A home to kings, the Palace belonged to Prince this night.

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Thread started 06/21/04 9:57am

jseven

A home to kings, the Palace belonged to Prince this night.

http://www.mlive.com/ente...129570.xml

A home to kings, The Palace belonged to Prince this night
Review
AUBURN HILLS
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Monday, June 21, 2004
By Doug Pullen
dpullen@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6140
AUBURN HILLS - The confetti has been flying at The Palace lately.

It flowed Tuesday, when the Detroit Pistons put away the Los Angeles Lakers for their first NBA championship in 14 years. There was the rally in honor of the team Thursday, and on Sunday - Father's Day and the last day of spring - the stuff filled up the air two songs into the first of Prince's two-night stand there.

The song, appropriately, was "Let's Go Crazy," one of more than two dozen hits and obscurities that filled a more than two-hour lovefest between the artist and his near-capacity audience. It was the first of four planned appearances by The Purple One in Motor City (he's at The Palace again tonight, Joe Louis Arena on July 30 and The Palace again July 31, a show that goes on sale Saturday).

Though Prince's current career revival has been questionably labeled a comeback, it has been a kind of return to the throne that started with a rousing appearance (with Beyonce) on the Grammys, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (including a searing guitar solo on an all-star version of the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps") and his first hit album, "Musicology" (free copies of which were handed out at the door Sunday night), in years.

Just as surely as the Pistons were crowned the kings of pro basketball, Prince's return to the city that embraced him long before "Purple Rain" served as a sort of coronation, too, a not-so-subtle reminder that he isn't about to give up his crown as one of pop music's most prolific, pre-eminent - and, not to mention - funkiest artists.

Prince reminded the enthusiastic crowd of those long ties, recalling Mojo, the legendary Detroit disc jockey who helped break Prince in this area, and donning the No. 22 jersey of - who else? - Piston Tayshaun Prince (whose arms are about as long as Prince is tall) for most of the show's second half.

The Pistons were underdogs but used dogged determination and selfless teamwork to become champion. Prince is one of a kind, a one-man studio band who relies on the superior musicianship of the instrumentalists who make up his ever-evolving New Power Generation band. Now numbering nine members, it includes a four-piece horn section anchored by former James Brown sax man Maceo Parker and the versatile singer-saxophonist Candy Dulfer.

They have become a tight team themselves, a close-knit collective that's right in the pocket with the once and future Prince, whose penchant for cutting and pasting parts of different songs together, which he did most effectively Sunday with "Controversy" and "Love Bizarre," can be a challenge for any musician.

He maintains an air of spontaneity that allows the audience to hear the songs they paid their $77.50 for while giving him and the band the opportunity to jam, or, as he put it so eloquently Sunday, "I told you we came to jam."

Did they, through an explosive medley of "Purple Rain" hits (including "I Would Die 4 U" and "When Doves Cry," but not the lascivious "Darling Nikki," dropped since he became a Jehovah's Witness), songs that continue to reveal new shades in the hands of this crack unit, making one wonder if he'll truly abandon them after this tour, as he has said he will.

It was also nice to see him play guitar exclusively, something he hasn't favored nearly as much as keyboards in recent years. A solo acoustic segment, accompanying himself on a purple guitar, offered up refreshingly intimate versions of favorites such as "Little Red Corvette" and "Raspberry Beret," which were met with boisterous backing vocals from the big crowd.

The breather, coupled with less-inspired song choices, sucked some of the life out of the show's final third.

But it didn't matter.

Prince had proved once again that he is one of rock's true masters, a prince of a guy and a king of the funk who is finally comfortable in his skin, comfortable with his legacy and intent on extending it.

***

Silence Speaks A Thousand Words.

dreamfactory31 3	AWESOME
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jn2	Thanks for the pic!
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ELBOOGY	Oh, i will b at the the July 30th show at Joe Louis baby yeeeees! So all u Dtroit Crawl peeps will get a little taste of the Nasy Nati's Funkiest! U,ME,WE!....2FUNKY!
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TheMax	Here we go, the he ain't playing "Darling Nikki" reference again.... "When they tell me 2 walk a straight line, I put on crooked shoes"
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lilmexjlo	WTF???? GO LAKERS!!!!!
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