Here's the somewhat-jumbled setlist - still kinda hazy:

Prince and the NPG
Fillmore West, San Francisco
Feb. 14 > 15, 2004
2 hours, 10 mins: 12:40 – 2:50 am

-Footprints (jazz instrumental)
-Shhhh
-DMSR
-Controversy
-House Party (AWESOME jam)
-GiGi (SxyRican) onstage dance
-NPG Instrumental Jam
-I Feel for You
-Musicology
-Hey Mr. Man
-Blackwell Solo
-777-9311 (with Prince vocal)
-Knock on Wood
-What is Hip?
-No Diggity (Chance)
-Sweet Thing
-Girls & Boys (full version)
-Mama Feelgood (Rad)
-Rollercoaster
-Brick House
-Skin Tight!
-Make Me Whole (Candy)
-The Love We Make
-Adore (full version, Prince on piano)
-Down By the Riverside

The day of the show, the entire Bay Area was abuzz. All the radio stations played Prince’s music or at least mentioned the event. Spare tickets fetched outrageous prices on Craig’s List, the local online message board & marketplace. Out in the streets, folks talked about the show in the neighborhoods around town, from the grungy Lower Haight to the vibrant corners of the Inner Sunset.

Rainy weather cleared up, sunshine came out, and lines formed outside the Fillmore early in the day. As the sun went down, the single-file line wrapped around the block. Bobby from the Dream Factory graciously passed out Valentine red roses to the first 150 ladies in line. The doors opened and NPGMC members were allowed to enter first, and given permission to cut in line if they showed up late.

Fillmore employees handed out candy Valentine hearts and small calling cards at the top of the entry stairs. The cards featured Prince’s picture on one side and the Fillmore “F” logo on the opposite side. People filed into the dance hall where ten chandeliers glowed purple. Japanese lanterns, Asian tapestries and tall potted plants decorated the stage.

The crowd was extremely happy, with lots of Valentine couples and groups of friends dancing, hugging and kissing each other. Bodies were loose and swaying – girls and boys, boys and boys, girls and girls. It was a love fest, San Francisco style: open-minded, groovy and free.

The sound inside the dance hall was super clean and hot. The DJ was bumpin’ and the Fillmore’s acoustics were great as always. Everyone had a look on their face like, “Oh yeahhhhh.” Bay NPG members screamed as Prince’s band members welcomed friends and family in the VIP balcony area, which was visible from the floor.

After a long wait, the band hit the stage with a mellow flourish. They started playing a jazzy tune called "Footprints" by Wayne Shorter (thanks for the ID, Spacey). Renato played outstanding piano and led the band. Prince came out in a red, black and purple suit – all three colors juxtaposed in different cuts of the garment. The crowd went wild, and Prince retreated to the side. “Chill,” he seemed to say, “we’re going to stretch out tonight.”

Prince came back to the center as the first song closed, and reached out for his new Fender Stratocaster. He strapped it on and the band exploded into “Shhhh.” It should be subtitled “Blackwell Unleashed,” because John was kicking like a bull in a rodeo stall. Prince wailed powerfully on his new Fender Strat, which was light blue, with a white pickguard and a maple neck. He peppered the song with a fusillade of stinging guitar licks. The sheer power and velocity of this song pinned my ears back.

Then Prince immediately tore into “DMSR” and all hell broke loose. He made a crazy face at the left portion of the NPGMC contingent. It was one of those faces I’ve only seen in pictures from the Parade Tour – the insane maniacal face with mouth squared and wide-open, with bottom teeth showing, eyes popping out, eyebrows lifted way up. The groove was as scary as Prince’s face. The hardcore fans reacted with frenzied jubilation.

I can’t testify with exact precision on the next part, because I lost my sh*t along with everyone else. But I can say it was a funk-gasm of “Controversy” and a new song, “House Party.” At some point Prince pulled Gigi (SxyRican) up on stage and let her have a funky solo spotlight dance. Gigi did a great job and then Prince pulled more folks on stage to join her, including a bald guy in a business suit.

“He musta been smokin’ that WEED I smelled up in here,” Prince said as the bald guy did his best combination of the Twist and Funky Chicken. Prince had a good time at his expense, but I have to commend the bald guy for being such a good sport. He never stopped grooving and Prince even gave him the microphone for one stanza – then quickly and comically snatched it back. Laughter bounced off the walls and the whole building was giggling and dancing.

Prince brought back the groove and whipped it into a frenzy. Then suddenly he called out "On the One" and stopped the band on a dime. At this point Prince announced, "I AM HERE," like a conquering warlord. He walked offstage as everyone in the house whooped and cheered.

The band sequed into an instrumental while Prince changed clothes, and I believe they launched into “I Feel For You” when he returned. Then Prince worked his way to the new tunes “Musicology” and “Hey Mr. Man.” “Musicology” has a great James-Brown groove. Somewhere around here, Blackwell kicked into his drum solo. Of course he was great. Rhonda started jamming with him on "777-9311," and Prince even did the vocal for a verse and a chorus.

A long list of cover tunes followed, and Prince used this as an opportunity to highlight various members of the band. "Knock on Wood" was relaxed and fun. "This is your jam, Bay Area!" Prince shouted as the band tore through the tight twists and turns of Oakland band Tower of Power's "What is Hip." Chance Howard did a great version of “No Diggity” – tighter and in better voice than his show-closer in LA last week. Prince displayed intricate finger-picking guitar skills on his Honer Telecaster for "Sweet Thing."

"Girls and Boys" broke up the cover set and it had a real swing to it. Asses were wigglin' all over the house. Next, Rad came out front for an fun, positive “Mama Feelgood.” “Rollercoaster,” “Brick House” and “Skin Tight” packed a triple-wallop of serious FUNK. It was like a rhythm and blues revue with extra funk sauce on top. Candy was passionate and beautiful singing “Make Me Whole” with more authority and confidence than she displayed in Vegas.

“The Love We Make” was an encore highlight, and Prince seemed more comfortable playing it here than he did at the first Vegas show. He relaxed into the song and hit the chord changes with authority, vs. his tentative approach in Vegas. During this song I saw Jenny Jen, one of my old SF friends who loves Jerry Garcia and Eric Clapton. I walked over to her and said, “Watch the solo on this song.” Sure enough, it was amazing, bleeding, shining, erupting like a volcano. This is the genius of Prince, to pull out an obscure song recorded in 1996, a song that wasn’t even played on the Emancipation tour, and turn it into a fireball of sound and fury.

The next encore “Adore” featured Prince on a keyboard that his crew had hastily assembled during the encore break. He sang this song beautifully in his full falsetto voice. It was a perfect choice for Valentine’s Night, and couples drew close to enjoy the song. Prince’s voice floated up, up, into the rafters and floated back down like a feather. “Old school in here tonight, huh?” Prince said with a smile. It was a great moment featuring one of his greatest songs.

“Down By the Riverside” closed the show in New-Orleans style marching and dancing. A perfect ending to a beautiful night. As the crowd filed out of the Fillmore, they received free posters commemorating the event, another Fillmore tradition. The posters were white and purple with Prince’s name across the front, and the “i” was dotted with a heart shape. Dazed and staggering, the crowd made its way into the new morning.

OK now it’s time for a nap before tonight’s show…I don’t know how it could be any better than this one, but I hear there may be a few surprises in store. ‘Til next time…
[This message was edited Sun Feb 15 17:21:28 2004 by Temptation]
[This message was edited Sun Feb 15 17:45:23 2004 by Temptation]
[This message was edited Mon Feb 16 4:35:22 2004 by Temptation]

Thanks for the Beautiful review.

Now THAT is a review!!!

will i get in trouble for saying this? this well could be prince's best band..EVER!!


this coming from a revolution freak..

That was a great review. I wish I was there with you guys in the Bay Area. Have fun tonight.

Temptation said:

HOUSEPARTY is most likely the FRED WESLEY tune HOUSEPARTY.

Maceo plays this tune a lot as well at his solo concerts.

Great review! Line set-up was totally cool - great, mellow vibe from npg members in line. Inside, "second row" center (standing) - I knew it was going to be great. I wish I had some of Temptation's knowledge and detail ahead of time to help me appreciate some of the guests and covered music.

Prince started at about 12:30am and, by my watch, finished at 3 am after a series of encore jams. I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't recognize some of the instrumental jams (what kind of an npg member am I!?), but I enjoyed myself just the same. I came away a little envious of tha L.A. setlist.

It was a terrific show, more of an afterparty-style jam than a standard concert. We had full-length jams on great songs. Highlight of the entire show came early for me - "Shhh!!!!!" I only wish I could pull it off again tonight.

Temptation U suck!!!!I can't believe that I'm not there with U!!! Sounds like U guys are having a blast!!! And Bobby-ever tha' player!!! Tell him I said aloha~~~I don't know how U kept track of that setlist-but U know we all appreciate it!! Hey, is houseparty suppose to be the new song Life of the party? Well I hope the second night is as great as the first night and I can't wait to hear all about it...Throw a bug in Prince's ear 2 come back over to Hawaii be4 freezing on his trip across country!!!Aloha bra!

wonderful review! Felt like I was there!

sosgemini said:

in trouble?

PEJ said:

No u'll not b in trouble cause ur right ! This band is his best !

jimipaisley said:

Without a doubt this band is trully amazing and the best he ever had...il me semble que le bon goût français est pour le coup indéniable

thanks for the review!

must have been a great evening!!!

looking forward to see prince in good old europe hopefully!

netzverwalter

netzverwalter said:

Oh yeah...hope the little man come back here in Europe very quickly...it's time 4 a big gig now

Thanks for the EXCELLENT review!

[b]Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! U made my toes curl up!! Can't wait to read your next report!!
BTW..did I say thank you??

Peace & Love!!

Excellent review! This is the best one I've read so far. Is Prince still changing the words to his songs?

Thanks for the splendid review.

My thought is that he is really preparing a world tour of some sort. I think the second show will feature more songs from Purple Rain, the song Sign O the Times, etc. It's like his two shows on Hawai, first show was like an aftershow setlist, the second like the main show.

Or will his next tour consist of two parts (like LoveSexy), one part focusing on the PR 20the Anniversary, the second on newer songs?... This is only speculation ofcourse, but couldn't it be possible?

It's nice to hear that he is no longer preaching, instead again acting funny and bold, and that he is moving and dancing again!

Can't wait for P to come to Belgium!!!!! ... and P, new album please (double, tripple,...), and Purple Rain remastered and re-issued, and...

jizzinparis said:

Oui tu as raison !

KICKASS review!!! I'm MAD that he sang some lyrics to "777" - I've NEVER seen him sing it! He usually just teases w/ the guitar part - DAYUM!!

I would have LOVED to hear "The Love We Make" - that's a GREAT song

Never heard him sing "Shhh" either WHY couldn't I have gotten tix to both nights???



.
[This message was edited Mon Feb 16 22:03:45 2004 by CalhounSq]