thebanishedone said:

Question goes:When you see Prince play guitar is it more or less interesting to you ?

It is my only interest in him, WC tour

Prince without guitar?

WHY?

That would break my heart.

His guitar play is intense and goes right trough me.

I do like him on the piano a lot.

However, there is nothing that's better than Prince playing guitar.

right now... i want guitar... raw, dirty guitar... the whole 4 piece band thing is a cool direction imo... if the latest let's go crazy clip is anything to go by, then things are looking good

I was gutted whe his guitar failed in Sydney last year during the outro to Lets Go Crazy, and then he went on with 1999 and LRC without it...although the performance itslef was saved I really find his guitar plaing the most appealing aspect of his live, if not all his music.

He's in his mid-fifties now, so you can't expect him to have the energy to move around the stage throughout the set like he used to. It's more about playing the guitar these days. He'll even play it himself during funk songs that he previously had others to provide the backing licks for.

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I think you're right about it not being as "special" anymore. PR / SOTT / Lovesexy had about the right balance.

novabrkr said:

He's in his mid-fifties now, so you can't expect him to have the energy to move around the stage throughout the set like he used to. It's more about playing the guitar these days. He'll even play it himself during funk songs that he previously had others to provide the backing licks for.

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I think you're right about it not being as "special" anymore. PR / SOTT / Lovesexy had about the right balance.

i think he can make it special... he just needs to take it to the next level... and really embrace being a guitar-centric band for a while

guitar is my only interest in him. I was originally excited with this 4 piece band but listening to the one show they have done already most of the guitar work seems to be by Donna. I hope Prince is not getting so lazy where he is not even going to play guitar much anymore. If he stops that its over for me.

I think he's more confident on guitar now than he was before.

But, I don't look at it as being more or less special.

To me, the issue isn't how awesome his guitar playing is--but, like Lotusflow3r, do the songs and performances sound anemic and begging for his to rescuie it with his guitar playing.

I´ve never been one to appreciate highly choreographed dance moves very much, and while I did enjoy the Parade tour tremendously, I much prefer him playing the guitar and piano instead of seeing him dance around, or call people on stage, or have a big band with three or four background singers and two dancers.

If it´s nothing but the guitar he´s playing then it can become a bit too much if it´s a two hour show but, mixed with some piano and percussion or drum playing, or keyboards, I´d say I never get tired of seeing him playing those instruments.

All I know is that I was really pissed the first night of last year's Chicago shows when the sound was crap and the guitar sounded terrible, so he hardly played it, and we got a sax solo during Purple Rain instead of guitar.

No, playing less guitar does not make it more special.

thebanishedone said:

Begining with 1985 Prince wanted to escape guitar hero status.He was spending more time dancing,goofing around the stage.In his concerts he played guitar just a little bit,ut was more like :Look i play guitar also.after 2000 Prince began to play guitar during whole concerts.So my Question goes:When you see Prince play guitar is it more or less interesting to you ?

Its more interesting when he plays guitar.

Even back then in the Parade era..I cringed at a lot of the dances and shennanegins going on ..its wa sa circus imo

I wanted to see mugs play, not run around....yeah it freed him up but I dont like seeing Prince do his 'bandleader' schtick..then and now..

I like to see him play

Serious music people thought he was a pop joke. Now, because of his guitar skills being showcased he is more respected.

I like the focus to be on the music as a whole.

My favorite albums have guitar, but guitar it's not the primary focus. My favorite performances of his (like Sign o the Times) have great guitar playing, but also great dancing, and moments of him playing keyboards, drums, and just messing about.

thebanishedone said:

Begining with 1985 Prince wanted to escape guitar hero status.He was spending more time dancing,goofing around the stage.In his concerts he played guitar just a little bit,ut was more like :Look i play guitar also.after 2000 Prince began to play guitar during whole concerts.So my Question goes:When you see Prince play guitar is it more or less interesting to you ?

I think prince was feeling more funky post purple rain and its a little hard to dance with the guitar. In the 2000s prince wanted to hide that he was getting older so he picked up the gutiar again so he wouldn't have to dance.

rdhull said:

thebanishedone said:

Begining with 1985 Prince wanted to escape guitar hero status.He was spending more time dancing,goofing around the stage.In his concerts he played guitar just a little bit,ut was more like :Look i play guitar also.after 2000 Prince began to play guitar during whole concerts.So my Question goes:When you see Prince play guitar is it more or less interesting to you ?

i agree with everything you said

Its more interesting when he plays guitar.

Even back then in the Parade era..I cringed at a lot of the dances and shennanegins going on ..its wa sa circus imo

I wanted to see mugs play, not run around....yeah it freed him up but I dont like seeing Prince do his 'bandleader' schtick..then and now..

I like to see him play

errant said:

errant said:

NDRU said:

Yes i agree, I think he's becoming more "standard" and far less exciting as a performer.. But, can the 80s ever be topped or repeated again (by a man in his mid 50's) ? I dont think so.

I watch the SOTT & PR & Parade era footage to see him when he was the all around badass musician dude.

These days i personally feel he's trying to update a Hendrix type vibe.. Which is cool but, Hendrix he will Never be.

When Prince isn't playing an instrument (guitar, bass, keys, etc) and is instead just singing and dancing, I get bored. Sure, I like the singing and the dancing is cool, but, the man is a genius musician and that's what keeps me interested.

So, no, less guitar does NOT make it more special.

In my not-so-humble opinion, of course...

EMPEROR101 said:

Yes i agree, I think he's becoming more "standard" and far less exciting as a performer.. But, can the 80s ever be topped or repeated again (by a man in his mid 50's) ? I dont think so.

I watch the SOTT & PR & Parade era footage to see him when he was the all around badass musician dude.

These days i personally feel he's trying to update a Hendrix type vibe.. Which is cool but, Hendrix he will Never be.

That's ultimately the problem. He's not really that good at guitar! He's very very good at guitar, but not really someone I want to listen to play solos all night. Not when he could be going a million other things just as well.

NDRU said:

thebanishedone said:

NDRU said:

That's ultimately the problem. He's not really that good at guitar! He's very very good at guitar, but not really someone I want to listen to play solos all night. Not when he could be going a million other things just as well.

So who are the players you can listen playing solos all night?I think Prince plays amazing guitar solos full of passion

well i don't know about NDRU but personally i prefer Hendrix, SRV, Blackmore and Gary Moore as lead players. Prince is excellent though, and not far behind.

I do love Prince's lead playing though, its just that in the rock-blues genre, there are some guys who were/are ahead. He's probably my favourite rhythm guitarist though.

I must say though, while i do like some lead players more, prince has come up with some very beautiful and melodic solos (when eye lay my hands on u, SAIMH) and some very exciting ones (live version of Fury, Let's Go crazy, Bambi etc).

Genesia said:

errant said:

All I know is that I was really pissed the first night of last year's Chicago shows when the sound was crap and the guitar sounded terrible, so he hardly played it, and we got a sax solo during Purple Rain instead of guitar.

No, playing less guitar does not make it more special.

Amen to that! The only thing that saved Chicago for me was seeing him play bass on Stratus at the HOB.

yeah, I didn't get to see that. then again, it probably wouldn't have saved it for me either because frankly, I can't give to shits about Stratus and usually skip to the next song of his when it comes up on a boot

Old Friends 4 Sale did kind of make up for it though. a little bit.

NDRU said:

EMPEROR101 said:

Yes i agree, I think he's becoming more "standard" and far less exciting as a performer.. But, can the 80s ever be topped or repeated again (by a man in his mid 50's) ? I dont think so.

I watch the SOTT & PR & Parade era footage to see him when he was the all around badass musician dude.

These days i personally feel he's trying to update a Hendrix type vibe.. Which is cool but, Hendrix he will Never be.

That's ultimately the problem. He's not really that good at guitar! He's very very good at guitar, but not really someone I want to listen to play solos all night. Not when he could be going a million other things just as well.

like what? and which one of them would be better to see than him doing guitar solos?

errant said:

NDRU said:

That's ultimately the problem. He's not really that good at guitar! He's very very good at guitar, but not really someone I want to listen to play solos all night. Not when he could be going a million other things just as well.

like what? and which one of them would be better to see than him doing guitar solos?

JIMI HENDRIX! & stevie ray vaughan to name two.

errant said: