Herb Alpert!

 If you are a child of the 60's you couldn't get away from radio hits by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. And you liked them. The poppy trumpet and the rest of the Brass. Now of course we know that there never really was a Tijuana Brass as he used session musicians yet who cared?

Alpert brought his latest version of the Brass to Omaha last night to perform in front of a full house. The crowd was lively, shouted out questions, stood and applauded way too much for a guy with a bad knee and loved every second of it.

Alpert is 90 years old, looks great, plays great, moves great and tells stories like a fun Grandpa. Beginning with The Lonely Bull , Alpert went right into action Above the band was a giant screen that showed old tapes of 1960s shows in which Herb Alpert appeared on, commercials that featured Alpert's music (Tea Berry gum), old music videos of the brass playing in bullrings, racetracks, on the beach, and onstage. It was a fascinating watch from the aspect of a kid from the 60's. Johnny Carson, the Dating Game, Rowan and Martin among others.

All the hits were played, many of which I'd forgotten about. Whipped Cream (Alpert has a great story about that album cover which apparently got some loudmouth in the crowd "through puberty") Spanish Flea, Love Potion #9, This Guys In Love With You (another great story) Rise, Smile, Tijuana Taxi, Mexican Shuffle. The songs are all there.

As an added bonus, the former lead singer of Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, Lani Hall, was brought out to sing short snippets of their hits. Oh yeah, she is also Herb Alperts wife of 52 years. Another great story of how they met, how he ordered the Brass to stay away from Brasil 66's women singers during a tour so he could have Lani to himself. He's so great at weaving a story together unlike other old men we are subjected to.

This legend is 90 years old. If you get a chance, this concert is a must. You'll be smiling for 90 minutes.