REVIEW - PRINCE - ONE NITE ALONE
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
JUNE 15, 2002
===

Before I start -- if you are a Toronto area fan, join New Power North!! http://groups.yahoo.com/g...powernorth

It was great seeing all the NPNorth members again! It seemed like almost everyone from T.O. came to this concert!

Initial Notes:

* Some enthusiastic fans started lining up at 8:30am. My wife and I got there around 3pm.
Thanks to Bobby (aka NewPowerNorth) for doing the whole order list thing.

* Despite this, a couple of (drunk) older guys tried to bud the line. People were great about
keeping them back and I think they ended up at the back of the line.

SOUNDCHECK
===
Entry Time: 5:45pm (approximate)
End Time: 6:45pm
Total Length: 1h00min

SETLIST:

Elephants & Flowers
Bambi
Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin cover)
Pearls B4 The Swine (instrumental)
The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
Sigh "O" The Times (with accompanying jam)
Days of Wild (with accompany jam)
- Larry Graham guested on bass on DoW

NOTES:

* We could hear them rehearsing before we were allowed in, but I couldn't make out what songs they played.

* The first 5 rows were filled with NPGMC members - around 150-200 in total.

* Prince didn't do a lot of talking. This soundcheck was very much like a mini-concert or aftershow.

* Prince accepted two gifts from audience members during the soundcheck. One was from a girl that brought a bible to the Celebration last year. Not sure what it was, but I think it was religious in nature. The other gift was a book. Not sure what it was about. Prince joked, "What? No pictures? I can't read!". He seemed to get a kick out of something in it and promptly handed it to Larry & Tina Graham who watched the whole soundcheck from backstage.

* It was great seeing a 65-70 year old woman in the audience for the whole soundcheck and the show. She was dancing and getting into the music bigtime!

* This was a really high-energy performance with very raw versions of SOTT and DoW. Bambi was (as usual) scorching!

THE CONCERT
===
Start Time: 8:17pm
End Time: 11:19pm
Total Length: 3h2min

Band: Prince, Rhonda Smith (bass), Renato Neto (keys), John Blackwell (drums), Maceo Parker (sax), Greg Boyer (trombone).

Guests: Larry Graham (bass), Glenn Lewis (vocals)

SETLIST:

The Rainbow Children
Muse 2 The Pharoah
Xenophobia
Guitar Solo
A Case of U
Mellow
1+1+1=3
Love Rollercoaster
The Other Side of the Pillow
Strange Relationship
Pass The Peas
Sing A Simple Song (with Larry Graham)
La-La (Means I Love You)
Didn't Cha Know
When You Were Mine
Avalanche
Family Name
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
Everlasting Now
---
Encore:
Piano Solo:
- Adore
- I Wanna Be Your Lover
- Free
- Starfish & Coffee
- Sometimes It Snows In April
- I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore
- Diamonds & Pearls
- The Beautiful Ones
'Na, Na, Na' Jam (with Glenn Lewis)
Girls and Boys
I Feel Alright chant
'Clap for Prince & The Band' Jam
Purple Rain
Anna Stasia
'Rise Up' Chant

NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS:

* OH MY GOD! This was an absolutely fantastic show! I've never seen a Toronto audience react so well to any other performer or sports team. The place sounded like it was going to crumble under the noise. Prince reacted really well to the audience and was extremely loose and happy throughout the show.

* This show could not even compare to the tour opener in Saginaw (which I attended). The show itself is more polished and sounds way better. Prince was much, much looser and seemed to be having a great time. He even thanked the audience for a night that he would always remember!

* Prince had the audience in the palm of his hand the whole time. The floor was on their feet most of the night, unless Prince told them to sit back and listen to the music. Much of the two balconies also stood and danced for most.

* The guitar solo after Xenophobia featured Prince asking a lady in the front row, "Is it better to give or to receive?" When she answered 'give', he said, "Cool, then give your seat up to the brother in row 4 (my row)." This big black dude then moved up to first row. Prince asked him, "Is it better to be a leader or a follower?" He answered, "A leader". Prince then went to a girl in the front row and asked the same question. When she answered, "Follower", he said, "Follow me" and led her onstage to sit in the pillows on stage left. He then seranaded her with a guitar solo and A Case of U.

* Mellow was absolutely phenomenal. At the end of the song, he finished with a vocal solo and there was absolute dead silence during this. People were completely stunned with the beauty of his voice - it was incredible. I take back any thoughts that his voice may be going downhill at 44 years old. It's not!

* Larry Graham guested on bass during Sing A Simple Song - no preaching. Just kick-ass bass playing!

* It was my first time hearing Everlasting Now played live. WOW!

* The "smash up my ride" part of Adore was hilarious. He went into this comedic discussion with an invisible girl about her shamshing up his ride. He asked her, "Who was with you in the car? Who? Glenn Lewis? Awww man! In the FRONT seat?" Prince was joking around since Toronto R&B artist Glenn Lewis was in the audience.

* Glenn Lewis joined Prince on stage during the jam to sing some 'na, na, na's. He has great stage presence! It was funny to see Lewis want to come over and hug Prince - it seems that he's quite the fanboy!

* Girls & Boys was mostly sung from the audience while Prince took a stroll up the aisle.

* The 'Clap for Prince & The Band' (arbitrary title) consisting of Prince rhyming off his opinions about record companies and contracts in a lighthearted and funny manner. Each verse was capped by a "Clap, Clap, Clap your hands for Prince and the band" with a short jam.

* To the guy in Saginaw who stated following the concert, "All I wanted was Purple Rain and some Hennessey" -- you should have come to Toronto for a killer, killer Purple Rain!!!

* The only unfortunate point of the night (in my opinion) was a 5-minute long sermon at the end of Purple Rain on the New World Translation as compared to the King James version of the bible. Much more preaching from Prince than at the Saginaw show, but in light of the rest of the night, I can turn a blind eye!

* Overall, the longest concert I've ever seen in my life. Also, by far, the best Prince show I have seen (replacing the Detroit concert from June 23, 2001 Celebration tour stop). Woweee!

THE AFTERPARTY
===

* Held at The Red Drink (225 Richmond St. W.)

* NPGMC members & guest were admitted entry for free and skipped the line

* The afterparty was announced to NPGMC members only after the soundcheck. It was not announced to general concert-goers

* The bar only held around 180 people

* The bar is apparently a favourite hang-out for Prince when he's in Toronto

* The bar was not set up for any sort of concert or anything, so my wife and I left pretty early. I'm sure Prince made an appearance, but someone else will have to report!
[This message was edited Sun Jun 16 7:32:34 PDT 2002 by FunkyMan]

Thanks for the report. I'm sooo excited for Tuesday in Montreal.

OMG...he did "elephants n flowers"? wow.

Thanks 4 this incredible report, it was a joy 2 read how much fun u had!!! Double thumbs up 4 u!!!

wonderful!!! i'm so glad this tour is going so well for Prince!

thank you for the great review!

Xcellent. Thanx...These are the days of wild?

"Days Of Wild"..."Elephants And Flowers"?? Hope this shows up on a B**T!!!

Prince must be reading my mind with the rare songs he's playing. Elephants And Flowers?! Bring it on!

thanks for the review...

The Halmiton soundcheck and this 1 sounds terrific,I'm sure that the 2002 edition of the celebration will b fantastic!
Imagine 1 of the celebration concert with "when the lights go down","elephants and flowers","strollin'","days of wild"...

:ccol:

Thanks for the review... looks like Prince is adding songs to his band's repertoire... a good sign for the seven nights of shows coming up at the Celebration.

Thanks for the great review. I was at the show too and I must say I was blown away. I sat mesmerized throughout most of the show. His falsetto is so beautiful and his guitar playing was out of this world. The crowd was very much into it all night. The guy in the front row with the funky black symbol pants was a total blast to watch. I loved seeing how much people enjoyed the show. I was just soaked through with sweat and I could hardly talk afterwards. It was the funkiest night of music I've ever experienced. I don't know about you guys, but sometimes I feel very lonely being a Prince fan. However, saturday night proved to me that he is still the man and still knows how to play like no other and get the crowd going all night. Hearing the songs from the rainbow children live made me appreciate the entire cd all the more. Long live the little man!

kisscamille said:

That guy was Bobby, he was very entertaining for the time we were waiting in line for the soundcheck, I am looking forward to hooking up with him at the celebration, I am sure it will be a blast.

NewPowerNorth: I forgot to ask if you had a ride while in Minneapolis. I told you while waiting for the soundcheck that I am driving up from T.O. so if you need some transportation then I have room for 2 just let me know.

thanks Jason, but we have a car rented
man i planned for this one months ago!

Bob

WyseOne said:

Great review! Thank you!