Prince @ Bryant Park 4 Good Morning America 6.16.2006

America I've Come 2 Play with U
Good Morning Show June 16, 2006pt1

with Sheila E. on percussion & Maceo Parker on sax

Bryant Park for Good Morning America on Friday Morning June 16, 2006

1. GET ON THE BOAT 2. REDHEAD STEPCHILD 3. LET'S GO CRAZY




























[Edited 8/12/09 16:03pm]

he deffo looks like he's not a morning person

Good Morning Show June 22, 2006pt2












http://edshugeo.com/labels/Prince.htm

If you watched Good Morning America yesterday morning, you know Prince showed up to do three songs live. I heard about it a little in advance, thanks to Housequake.com as well as an email from Prince's NPG Music Club (I'm a member). I initially wasn't gonna go, but changed my mind last week. I had to arrange with a co-worker to switch our schedule a little so, I could come in a little late.

I knew I'd be on line for a while and would need some extra content and power for my PSP. There was also the train ride both ways from Hempstead to NYC, as well as the commute to and from work and breaks in between. So I got an extra memory stick (2 gig) from eBay. I wanted to wait for the price to come down a bit on the 4 gig, but that won't happen to any great degree untill the 8 Gb one comes out at the end of the year. Then I'll want to wait to get that one. I also got an extra battery from Game Stop at the Roosevelt Field Mall to be safe.

For music, I listened to David Bowie's Diamond Dogs, Eagles Of Death Metal's Death By Sexy, Feist's Let It Die, Saul Williams' self titled second album, and Transmutations by Praxis. These while walking or on the subway.

While on the LIRR, I either played K.E.T.M. (Kill Everything That Moves) or watched episodes of Romance Of The Three Kingdoms. The video game came in handy whenever I got drowsy. I'd only had three hours sleep, in part because I had to work the night before.

I'd left home about 4:30am to catch the 5:01 train to New York. Got there a little before six. I could'a walked to Bryant Park. I knew it was near the NY Public Library, and I had a vague idea where it was, so it wasn't too far from Penn Station, but I had subway directions from Housequake, so I figured why waste time.

When I got off the train at Penn, I went to the closest subway platform, since every train there stops at 42 st. I don't remember if it was the A, C, or the E, but it was the express. I didn't need the express, obviously (I was going to the next stop), but I was there, so I didn't care. So I waited, and waited, while train after uptown bound trains stopped and passed on the platform across from me. I stayed put, cuz I knew the minute I crossed over, the train would come to the platform I'd been waiting on all along.

Approximately 30 minutes later, I crossed over (going down one set of stairs and coming up another, and sure enough, here comes a train, and where was it going? I need say no more. I managed to cross back over in time got on and got to 42nd. From there I walked a little to the 7 train and got on. I realized I hadn't checked which direction I was going in and convinced myself I'd gotten on the wrong train (happens to me a lot). One stop later I was at Bryant Park and everything was cool.

Out of the train station, and right away I see people lined up. I thought I'd read that they start to let people in at 5am. It wasn't far from 7 at this point. I head towards the end of the queue and stare at disbelief at all of the people there. I'd been on long Prince lines before, but the term, "line around the block" takes a new meaning when the block contains a public park like this (it's no Central Park, but still) and the huge New York Public Library. And people weren't lined up single file either.

I occuppy myself watching Three Kingdoms and I notice the line start to move. Around 7:30-ish, I hear the sound of "Get On The Boat" being played. "Crap! They're starting early." I expected the mini-show to start at 8:30. It turns out, what we're hearing is just a sound check. Still, it sounded pretty good and a decent indicator of what was to come. As I get closer to the entrance, I see someone is passing out little bottles of flavored water (fruit 2O) from a cooler, so I take one and put it in one of my lower pockets (I was wearing cargo pants, I think that's what they're called) for later. On my way to the 7 train, I bought a Snapple which I'd finished just after getting on line.

Once in the park, things seemed a bit more open, and less crowded, unless you counted the area near the front of the stage which was closed off. Regular viewers of the show may be aware that emailing them in advance may get them VIP tickets to that area. Didn't know that myself till the day or so before the event. No biggie.

Throughout the wait we keep hearing bits of Get On The Boat played by parts of the band, but sounding pretty full. During the soundchecks, the stage is covered by these large black partitions. You could hear cheers from the audience from the front. I wasn't sure at the time if they were in front of the partitions or behind them with the band. They were in front.

I mentioned once that Get On The Boat was one of the better songs on Prince's new album, but I was getting to the point of being tired of hearing it.

The show begins at around 8:30 with Get On The Boat. I'm not tall, so I have to be on my tippy-toes to glance at the onstage action. Prince in blue, playing guitar and singing on the left side of the stage. Tamar and The Twinz do their background dancer/singer things. While I'm not crazy about dancers on stage, I thought they looked good up there. Perhaps there's a different effect live, than when watching this sort of thing on TV. Unfortunately, the music wasn't as loud as I would've liked. Somebody next to me suggested it had to do with where we was positioned, but I doubt it, reading other reports on the show. The guy also noticed that Prince didn't have any extra guitar players with him. I prefer it that way. It has him playing more and dancing less. Not that crazy about Prince, the dancer either. At his age, it appears, neither is he, anymore. Good for Prince I say.

The next was a rocker, sung by Tamar, with Prince on guitar. I've read that this one was called Red Headed Step Child. Couldn't hear the vocals well enough to know it one way or another, but the band sounded good. I'm looking forward to her album, whenever it comes out. A woman near me says "Less Tamar, more Prince." I laugh in agreement, if only because I know they'll likely only be three songs performed here (there was hope for more...).

The last was an abridged Let's Go Crazy. Not much as far as the lyrics were concerned, but lots of guitar. When it was over, the announcer on stage said something that kinda indicated there might be a little more. I forget exactly what, but I wasn't the only one who was fooled. No encore.

Was it worth it for only three songs? Hell yeah! Would I do it again? I dunno. Maybe.

polkadotbliss said:

he deffo looks like he's not a morning person

I was there that day and man that was a lot of fun. I wish P had done more songs after the show ended but the sound was terrible so I think that messed up what could have been an even better show and it was good as it was. It was amazing to see all the people who came out to see him that day. The place was PACKED. I was truly proud to be a New York Prince fan.

Prince.org is a cemetery where folks mourn Prince instead of celebrate him and his music. Last time I checked, Prince isn't dead yet.

I was there for this one. We all hoped he'd stick around and do more songs but it didn't happen. It's 50/50 with his morning show appearances. When he did the Today Show with Larry Graham & Chaka Khan they hung out and jammed for about another hour after the cameras stopped rolling. The Bryant Park show was great though and I got to run into some people I went to high school with and made a new friend on the line(much love to Keema) who got me up close to the stage. I'll always go to these outdoors gigs if Prince keeps doing them. I actuall have all of the morning show appearances on video and even saw myself when he did "Dinner With Delores" at the Today Show.

I wonder why he used Orange amps and cabs during this performance. Unusual for Prince.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Prince.org is a cemetery where folks mourn Prince instead of celebrate him and his music. Last time I checked, Prince isn't dead yet.

Prince is ALWAYS LOVING GORGEOUS AND SEXY i LOVE Prince.

wasn't at all impressed.

what a great day it was !!! and BUTTER after



Prince directly in front of me singing JOY IN REPETITION ! Priceless !

I was there... I have great memories from that morning!

trickster said:

polkadotbliss said:

he deffo looks like he's not a morning person

you are so right!!!!!

"...She's got electric boots, a mohair suit- You know I read it in a magazine ..." {Bennie & the Jets}

chocolate1 said:

I was there... I have great memories from that morning!

trickster said:

you are so right!!!!!

They had been up all night because they played in Brooklyn's Prospect Park with Maceo and then came straight here to set up. It had been a long night & morning...

Prince use to have balls....now he has religion. - Nothinbutjoy

errant said:

Great morning!

I liked it, but I could have done without Tamar and those twinz

I remember watching that performance. I liked it.

That's my Party Up! sign. It was featured on the home page of NPG Music Club.

R.I.P. Housequake.com

"Your presence and dry wit are appealing in a mysterious way."

DevotedPuppy said:

That's my Party Up! sign. It was featured on the home page of NPG Music Club.

purplecam said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I'd left home about 4:30am to catch the 5:01 train to New York. Got there a little before six. I could'a walked to Bryant Park. I knew it was near the NY Public Library, and I had a vague idea where it was, so it wasn't too far from Penn Station, but I had subway directions from Housequake, so I figured why waste time.

When I got off the train at Penn, I went to the closest subway platform, since every train there stops at 42 st. I don't remember if it was the A, C, or the E, but it was the express. I didn't need the express, obviously (I was going to the next stop), but I was there, so I didn't care. So I waited, and waited, while train after uptown bound trains stopped and passed on the platform across from me. I stayed put, cuz I knew the minute I crossed over, the train would come to the platform I'd been waiting on all along.

Approximately 30 minutes later, I crossed over (going down one set of stairs and coming up another, and sure enough, here comes a train, and where was it going? I need say no more. I managed to cross back over in time got on and got to 42nd. From there I walked a little to the 7 train and got on. I realized I hadn't checked which direction I was going in and convinced myself I'd gotten on the wrong train (happens to me a lot). One stop later I was at Bryant Park and everything was cool.

I was the one who had posted subway directions on Housequake that week. I had gone around Bryant Park earlier that week and took a picture of the subway stop at the park, 42nd St-Bryant Park on the B, D, F, V and 7 trains. There are plenty of other trains around there but I didn't want to confuse people who were new to NY and have them walk 3 blocks from Grand Central and they were at the East River and not Bryant Park. It's cool to see that people really did follow my directions back then!

I was Purplebomb on HQ.
[Edited 8/11/09 12:43pm]

"...She's got electric boots, a mohair suit- You know I read it in a magazine ..." {Bennie & the Jets}

DevotedPuppy said:

That's my Party Up! sign. It was featured on the home page of NPG Music Club.

Edmonton, AB - - If you're happy and you know it your hands, if you're happy and you know it do a

It was all about being there! That was me, dead center on the bottom with my mouth cut-off...guess I was speechless (LOL) in that Purple Party Mix.

chocolate1 said:

purplecam said:

I was the one who had posted subway directions on Housequake that week. I had gone around Bryant Park earlier that week and took a picture of the subway stop at the park, 42nd St-Bryant Park on the B, D, F, V and 7 trains. There are plenty of other trains around there but I didn't want to confuse people who were new to NY and have them walk 3 blocks from Grand Central and they were at the East River and not Bryant Park. It's cool to see that people really did follow my directions back then!

I was Purplebomb on HQ.
[Edited 8/11/09 12:43pm]

Hey Cam, isn't that U on the bottom right of DP's pic?

Prince.org is a cemetery where folks mourn Prince instead of celebrate him and his music. Last time I checked, Prince isn't dead yet.

purplecam said:

chocolate1 said:

Hey Cam, isn't that U on the bottom right of DP's pic?

It sure is! I'm the black guy with the blue plaid shirt in the bottom right hand corner. It looks like I'm praying and there's a cell phone over my head. It was too funny seeing my mug on the pages of NPGMC. A few people called me that night saying they saw me. I even saw myself on Good Morning America later that day. Damn that was a great morning.

Oh and OF4S, you got the date wrong. It was on June 16th, 2006.

:lookingforwherethehellIsteppedoutthetimemachine:

seriously tho, I missed it
[Edited 8/12/09 16:14pm]