Review La Cigale Aftershow Paris October 12th

This is a quick translation of a review I did for the Dutch forum. Don't hold it against me...

Some info about the venue La Cigale

La Cigale is a former opera house. There are still baroque elements present. The upper balcony is very ornamental in gold paint and the seats are upholstered in red imitation leather. This was the VIP area that night. There were over 500 VIP tickets given away (or sold?). The remaining tickets went to the French Lotusflow3r members (still we were able to obtain tickets for the Belgians). Later they were offered to the members of the other countries and then the non-members. There were about 1,000 tickets available.

The lower balcony was approximately 1.5 m from the ground floor with standing places only. There was a gray railing.

The floor was slightly sloping, which was ideal for the little people. Despite the fact that very large people were in front of me, I still could see a lot of Prince, though I sometimes had to bend sidewards.

The sound was phenomenal in La Cigale. Really very good. There were very few moments with guitar feedback and Prince gave good instructions for room and stage. This time the sound technician understood English

Funny detail: at one time the guitar started to feedback slightly. Prince says it to the sound engineer and begins to sing the tone. Then he says "turn it down a wedge", as he still hears the feedback, he sings the tone again and repeats "turn it down a wedge. In the end, this became even part of the act. That was soooo cool. Normally he is always worried about the sound but now he was very chilled out. Wonderful!

Once inside

The venue had a wardrobe, which was nice because it was chilly outside and it was pretty cool we didn't have to hold bags and coats.
We opted for floor level and got to the fifth row.
Luckily we did not have to wait very long - people were also quite nervous because the expectations were high.

It starts

Prince started playing at 10 pm. The band starts with a long intro by Hayes & Fred Yonnet and the tension builds, then Prince walks on stage. His outfit: black satin pants, black jacket with gold decoration on the lapels. Half high black top hat, which I considered very cool. I think he first started with the Fender, but a guitar freak would know better than me. No sunglasses, terrific because you got a magnificent view of his stunning eyes.

Old Skool Company was funky as hell and immediately set the whole room on fire. The fans were thrilled: finally the long awaited new work! Everyone sings along and Prince is very happy.

Next he plays Crimson & Clover. A sigh goes through the room: aaaaahhhhh. Very soft and subtle and then follows a solo with a ripping guitar distortion sound. Again everybody roars in unison : I think I love you, but I want to know for sure ...

The song Stand is unfamiliar to me. I don't know much about it. Maybe someone else knows more about it? It fit well in the repertoire in any case .

Turn Me Loose makes the audience twist and shae and when he starts to play Dance 4 Me, the room almost explodes.
I liked this version very much, it was quite funky, not so much dance like on the album. It had a very good live feel.

And then: No More Candy 4 U. Everyone shouted "No more candy, no more candy 4 U" and "You can not handle my groove"
Prince smiles constantly. I wonder if he will also sing about "the haters on the internet", and sure enough, he sings without moving a muscle. And this in front of all the members of his music club on the Internet that have complained quite a lot. The irony!

The song is less rushed and slightly slower pace than on the CD. Morris plays the synth parts very well.
Prince is really delighted. I try to remember all that he said then, but it's hard to recall. Some parts are really a blur.

He looks very happy. Is constantly laughing with the band and there is tremendous interaction with the audience. He pulls faces at them, gives them naughty looks, winks or looks tempting from the corner of his eyes. You could say that he is continuing flirting with the audience.

I have never seen Prince like this. So relaxed, so happy, so laid back. You had to be there to believe it!

No candy for you

Prince runs off stage after No More Candy 4 U. After the cheers of the audience the band starts the intro of Shhh. It sounds very familiar and Cora gets wild on the drums.

Frankly, I found this version of Shhh slightly less intense than in Indigo shows. But the people who first heard it were completely blown off their socks. I hear people moaning of pleasure here and there (really!)
The song is very subdued but ends with a killer solo. If I remember correctly he played the guitar with brown leopard print set.

Stratus is briefly played. It gives the public a much-needed breathing space. By then it was burning hot in the venue and the sweat starts to run down our backs and faces.

And then Prince calms down things even more, by singing Girl , accompanying himself on guitar. The band takes a break. This version is very serene and soft as if he tenderly caressed his beloved. Nice, very nice and quintessentially pure. Then he shouts to the audience: "Sing it for me! Boy!" Everybody sing along out loud, but Prince starts laughing and shouts "Only the girls!" The girls sing "Boy", he asks the boys to sing "Girl"and lets them sing it alternately. Brilliant!

And then, then ... Prince says: "special request"
And what does he play : Forever In My Life. I'm falling to pieces, waaaaaw. One of my favourite songs. The lyrics are so romantic !

But there was more to follow ...
The public goes crazy - this is sooooo beautiful. At the end he let them sing a capella: Forever In My Life
and lets the audience clap after the beat. He does it often - after beat, which many fans find difficult, or double-time clapping in eighths, that's a bit easier. The audience is like an extra rhythm section.

In order to give us a break, let Prince Shelby sing but he continues playing the guitar . And she sings: "Baby Love". This powerhouse performs the song by Mother's Finest brilliantly, almost better than the original which is an accomplisment. I totally love this song, sing along to my vocal cords to move.
Just amazing! Shelby says afterwards: "Thank you for making my dream come true".

I think there was a break after that, I'm not sure.

After the break Sexy Dancer sets the place on fire again.

I think it starts first with "I Want You Back" by The Jacksons, sung by the backing vocals.
Then Prince returns with a purple Fender Prince (I think) on, he is without his vest.
He begins with the funky intro of Sexy Dancer, and sings a piece of the song. Then it goes on to Le Freak
and then All Day All Night. It is a chant that is very repetitive and it bounces back and forth between Prince and the audience. Later, they will use this chant to call him back again and again.
Next is the familiar intro of Peach, with the well known guitar sound. Then Prince yells: "Paris thank you so much for your love ! Goodnight" and disappears. The band plays an outro and leaves the stage.

Old Skool Funk

After minutes of chanting All Day, All Night the band appears again. I think that it was at this point that Morris pretended to move in "slow motion" to his keyboard, just to tease us.

What follows is a dose of Old Skool Funk like the master himself can only play. Especially his version of I Want To Be Free is very intense. Prince beats his chest and puts his arms in the air and it's obvious: this is about him!
He sings it with conviction and empathy.
Meanwhile, the guitar is as funky as hell. Staccato riffs, pumping bass and Cora like a fury on the drums.

The audience knows Sing A Simple Song a little less, but that just gave us some time to catch our breath. The hardest part was to remain standing. La Cigale has a moving floor on springs. Because everyone's dancing and jumpingn like crazy the floor was constantly moving . You had no choice but to dance along. Meanwhile you had to try to constantly find your balance. It was very exhausting. Eventually it felt as if your feet and legs were on fire! Fortunately Prince gave us enough endorphins to endure it all

Thank You Fallentinme Be Mice Elf Again was performed.Het public sings along as in one voice. Prince looks extremely happy. He thanked us repeatedly during the evening. He was very talkative that night - such an intense interaction with the audience, I have not seen since Paradiso, Amsterdam. I wish I could remember exactly what he said, but it's hard.

Be Happy is beautifully sung by Liv. Somewhere in this set Shelby also started rapping (or was it perhaps earlier?) And she did it pretty good!

Then again "goodnight, we love you Paris".

But the public does not let go. It is still begging for "more, more, more". Clapping, stomping, singing, the atmosphere is dynamite.
Oh no, we won't let him go home.

Slave 2 the music

When Prince comes back, he asks "You want to stay here all night?" and the audience shouts: "YES"
The fans can't believe their ears when "7" is played. Some French fans shake their head in disbelief: "Mon Dieu!" You see people watching eachother and wondering: " Is this really happening?"
It sounds like the whole venue knows the lyrics, it was clear that this was a bunch of hard core fans because most knew the repertoire of Prince very well (albeit it in broken English)

Seamless transition to Come Together. Prince, the preacher, let's us chant "Come Together" to show us how important unity is. He's just exilerated - I can't express more superlatives to explain how happy and relaxed he was.

At one point he says:
"In America they do not play my music anymore. In America they want to take the land. In America they want to take the oil. In America they want to take the water. You know what I'm talking about!
In America they want to make me a slave. But I'm nobody's slave except for God, for music and ..... YOU! "

Dreamer fits perfectly after such a statement. Everyone is happy again with a song from Lotusflow3r and contributes fully.
The guitar is incomparable. Prince makes craziest faces, his whole body moves with the notes.
Fred Yonnet again gives a ripping solo. Prince calls: "This is your boy!"

Most fans slowly begin to fear that it will stop, but no, the lights remain dimmed. Everyone screams his lungs out, he has to come back. The sweaty faces, the bodies soaked, everyone looks pale with fatigue and dehydration, but giving up is no option! Even the VIP go crazy now.

What then follows is unimaginable.
Prince comes back and shouts: "You want more?" He feels his back: "My back hurts!" He tries to make up some excuses, but the public stays firm. Then he kicks back into action. The Bird, Jungle Love, The Glamorous Life. The funk is dripping. Prince enjoys seeing the people get wild. He points to people in the audience and laughs at them, calls to them. He struts his stuff on stage like he hasn't done in ages. The man was pure sex at that time. He does dances, turns pirouettes. He throws his towel into the audience. Then he calls:
"I'm soooo funky. I want to kiss myself!" That was really hilarious He also says: "I'm gonna move to France. You know why? Because it rhymes with my favorite word: dance!" He also complimented the Parisians with their city. I do not know exactly what he said.

Prince and the band leave again. Morris shakes some hands (he did several times previously). The band is: Cora, Joss, Morris, Cassandra joins them later and of course the vocals of Shelby, Liv and Elisa.

Miraculously, the lights remain dimmed. The audience looks at each other incredulously. Is he going to continue ?
The intro of 3121 blasts out - out comes Yonnet to blow his harmonica. Prince joing him and says: "Yonnet, pick some people to dance on stage. It's your crowd (or something)." Some people from the first row are pulled out of the row. Everyone dances like mad. Among them, a corpulent fan who shakes her booty in a very cool way (no disrespect) . Prince stands beside her and shakes in the same rhythm.What a contrast ! He is also constantly giggling. There is also another girl on stage. She is very thin and has a large afro. She is scantily clad, a thin T-shirt dress and no bra. Her bosom bounces in all directions. Prince suddenly sees her. He shouts "I love this girl! Shake it, baby". The girl dances her ass off, Prince is looking admiringly at her but his eyes are drawn to those wobbling tits. LOL !!

3121 is mighty funky. Cora is a beast. During this song the band is introduced and everyone gets a solo. Prince says "real music by real musicians!"

At the end Prince takes the dancing girl by the hand and bows with her several times. The first row get an unrestricted view to her cleavage. I'm practically certain that Prince did it on purpose

The audience is exhausted. People gasping for air, clinging to each other. But the room lights stay out.
A fan behind me says : "he's gonna kill us!"
When Prince returns with Purple Rain the people are just ecstatic. Prince ends with "All praise to Jehovah holy God" and dissappears.

Everyone is in heaven and it is a wonderful end to an unforgettable evening. The love in that place was just palpable. As Prince said in his interview: it's indescribable ...
[Edited 10/15/09 0:58am]
[Edited 10/15/09 0:59am]
[Edited 10/15/09 1:03am]

LittleSister said:

EXCELLENT Review. Thank you.

Hottly atmospheric - makes all us slaves smile
[Edited 10/14/09 10:03am]

Wow I've never felt so much like I was there when reading a review. Thank you so much for typing all that up. Wish I could've been there!

Great review , thank's for sharing !! Wish I was there.....

Hope he is doing more of these shows in Paris in the next weeks, with a little bit of earlier announcement

Great venue (place were Wendy And Lisa played April 27th 89'), great show one of my best without any doubt!!!

After the show he did tonite, I'm sure he will continue somewhere.

Great review! Thanks!

"Guitar" on Leno is the greatest performance in the history of rock ' roll

Second Funkiest White Man in America

It sure is nice having adults running our government now

fans like you are the best, feels like I was there!. Thankyou.

Yeah when I finished reading it, I was like whew. I'm tired just from reading. It was so good I had to print it & let my mother who is a fan of his @ her age read it also. That was one heck of a concert. Any hair style I had would have been finish after that party like you ain't never parted before.

Thank you so much for sharing this.

great review !!!!! wish i was there

thanks littlesister, i loved your review, ALL the details are really scrummy! ta!

THANK U, great report

made me feeling to be a part of it!

Wow! What a fantastic review of a fantastic concert.I soooo wish i was there.Wish he would announce a proper tour!
Thanx 4 posting.
-----
The Exodus Has Begun.

Killer review

thank you!

Fab review...this was obviously the show to be at!

Why oh why was I away??!!!!

P is tearin' Paris up ... Mans got 2 b in luv!!! Was Brea at the gig? Shes's been by his side alot recently. Maybe this is why he is having so much fun performing? The band is tight as ever and he is giving it up Thanx 4 the review!
[Edited 10/17/09 17:04pm]

Great review..

I'm just listening to the show now. That 'Stand, Turn me Loose, I want You Back' section is fantastic..

xenon said:

Great review..

I'm just listening to the show now. That 'Stand, Turn me Loose, I want You Back' section is fantastic..

brechten said:

xenon said:

Great review..

I'm just listening to the show now. That 'Stand, Turn me Loose, I want You Back' section is fantastic..

i'm listening 2.. you're right about that part! fantastic

xenon said:

brechten said:

eireboy34 said:

brechten said:

jgreco7 said:

cycozora said:

LittleSister said:

cycozora said:

Yes, she was there. She was mainly in the backstage but from time to time sitting on the 1st floor, close to the stage.
'Forever in my life' was most probably at her intention as Prince says the song was played 'by special request' and looked intensively at Bria at this time.

I agree, it looked liked he sang "Forever In My Life" on her request.
Prince was genuinely happy and seemed very much in love. Paris is a very romantic city which has surely kindled the fire a bit more

Great review little sister many thanks!