The Lied Center was stomping and dancing Tuesday night as Harry Connick Jr. and his funk band jazzed, rocked, dixied and partied with the sellout crowd for more than two and a half hours.

And they left 'em dancing on the stage.

Literally.

It was music for the soul -- and they played it in ways that music ain't never been played before.

At times it seemed more like a jam session than a concert. The four-man band, plus Connick, played off one another, joked and told stories.

"I just don't wanna get off this stage," Connick said, his No. 15 Tommie Frazier Cornhusker football jersey drenched in sweat.

He sang a cappella. He sang the blues. He sang the old songs from New Orleans and Mardi Gras tunes that shook and rattled the Lied like nothing before.

The Lied seats were never unfolded once the show began, as the floor crowd stood and fans rushed the stage, filling the aisles and spilling out near the towers of speakers.

Halfway into the concert, Connick warned those who hadn't come to rock 'n' roll that it was time to leave. He then introduced the crowd to yet another musical style few fans had ever heard from him before -- head-bangin' Harry.

The song? He called it "I am Tommie Frazier."

"I can out-throw him," Connick said later in the show. Then he laughed. "That guy is gonna kick my ass."

Connick showed off not only his talent to perform anything from spirituals to New Orleans funk, but his ability to play any instrument placed before him. Aside from his normal seat behind the piano, Connick took his turn at drums, trumpet, guitar -- basically every instrument on stage.

He talked aimlessly throughout the night -- "listphus," so to speak. The crowd was introduced to Connick's dog, Samantha. It was a concert, yet it wasn't. It was more like an intimate night with Harry.

As the show drew to a close, Connick played one last Mardi Gras tune for the crowd.

One fan jumped to the stage and started dancing in the far corner, as Connick had done so many times throughout the night.

"Yeah, he's got the right idea," Connick said. He then began helping people to the stage.

As the band finished its final number, the bars trailing away off stage, more than 100 fans were left dancing under the hazy, colored stage lights to the thunderous echo of applause.