Show Review

Being a Prince fan, I’m having a hard time giving an unbiased review about this concert. That being said, this may be the best concert I have ever seen. The quality of music, the set list, length of time on stage, his showmanship, anything I can think of that I can poke a hole in the concert, I fail. Everything was perfect.

The only thing I can think of that may be disconcerting is he didn’t play “1999.” But one has to imagine that since the millennium craze, it’s understandable why he wouldn’t want to play that anyway. Being the newer, more mature Jehovah’s Witness that he is, he also will not play “Darling Nikki,”or “Erotic City.”

But he played almost every other hit he has ever made! He kept the medley format down to a minimum, playing his greatest songs at full length. And here is the amazing thing: he only played one song off his new album! Most aging rockers play medleys of their old stuff and force their new stuff down you throat. Prince gives everyone at the concert a copy of his new album, and then gives everybody what they want. For instance, he played practically every track off of his most successful album, Purple Rain. Most musicians are afraid to play their most successful stuff, wanting to be known for something else. This point makes it obvious that Prince is comfortable with himself and his place in musical history as one of the greatest musicians of all time.

Before the concert began, the loudspeakers pumped out all Prince tunes, such as the obscure track “Pop Life.” Then the concert starts with his picture up on the widescreen at age 16, when he released his first album. Then the screen showed Alicia Keys talk about how great his music is when he was inducted into the Rock &Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. Then he comes out with his band, the New Power Generation, and opens up with “Musicology,” the only song played from the new album, before going into his old stuff; “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “When Doves Cry,” “Sign Of the Times,” “Baby I’m a Star” and “Raspberry Beret,” just to name a few. He even played “I Feel For You,” a song he wrote and performed, but didn’t become famous until it was covered by Chaka Khan.

During the first encore, which only lasted five minutes, his piano player did a stirring rendition of “Sometimes It Snows In April.” When he came back, he was in a different outfit, and had an acoustic guitar. The second encore was all acoustic, which truly showed his musical brilliance and showmanship. Just one look would drive everybody nuts. He also wanted the crowd to sing with him. When they did a bad job, he gave a disappointing look, and played the verse again until the crowd got it right! The best part of that set was when he did “Little Red Corvette.”

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the high quality of the music, which can be attributed to the quality of his band. During the second intermission, the drummer put on a mesmerizing solo. A nice surprise was Maceo Parker, an acclaimed horn musician, made multiple appearances and solos throughout the show.

Finally, after the third five minute intermission, Prince came out in a whole new outfit and closed the show with “Purple Rain.” In summation: 3 Encores, 2 and half hours, all hits, one song from the new album. People who were not Prince fans left that concert converted. Prince proved why he owned a segment of the 80’s; a musical prodigy with the sublime ability to own a crowd showed that he has the whole package.