008 11:07 am:
Peter wrote on July 17, 2008 12:49 pm:
JB wrote on July 17, 2008 4:14 pm:
No Tim R. wrote on July 17, 2008 4:38 pm:
YO wrote on July 17, 2008 10:21 pm:
Still no Tim R. wrote on July 18, 2008 8:36 am:
Tim wrote on July 18, 2008 1:00 pm:
FYI wrote on July 18, 2008 7:33 pm:
Posted by Jake Vigliotti 5/2/08 2:48pm
It appears that Tim Reynolds will indeed be on the entire 2008 tour.
A source familiar with the touring schedule of the Dave Matthews Band tells antsmarching.org that Tim Reynolds will be at every show in 2008, and plans on staying on tour with them all summer. Reynolds canceled some of his tour dates in the summer, and moved some things around to accommodate the DMB tour. Speculation was that he would at the very least be there for the shows where TR3 were performing, but now it appears he is scheduled for the whole tour, according to the source.
The DMB tour starts May 30 in Burgettstown, PA.
UPDATE According to a May 5 email from The Warehouse Butch Taylor and Rashawn Ross are both confirmed for the 2008 tour as well, putting eight people up on stage at once. "