Hey all you Beautiful People
by The Divine Miss Megan


Photo: BaltoBoy Steve Weiner

I am so sorry that I havent posted about my Divine experience ,but have been trying to get out of the depression one feels after a Bette concert, I know some of you know what I am talking about!!

To the Show-

Bette came out on her flying horse and she was just dancing away sitting up there and was just having fun, she was flying her legs in the air, it was all so very funny! One thing that I noticed is that her voice sounded deep, deeper than normal,but still sounded Divine. She loved Omaha and Omaha loved her. I loved the comment about Nebraska..."Nebraska is such a pretty state, but when are you going to finish it?!" OMG talk about laughter through the crowd, I was laughing so hard because I know she would say the same about my home state South Dakota! I didnt get a lot of the local jokes, not from Nebraska, but the locals did get them and they thought they were hilarious!

I think the most moving part of the show was when singing I Think Its Gonna Rain Today, she burst in to tears, and covered her face and had to stop singing for a secend so she could get herself back together! OMG I started crying(ok bawling) I loved everything about this show! The Britney Bunch was very funny and Soph was at her best, I think that this was the best Soph I have seen so far. I loved it when she said, "These jokes got my daughter through private school and now college, so this is the tuition talking not me!" The audience loved that.
Delores was great, and oh so very funny. The time just flew by with Delores(I guess the whole show did too)

Shiver Me Timbers was great, her voice was a little shakey, like she was trying not to cry. She let us sing The Rose, and yes we had to start over, the crowd got a couple of eye rolls from the Miss M when we messed up, and then she said, "I know you people wouldnt fuck up a Paul MaCartney song!" And then we sang it and sang it right and she told us we sounded beautiful!

At the end of the show Bette said, "See you next Spring!" and the certain went down. I can only hope that it means what it is intended to mean, but I have my doubts.

Sorry for the long post, can you imagine how long it would have been if I actually remembered the whole show! No I wasnt high or drunk, but everything felt like a dream and I allowed my mind to go into dream mode and I am not one that remembers her dreams very well, if you get my drift!

I really hope everyone who has yet to see Bette enjoy it, it goes by very fast, and dont let you mind go into dream mode! LOL!!

Love to all,
Megan

THERE SHE WAS!
by Dustin


Photo: BaltoBoy Steve Weiner

OH MY GAWD PEOPLE! If you haven't seen this tour at all, or this leg, I HIGHLY suggest you go get tickets NOW! I saw the show last year and was a little anxious and nervous about the changes I have heard about, but the show flowed so smooth!

So we walk into the arena onto the floor section where our seats were and I started to get that "rush" all over again! As we walked closer and closer to the stage, I was soon realizing that our 3rd row seats were even closer than I expected! We were literally 10 feet (if that) away from the stage! As I sat there waiting for the lights to dim, the lady sitting next to me (which looked like Debbie Reynolds' sister) was talking to her friends about being excited for the show. So I chimed in and told them they were in for a treat...and made instant friends! As the band started and the Harlette's came out, my heart started to flutter with excitement and I felt as if I was going to start to cry or scream or "break down!" And THERE SHE WAS! I don't care how many times I've seen that entrance...it just gets me every time! I was surprised she didn't acknowledge Seabiscuit at all. He "flew" away during "Kiss My Brass." A few minutes into the show, Bette is standing right in front of me, telling a few "one liners" and when she said the word "F*ck," a little ball of spit flew out of her mouth and went right for the lady in front of me. LOL I know that sounds kinda crude, but it's amazing what you see/hear when you're that close to HER! I not only could hear what she was saying out of the speakers, but I could actually hear HER from the stage. How Divine. Anyway...so the first couple of songs just flew by. When "Boogie Woogie" started, it's amazing to hear the crowd react to that song. I could tell everyone was in awe from the three HUGE Bette's on the screens along with the petite one singing live right there. :) When the Judge Judy segment came on, I was laughing all over again like it was the first time I had seen it. And when Bette flopped out on the stage singing "I'm Sorry," it brought back so many memories from the first show. The "Chapel of Love" number was a little different...some new "couples," including Anna Nicole and a bucket of KFC Chicken, and cutting a few from the first go round. And the Britney Bunch song was just about too cute for me to handle! I do have to say that Bette was "ON" all night, but when she was getting on the swan back stage, I noticed she was sitting there getting ready and drinking some bottled water through a straw. She looked absolutely SPENT....EXHAUSTED. But as soon as the swan lights turned on, her SMILE turned on, too, and any hint of her being tired had simply been left back stage. She sang the most TOUCHING version of "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today" I think I've ever heard. Toward the end, she started to get choked up and actually had to stop singing for a minute. She put her hand over her eyes and just stood there and SOBBED...LITERALLY SOBBED, for about 20 seconds. When she finished the song, she did it with a very shaky and timid voice. I heard several "awwww's" around me at that moment. And then comes the "climax" of the show with "When a Man Loves a Woman". I call this song the "Stay With Me" of KMB. LOL She seems to reach out, grab you by the throat and drag you up on the stage with her during that song. I noticed that about half way through she started to "vibrate". It started at her ankles and moved all the way up throughout her body. I also noticed a single tear that fell down her cheek during that song. How moving! Then as she was finishing the song, she was walking toward the door to leave and obviously her eyelash was bugging her because she tore it off and threw it on the stage before going through the door. I almost dove onto the stage to grab that lash, but thought I would get maimed or killed if I did that, so I stayed put. LOL And before you know it...out come the "girls" for Soph. She told most of the same jokes as before, but told one I had never heard about old people having sex and pantyhose. I almost fell out of my chair! What can you say about "Shiver Me Timbers" except, what an exit. One of the more emotional songs of the night and she carries you right along with her as she floats away.

The second act flew by even faster than the first. Delores went by with only one flaw...her little seaweed green "wrap" she was wearing over her breasts fell off on one side as she was jumping around. I could tell it wasn't a big deal since it exposed only the Delores costume underneath. The "Phantom" addition was FABU and a few minutes later, she's twirling her balls. Of course, one of them flew out in the crowd and the lady in front of me got it. (The spit lady) How lucky is she!? "Mr Rogers/I Like To Be Told" was as beautiful as I had remembered. After singing "Wind Beneath My Wings," she went back stage to an entire arena at their feet. We remained standing until she came out again and sang a couple of more lines from the song while people were handing her flowers. One lady in the front row handed her a copy of "Saga of Baby Divine" and a sharpie to sign it. Bette signed it but after the look on her face was kinda like "What the hell just happened?" I kind of thought that was disrespectful, but who am I to judge? After taking gifts from the audience, she said "Omaha, this is the f*ucking arena I've ever played! Can you hear me back there? I can barely hear you. This is for you guys back there...." She then put the mic up to her mouth and proceeded to dance around the stage for about 10 seconds and mouth words like she was singing only nothing was coming out. She let us favor her with our voices by singing "The Rose" to her. OK, so the audience didn't know all the words...so she made us start all over again. LOL Her encore was "In the Cool Cool Cool Of The Evening," which was sooo divine. The girls had new hair! They all had 70's afro puffs. As they danced around the stage, they all ended up on the piano as it floated toward the back of the stage and the curtain closed. We all stood and screamed, hoping Ms Midler would grace us again, but within a matter of seconds, the house lights came up and people started leaving. All in all, it's an evening I will never forget and one that I hope to be able to experience again.

Thank you, Bette, for all your hard work!

Review: Midler provides the tunes, the sass, the class
BY NIZ PROSKOCIL
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
(Thank Lisa)


Photo: BaltoBoy Steve

Consummate entertainer Bette Midler mesmerized an estimated crowd of 14,000 fans Wednesday with a 21/2-hour spectacle that featured the music, campy characterizations and witty wisecracks from her 30-year showbiz career.

Moments after the lights at Qwest Center Omaha went down at 8:25 p.m., Midler emerged atop a flying white carousel horse and performed the peppy, horn-driven tune "Kiss My Brass," followed by "Stuff Like That There."

A sparkly sailor-girl outfit was the first of the night's many elaborate costumes. The dazzling stage resembled Coney Island at the turn of the 19th century.

As with other stops on her tour, Midler, 58, cracked jokes tailored to the city.

"Omaha! I made it to the Qwest Center. Who says dreams don't come true?" Midler yelled to her adoring fans, who showered her with deafening cheers and applause. "It's absolutely my favorite place to sit in traffic. Mayor Fahey couldn't make it because he's fixing Dodge Street."

The crowd roared with laughter, as it did when Midler welcomed her fans from Council Bluffs and shouted, "Show me your mullets!"

Throughout the night, she cracked jokes about her old TV sitcom "Bette," the Internet and Viagra and poked fun at President Bush, Rush Limbaugh and pop stars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

"Do these girls ever call and say thank you? I opened the door for trashy singers," she cracked.

But there was more to the show than laughs.

Accompanied by a trio of backup dancers and a 13-piece band, Midler performed many of her classic hits that showed off her vocal finesse, including "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," two tracks from her recent Rosemary Clooney tribute album ("Hey There" and "Tenderly"), "Chapel of Love," "When a Man Loves a Woman," "Shiver Me Timbers," "From a Distance" and "Skylark."

Other highlights included Midler's bawdy Sophie Tucker impersonation, which was met with huge laughs from the audience.

After a 25-minute intermission, Midler returned as her popular comedic alter ego, mermaid Delores DeLago ("the toast of Chicago"). On a motorized wheelchair, Midler zipped around stage during the DeLago routine, which was called "Fishtails Over Broadway" and featured song parodies like "All That Shad."

Midler closed out her exhilarating show with her 1988 smash "Wind Beneath My Wings," "Do You Want to Dance" and her trademark song, "The Rose."

Whether she was being sweet, sassy or bawdy, Midler proved that after all these years, she's still got it - and then some.