RALEIGH -- Wednesday night, a gamut of show-business possibilities played out on stages across the Triangle. Raleigh's NC Museum of Art had a show by country-rock singer Lucinda Williams, whose current balance of respectable commercial success and critical respect would be the envy of any artist. In Chapel Hill to the west, meanwhile, the much smaller nightclub Local 506 had Sanjaya Malakar -- still trying to wring what he can out of a seventh-place finish on "American Idol" four years ago.

And in between, Raleigh's RBC Center played host to the official "American Idol" concert tour, starring 11 performers who would all like a career arc closer to Williams than Malakar. Years from now, maybe some of this year's finalists will get there. But while these kids seem likable enough, chances are good that this is the last you'll hear of most of them.

If nothing else, the "American Idol" tour represents one last victory lap within the show's protective cocoon before the participants scatter to the stages of cruise ships, casinos, state fairs or whatever other fate awaits. A few of them should just head in that direction and get it over with, especially this year's crop of guys.

Paul McDonald was once again a black hole, especially when he skipped. Casey Abrams should be forbidden from ever again attempting any kind of scat/beatboxing, upon pain of death. Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song that's almost impossible to ruin, but James Durbin certainly gave it the ol' college try. And warbly ol' Jacob Lusk proved yet again that he is not, repeat not, the second coming of Luther Vandross.

As for the gals, Pia Toscano came across better live than on television (while also showing impressive balance on heels that looked like a couple of broken ankles waiting to happen). Then there's Lauren Alaina, this year's runnerup, who has a decent voice but almost no presence. Third-place finisher Haley Reinhart showed more vocal prowess and charisma than the rest of the field combined; it was interesting that she, rather than Alaina, got the penultimate performance slot.

Of course, this year's big question mark is what will happen with Garner homeboy Scotty McCreery, who won the competition back in May and has been trying to convince country radio that he's not just a deep-voiced party trick ever since. As his fellow finalists performed, McCreery spent most of the opening set in one of the arena boxes. When security walked him through the concourse to a tunnel beneath the stands to get backstage, it elicited shrieking squeals worthy of Beatlemania from about 50 camera-wielding girls who had staked out his door.

Actually, the locals probably wished they'd gotten more of Scotty Wednesday night. Every reference to him or flash of his countenance on the video screens drew huge roars from the sold-out crowd. But he didn't appear onstage in the flesh until two hours into the evening, doing all his big numbers from the show -- Montgomery Gentry's "Gone," Thompson Square's "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" and, of course, Josh Turner's "Your Man" (a song he must be truly sick of by now).

Scotty sang fine and showed an onstage ease that will serve him well. And he represented the hometown as you might expect, coming out for the finale medley in a Carolina Hurricanes jersey. For one night, at least, Scotty definitely owned his hometown.

But how long he can hold the nationwide mainstream's attention will depend on his debut album, which he's been working on during the tour. Right before Scotty came onstage Wednesday night, the video screens played clips of all 10 "American Idol" winners being announced in an NFL Films-style treatment, with lots of dramatic pauses and slow-motion interludes. Watching that, it was sobering to ponder how many "Idol" winners already seem done.

Glory can be fleeting -- just ask Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze or Taylor Hicks. But we'll find out, in the long run.

Between Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift (scheduled to return in November after playing there last year), Raleigh's RBC Center is fast becoming Diva Central. And here are two more shows to add to that tally, Britney Spears and Sade.

Spears has already been announced for Aug. 24, with an "official" on-sale date of June 25. As for Sade, a tour schedule released by her record label lists RBC on Sept. 9 -- although that is one of five dates flagged with a "subject to change" asterisk, meaning that it's probably still tentative at this point. Sade's on-sale date and ticket prices are still pending. Meantime, she's confirmed for Charlotte on July 31.
 

RALEIGH -- Katy Perry wants it all, critical respect and dance-club credibility to go with massive popularity. But most of all, she seems to want dessert.

Tuesday night brought Perry's "California Dreams" roadshow to the RBC Center, and it was a confectionary affair all the way around. The stage was done up with lots of pinks and pastels, and the show's overall vibe was something like "Alice in Wonderland" crossed with "The Wizard of Oz" -- except the road to redemption was the Candyland board game rather than a yellow brick road, and the promised land was out in the land of "California Gurls" rather than Kansas. The show also had elements of Cirque du Soleil, princess fairy tales, super-hero fantasies and, of course, cupcakes.

"I wanna hear you scream if you love caaaaandy," Perry cooed early on. "It's gonna be a sweet night."

Massive-spectacle pop-diva tours are nothing new, of course, and Perry is following a well-traveled course charted by Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera and good ol' Madonna, among many others. But she has her own spin on it with a good-girl-next-door-gone-bad image, plus the candy obsession. That's not surprising, given that Perry's most recent album came with a candy-scented compact-disc booklet.

In keeping with her dance-cred aspirations, Perry tried to turn the RBC Center into a disco with her opening acts. DJ Skeet Skeet was up first, spinning a half-hour of high-energy dance mixes. Then came Swedish dance-pop singer Robyn, who somehow danced despite wearing impossible shoes with four-inch-thick soles.

As for Perry, she initially appeared in red shoes reminiscent of Dorthy Gale. The show opened with a film clip noting that she had "dreams covered in sugar, candy and cream," setting up an elaborate storyline that seemed to involve Perry chasing her cat through a surreal landscape (and also becoming feline herself at one point).

Naturally, there were costume-changes -- lots and lots of costume changes. Perry variously came across as a wide-eyed ingenue, super-hero, Playboy bunny and lounge singer, running through a dizzying array of outfits. That hit a quite-funny peak toward the end of the show during "Hot N Cold," a sleight-of-outfit demonstration that had Perry making a series of how'd-she-do-that onstage costume changes. Just for good measure, she came out for the encore with a prominent feature of her anatomy done up like two Hershey's kisses.

The performance was a shade too cutesy at times and it did feel overly long at two hours, padded out with a bit more yackety-yack than necessary. The unplugged covers of current hits went on longer than it needed to, with a few too many aw-shucks "Southern" references, and the selections were hardly revelatory. Rebecca Black's "Friday" still sucks even if played on acoustic guitars, just in case you were wondering.

With all the dancing, lasers and pyrotechnics swirling around, there were times when music seemed secondary. Perry's voice wasn't bad, although she warbled mightily off-pitch during the opening "Teenage Dream." But when she just sat and sang on "Not Like the Movies," it was quite good.

Other highlights included "Hummingbird Heartbeat," "Pearl" and "Californina Gurls" because, let's face it, catchy's catchy. So eat dessert first -- the future is uncertain.

david.menconi@newsobserver.com or blogs.newsobserver.com/beat or 829-4759

Here's a right nice addition to the concert schedule at the NC Museum of Art: alternative-country goddess Lucinda Williams will play there on July 27. As it happens, that's the same night the "American Idol" tour plays Raleigh's RBC Center, just a mile away. But somehow, I don't imagine that will be much of a conflict for most folks. Tickets for Lucinda go on sale Tuesday.

Garner town officials confirmed today that the "American Idol" finale party at the RBC Center on Wednesday night will begin 7 p.m.

But the town will also host a viewing party at the Garner High gym for Tuesday night's performance episode. "American Idol" airs at 8 p.m. and the Garner gathering will begin at 7 p.m.

Thousands of fans are expected to show up to cheer on Garner's Scotty McCreery, who advanced last night and earned a top-two spot on the show.

Attenion McCreerians: The N&O Zone can put you in the Scotty Zone for the Garner singer's July 27 show at the RBC Center in Raleigh.

The News & Observer is giving away two front row seats to the "American Idol Live" Raleigh show. The contest, which is available to News & Observer subscribers, begins today and runs through the show's May 25 finale.

You've seen the eyebrow antics on television, and soon you'll get the chance to drool over Garner's country music heartthrob Scotty McCreery in person.

The 2011 American Idol Tour will come to Raleigh's RBC Center on July 27 (tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on May 13). If that's not enough for you, the tour goes to Charlotte the next day.

And if that's not enough for you, you can follow Scotty around the country Grateful Dead-style. Here's the complete schedule.

RALEIGH -- Seven years ago, Prince brought a tour to Raleigh that aimed to demonstrate who was the boss (him, of course). Wednesday night brought him back to the RBC Center, and the underlying context this time seemed to be a demonstration of just how many employees, underlings and spinoff divisions he's had.

Prince really was kind of the Motown of the 1980s, with an instantly recognizable sound. Whether it was his name or somebody else's on the Paisley Park Records label, you always knew it was him right away.

That point was made before Wednesday night's performance even began, as the video screens showed a series of videos by '80s-vintage Prince associates including The Family, Sheila E., Andre Cymone, The Time and Mavis Staples. Then after Prince introduced her as "my inspiration, the voice of seven generations, the bridge, my sister," opening act Chaka Khan came out and began with the hit he wrote for her, 1984's "I Feel For You."

As for Prince's two-hour headlining set, it was so tightly scripted he needed teleprompters to keep track. It was intermittently amazing, too, although the opening stretch was a touch too manic. "Y'all know how many hits I got?" he asked. "Wanna hear 'em tonight?"

Yes, but not crammed into a single half-hour. After beginning with "When Doves Cry," he launched into an ADHD-friendly medley featuring regrettably abbreviated snippets of "Sign o the Times," "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," "Hot Thing," "If I Was Your Girlfriend," "Scandalous" and I can't even recall what else.

If the format left something to be desired, Prince and his crack band showed impeccable virtuosity and showmanship. He himself did very little playing during the opening stretch, because he was too busy conducting, directing, shimmying, strutting, preening and stalking the crowd like a gigolo on the make. He put in some impressive footwork as he sang, especially considering that he was wearing red high heels.

Things were just picking up with "Raspberry Beret" and "You Got the Look" when Prince vacated the stage to do an outfit change. And that was when his backup singers sang Sarah McLachlan's "Angel," which was no less dreary as a gospel number than it is as soundtrack for those animal-cruelty commercials. It felt interminable.

Fortunately, Prince returned bearing a guitar. He brought Chaka Khan back onstage for a cameo performance of "Sweet Thing," in which she got a much kinder mix than during her own set (she'd been barely audible over the muddy, indistinct roar of her backup band). The following "Controversy" got everybody hopping up and down, and Prince played some of his best guitar of the night.

A cover of Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" made the perfect excuse to invite a few dozen folks from the audience onstage to dance. After that, it was one bullseye after another: "Let's Go Crazy," "Delirious," "1999," "Little Red Corvette" and an epic 10-minute version of "Purple Rain." The encore version of "Kiss" (with the "Dynasty" lyrical reference changed to "Real Housewives") made for a nice victory lap.

He's still the boss, for sure.

david.menconi@newsobserver.com or blogs.newsobserver.com/beat or 919-829-4759

ADDENDUM (4/7/11): What's in Prince's refrigerator?

Here's a last-minute biggie from the concert-announcement front -- Prince's "Welcome 2 America" tour will play Raleigh in less than two weeks, March 23 at the RBC Center. It's part of a six-date swing through the Carolinas including March 21 in Columbia; March 24 in Charlotte; March 26 in Greensboro; March 28 in Greenville S.C.; and March 30 in North Charleston.

The official on-sale date is Monday via Ticketmaster. I've been unable to get ticket prices yet, so I'll post them later. They probably won't be cheap. Then again, if Prince's last show in Raleigh is any indication (see below), it might well be worth whatever you have to shell out.

UPDATE: Tickets will cost $20, $49.50, $79, $119 or $199.

SECOND UPDATE (3/14/11): The $49.50 price has been changed to $49.

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Prince's Purple Reign
By David Menconi, News & Observer
4/26/04

RALEIGH -- Spinning across the stage at the RBC Center, Prince brought his band to an abrupt halt with a slashing gesture. It was only the first song, but he already had a question.

"Raleigh, " he asked slyly, "did y'all miss me or what?"

The nearly full house answered with a delirious, deafening sound of affirmation -- the word "roar" just can't do it justice. Satisfied, Prince restarted the band, and off we went on a two-hour ride that exhausted and satisfied everyone in the building. Prince's current "Musicology" trek might be the most-hyped tour on the road right now, but Friday night's show more than matched its advance buildup.

Imagine running into an old friend you haven't seen in so long you don't even remember that you miss him, and he manages to make you laugh and cry in the first five minutes. It was like that. Or imagine going back in time to watch James Brown in his prime, or Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the 1927 Yankees. It was like that, too, a genius and his group at the absolute top of their game. Most artists are pretty much done by the time they get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Prince got in last month, and he sounded like he's just getting started.

Calling his tour and album "Musicology" implies an educational bent, and Friday's set made a convincing case for the importance of Prince's place in the music world. The set list consisted of sprawling medleys of Prince songs interspersed with snippets of other songs, including current hits from direct descendants OutKast and Beyonce Knowles plus vintage covers. Prince danced, preened and played up a storm, with just the right amount of playful humor. During a mid-show acoustic interlude, he started playing Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" and abruptly stopped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, " he smirked. "Thought I was The King there for a sec."

The first 45 minutes were almost too overwhelming, one peak after another at a pace that was impossible to maintain. The show commenced with a video montage of Prince over the past 25 years, with Alicia Keys' Hall of Fame induction speech serving as narration. Then Prince rose up from beneath the stage, looking sharp in a white fringed suit and singing from a gold-plated microphone. "Purple Rain"-vintage hits dominated the early going, including "Let's Go Crazy" (with confetti raining down from above, less than 10 minutes into the show), "I Would Die 4 U" and "When Doves Cry."

Prince's current version of the New Power Generation is an astonishingly tight ensemble, and he conducted it with his customary precision. The horn section included saxophonist Candy Dulfer (his main distaff foil throughout the show) and Kinston native Maceo Parker, who held forth with a lovely instrumental version of the Louis Armstrong chestnut "What a Wonderful World" during Prince's first costume change. Hefty keyboardist Chance Howard also contributed a great lead vocal to the Sam & Dave classic "Soul Man."

The real show-stopper was a four-song solo acoustic set, with lots of audience participation on "Little Red Corvette" and "Raspberry Beret." Audience participation also dominated "U Got the Look, " in the form of a dozen audience members brought onstage to dance.

Things flagged a bit during the second hour, when the crowd started to get antsy about some of the hits he wasn't playing ("1999," "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" were among the missing). But the energy level was back up for the closing "Take Me With U" and a three-song encore that closed with an otherworldly 10-minute version of "Purple Rain."

It was great to have Prince back -- and hard to imagine how the mainstream did without him for so long.

Bon Jovi rolled into Raleigh to play the RBC Center Monday night. Check an online photo gallery of shots from the show here.