Ike and Tina were scheduled for two shows at 7:30 and 10:00. They got there so late that the people who came for the second show were left waiting in the cold and rain for up to 4 1/2 hours and the police had to block off traffic. Fingerhut told reporter Allan Holbert (Minneapolis Tribune, April 11, 1971) that:

Some of the customers, waiting outside in the rain, got fed up and tried to crash the gates. There were scuffles between them and some of the four or five off-duty policemen Fingerhut hires on big nights.

“Like there are seven exits in the place. We weren’t watching them close enough and the kids were coming in by the dozens. Next they found a way to climb up on the marque and come in the window.”

Fingerhut was furious at Ike and Tina’s manager. He called in comedian Ron Douglas to keep the crowd entertained until they got there, and had to do over an hour. Ike and Tina finally arrived and said they would only do one show, but Fingerhut kept them to their contract and the second show didn’t go on until midnight. Fingerhut told Bob Protzman of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (April 11, 1971) that the antics of Ike and Tina “almost closed us down.” Reviewer Scott Bartell reported that the band riffed while Ike was trying to change the details of the deal. Finally the Ikettes – “three black bombshells dressed in dayglo orange – burst on to sing and dance ‘Get Back’ and set the stage for Tina.” Most of their songs were covers:

• Piece of My Heart
• Wanna Take You Higher
• Honky Tonk Women
• Come Together
• Proud Mary
• I’ve Been Lovin’ You Too Long
• Son of a Preacher Man
• River Deep, Mountain High

but Bartell said that “they bring each number alive in a brand new way. They never seem to waste a second, and almost everything they do is worth seeing and hearing. Perhaps the best moments came when Tina was doing little dialogues with Ike on the blues “You Just Won’t Let me Be.” (Minneapolis Tribune, March 15, 1971)

Reviewer Peter Altman noted that the Ike and Tina Review was a well-oiled machine: “so carefully lit and costumed, musical arrangements (for all their sock) so meticulous, choreography so closely ordered and pace so shrewdly varied that even when the Turner Review is at its most dynamic one always appreciates that it is a smartly packaged entertainment based on strict adherence to a proven formula.” He noted that at some shows Tina “becomes a dervish who moves across the stage without touching the ground or the Ikettes abandon unison for ecstasy, and a few free choruses are allowed before Ike reasserts order. Such things did not happen this time” – or at least at the first show. (Minneapolis Star, March 15, 1971) The Minneapolis Tribune dedicated a page in its picture magazine to the fashions worn at the Ike and Tina show. “Bell bottoms and jeans were the favorite garb with the audience … There were a few hot pants and some peasant and Indian looks in the crowd … The casually dressed crowd lined the balcony to watch the show.”