Prince is ace

[SCOUSE TAPAS]

 

I have never been a massive Prince fan by any means. But he is without any doubt one of the greatest musicians of his generation. From his writing to his ability to play just about any instrument out there.Also one of the most underrated  guitarists who very rarely gets mentioned in any of those greatest guitarists of all time lists .along with Frank Zappa who just happend to be another musical genius.

[Paul]

Ha, ha, ha!!! How badly intimidated were they all by him there? Only George's son was buzzing off him at all. Genius.

[Paul]

Way-hey!!! I've got Prince tickets for next Friday!!! Best seats in the house too with the possibility of backstage passes!!! I've wanted to see him live for 25 years. Get in!!! It's not what you know...

[Dr Nowt]

Good stuff Paul.  I was close to tears when I saw him a few years ago.  Just absolutely blew me away, even with the sky high expectations I took into it.

 

When he played an acoustic version of Little Red Corvette during the encore, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.  Then he dropped in Purple Rain, as you do. 

 

Hope you have a great time, you lucky swine.

[Paul]

Good stuff Paul. I was close to tears when I saw him a few years ago. Just absolutely blew me away, even with the sky high expectations I took into it.

 

When he played an acoustic version of Little Red Corvette during the encore, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Then he dropped in Purple Rain, as you do.

 

Hope you have a great time, you lucky swine.

There's an outside chance of getting on the list for the after show "secret" gig too. There aren't many things in life I've always wanted to do, but this is one.

[Paul]

There aren't many things in life I've always wanted to do, but this is one.

Fucking amazing. What a show.

[Teflon Don]

Fucking amazing. What a show.

 

I'm going to the 2nd gig tonight and can't wait.

[Paul]

Mate, I've seen some massive, world renowned stars live but this was the best show I've ever seen out of hundreds over the years.

 

The only slight negative was the venue. We had amazing seats and he absolutely blew the roof off - the entire place went mental - but there's still a slight lack of intimacy in an arena of that size. I think he'd be even better at one of his famous after show gigs in a smaller 500 capacity venue or, weirdly, at somewhere stupidly big like Glastonbury.

 

That said, it was still the best live show of my life. Amazing.

[Dr Nowt]

Good stuff. Prince at Glastonbury would be a dream, he would absolutely take it up even a few more notches - they'd never have seen anything like it I reckon.

When we saw him it felt like every single micro-movement he made, every syllable he sang, every note he played, was absolutely choreographed to the nth degree with the rest of his band and dancers, in a good way. The sheer slickness and his complete mastery of the entire performance was just on another level to anyone else I've ever seen, and like yourself, I've been fortunate enough to see a good many world class and all-time musicians.

If there's one gig I could go back and do again, it would be his, in a flash, every time. You must be absolutely buzzing this morning, smile plastered all over your face.

[VladimirIlyich]

Cant really take anybody whose name in Spanish is Ponce.

[Clem H Fandango]

[DPW]

I went last night. Was amazing. Going again next week in Leeds.

 

Paul - do you know if he did an after show? Did you get the back stage passes?

[Fugitive]

He has touch of the Yewtrees about him.

[Rico1304]

I went to see him at Maine Road in about 1990, it was a beautiful day, the crowd was well up for it and so was Prince. I remember him singing Nothing Compares To You starting by playing the piano and ending up on his back on top of it. Then he played Purple Rain and completely blew us away, it was incredible. He's a fucking genius, the dirty sex dwarf.

[Ian Sea]

As I've said before, Prince isn't for me but I'm made up everyone's had the chance to see him. From what I've heard he's unbelievable live.

[Paul]

I went last night. Was amazing. Going again next week in Leeds.

 

Paul - do you know if he did an after show? Did you get the back stage passes?

No after show on Friday, sadly and a double denial as there were no back stage passes. However, that's because there were none available at all: even arena staff and the majority of the promoter's staff weren't allowed back stage.

 

Here's the set list, for anyone who's interested:

 

1. Let's Go Crazy

2. Take Me With U

3. Raspberry Beret

4. U Got The Look

5. Musicology

6. Kiss

7. Empty Room

8. Funknroll

9. She's Always In My Hair

10. Guitar

11. Plectrum Electrum

12. FixUrLifeUp

13. Something In the Water (Does Not Compute)

 

(Piano set)

 

14. Under The Cherry Moon

15. Diamonds and Pearls

16. The Beautiful Ones

 

17. When Doves Cry

18. Hot Thing

19. I Could Never Take the Place Of Your Man

20. Paisley Park

21. Crimson and Clover (Tommy James and the Shondells cover)

22. Controversy

23. 1999

24. Little Red Corvette

25. Purple Rain

 

Picking favourite tunes is very hard but here are a few highlights:

• Opening with a half speed Let's Go Crazy - it sounded sleazy and funky as fuck
• Musicology which kept segueing in and out of Sex Machine by James Brown
• The piano set that opened with one of my all time favourites (Under The Cherry Moon). His voice was incredible on The Beautiful Ones - right up in his falsetto with amazing power and control and then back down to his near baritone singing voice with no hint whatsoever of ageing in his voice; not even a dropping of range.
• He then went straight into a backing-track of When Doves Cry and there was a very interesting insight into his professionalism from where we were sitting. The band were slightly slow getting back on stage and he called "C'mon band" to them twice. They then missed their cue to come in over the backing track by a barely discernible half beat but a couple of tracks later when they went off stage before the first encore, he went nuts at the side of the stage out of sight of most people, throwing his arms around and ordering them to hurry up and get down the stairs.
• When they came back, there were far more little hand signals to them to come up in volume or drop out a bit. I reckon that little error will have cost them all of Saturday in rehearsal time.
• 1999 absolutely blew the roof off the place; everyone went mental. It was quite a sight to see 20-odd thousand people all going nuts. It was brilliant.
• Little Red Corvette got a massive singalong (as did virtually everything, actually - but this even more so)
• Purple Rain - what a way to finish

Fucking brilliant.

[Rico1304]

Let's Go Crazy is a fucking amazing tune, apparently the guitar solo was done in one take. Imagine being that good at something?

 

I could never take the place of your man is another classic - never played on the radio.

[Red Banjo]

Going to this tomorrow night

 

Cannot fucking wait

[Paul]

Review from The Guardian

 

"Manchester, are you ready to go crazy?" asks Prince Rogers Nelson, and 21,000 voices yell in the affirmative. With the crowd providing the "Oh no, let's go" refrain in Let's Go Crazy, the Minneapolis funkster raises one eyebrow, reels off a blistering Jimi Hendrix-style guitar wail and disappears in a cloud of smoke.

 

If Prince's career-rekindling series of guerilla gigs in small venues in February felt like a unique experience, his return to arenas provides a stage worthy of one of pop's great showmen. He uses every inch of the vast space and makes everybody in it feel part of the performance.

 

Sound and lighting technicians are subjected to various commands ("More guitar!" "Turn the lights off!") as songs are delivered with the house lights on (Kiss; U Got the Look; Controversy) or in pitch-black (Diamonds and Pearls; a sublime The Beautiful Ones). With the simplest gestures, he controls the audience's singing and waving like a conductor. His request for people to not use mobiles initially feels mean-spirited, but makes sense when he yells, "Cellphones out!" during Hot Thing, and the arena explodes in a sea of twinkling lights.

 

Not everything he tries comes off. The dread phrase, "Is it OK if we jam awhile?" leads to one or two funky workouts that threaten to dampen the party atmosphere, but any such moments are more than made up for by storming renditions of the likes of When Doves Cry or 1999, which demonstrate that pop music can still reduce human beings to a state of hormonal spontaneous combustion.

 

With his supreme new band 3RDEYEGIRL, songs are slowed down, elongated or totally reinvented as they rampage from James Brown-y funk to psychedelic pop. The album track Something in the Water, from 1982, is transformed into an epic showstopper. Prince dictates his own agenda. With guitar rock currently unfashionable, he plays more guitar than ever and grins like a fascinated toddler at the array of wonderful noises he conjures from the instrument. After two hours of cerebral-physical music and dance steps that are probably illegal in certain countries, the elfin 55-year-old looks physically exhausted. However, he's already said "Goodnight" twice before he returns yet again in darkness, and his fingers pick out the distinctive intro to a triumphant Purple Rain. "Nobody does it like Prince," he cries. Indeed.

[Red Banjo]

I realise the audience for this thread is now down to about 5 people, and that saddens me.

 

I loved Prince way before I had the pleasure to see him last night. Now I'm simply in awe. I might as well not bother going to see live music again as I dint see how that could ever be bettered. He was quite simply incredible.

 

Lifelong ambition realised. I've seen the great man at his majestic finest.

 

Qudos to his all female backing band 3rdeyegirl. Absolutely flawless too. Donna on lead guitar was mesmerizing when the two of them took it upon themselves to showcase their skills.

 

I'm going to be smiling for at least a week.

 

If you didn't see this, you missed out.

[Dr Nowt]

It's like watching Zidane at his peak isn't it.  More or less everyone else just becomes a jobbing Premiership midfielder.

[Red Banjo]

I took my mrs, and she's not really a fan. I told her to just embrace the experience.

 

She loved it as much as I did. As with most people she simply didn't realise how talented he is. Why he doesn't get the recogniction he does purely as a guitarist astounds me. He's better than anyone I've ever seen, and ever likely to see. Then you've got his singing which is on a different level. Then his stage presence, and his keyboard skills. Together its just a plethora of utter greatness.

 

He's the greatest live performer off all time. Simple as that.

[Dr Nowt]

Yeah, like yourself mate it was a life's ambition of mine, and despite already soaring expectations I was left catching flies at points.

 

Genius gets bandied around far too easily.  He is one, and it's a privilege when you get to see one live, and something you never forget.

[Paul]

Couldn't agree more boys. I can't remember if I said it on here or not, but seeing Prince live is just about the only thing I've desperately wanted to do for my entire adult life. He did not disappoint last Friday night. My mate went on Monday in Brum and apparently the set was slightly different as he did Sometimes It Snows In April, which is one of my all-time favourites of his off my favourite album, Parade.

[TheBitch]

Damn Prince was ace wasn’t he. 

 

Usher and HowieLama have posted some great Prince stories in a different thread. 

 

Add more Prince stories and clips here on this beautiful Friday.