I just got back from the whole Detroit ordeal, and I was VERY pleased with the way things turned out! My brother and I arrived early for the soundcheck. Although we had to wait a bit, once inside we were able to get pretty close to the stage. Prince was very relaxed at the piano, alternately playing a few chords and saying a few things to the audience. After a bit, he launched into a bluesy version of "Paisley Park" which definitely pleased everyone! He let us sing the chorus, and seemed pleased with our elation. Afterward, he chatted with some of the NPGMC members for a bit, fielding a few questions. One clever person asked how many additional songs Prince had rehearsed with his band for this tour, and Prince replied that there were about 12 more songs that he hadn't performed previously. That was a wonderful question, whoever asked! Prince also said he might play some of them during the concert. He hugged a few people and seemed pretty relaxed.
After the thrilling 8) soundcheck, we were ushered out of the Opera House so that they could make the necessary final preparations for the show. After we entered the venue again, we headed to the items for sale. It seemed as if a few of the shirts present at Saginaw were not present at the show, which was disappointing because I had planned to buy one of the orange shirts there- . However, I did end up getting a "Prince" hat and "The Work" single. Shortly thereafter, we went to our seats. We were pleased to be seated next to some really cool ladies! The show soon started. Prince opened with "The Rainbow Children," "Muse 2 the Pharoah" and "Xenophobia" again, but the people around us wanted to remain seated and complained about my brother and I standing in front of them (we are tall fellows). We relented and sat, albeit unwillingly. One lady even was uppity enough to demand that my brother sit down because she had "paid $125 for her seat and I plan to use it" and "wasn't going to stand up the whole f***ing time." Another lady in front of us complianed that we were too loud and sardonically insinuated "I know it's your first Prince show" but insisted that we "didn't respect Prince" because we were singing along. Whatever- I've been to 11 concerts now and I've sung through every other one without complaint. After Prince launched into a funky version of "1+1+1 is 3" however, the crowd got to its feet and pretty much stayed that way throughout the show! I won't give a full setlist, because I will surely miss something, and I saw Dennis recording the whole setlist song by song and I'm sure he will post it soon! I will say that he did play "Pass the Peas" and the Santana medley, both of which were absent from the Saginaw show. After returning for the piano medley, things REALLY got cool- 8). The piano medley seemed much longer, including "Under the Cherry Moon" instrumental, "Venus de Milo" segment, a bit of "One Nite Alone" , "Nothing Compares 2 U," "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," segment, and a killer, funky version of "Girls and Boys." That was the first time I had seen that one live! He pulled some woman up on stage to sing along, and hearing how great her opera-style voice was, told her that "she wasn't going to steal his show!" At the end told her to sit down or "he would switch spots with her!" Another highlight was again being taught that the opposite of NATO is Prince- and a point when a girl was on stage to dance (I don't remember the song that was playing, perhaps 1+1+1 is 3) kept following Prince around as he moved from keyboard to the microphone. He feigned a little fear and asked for security to handle it! It was also great to hear Prince say that when he gets bored of the new music on the radio, "he makes his own." I thought that was a very telling, poignant statement about Prince's place in the realm of modern music. Again, the highlight of the show was hearing "Anna Stesia" as that song continues to baffle and overwhelm me with every listen. The second segment of the song featured Prince at the microphone delivering his sermon! He informed us that there is one God and that no matter what we call Him, we could come together to sing that "Love is God, God is love, Girls and boys love God above." He also encouraged us to give money to the homeless people as we are Rainbow Children, which he clarified had nothing to do with race. All in all, the show seemed tight again- the band was simply awe-inspiring. It also seemed a bit longer, particularly the piano medley. Prince definitely wanted to treat his Detroit fans to quite a show, and I for one am quite grateful!
Another highlight was definitely meeting people there. I ran into Tim from the Detroit Crawl again, who amazingly remembered me from the June 2001 Detroit show! I also was pleased to see "the1andonly1" and his friend Vicki, with whom I had the pleasure of sharing the concert experience at that Detroit show- we all got on stage! I ran into another girl who recognized me from that show (do I stand out that much?) and I got to meet the wonderfully stylish CamilleStarr and her cool companion BeautifulStrange from our very own prince.org! It was wonderful to see/meet all of you!
Shortly after the concert, it was announced that the official afterparty would be held at the Envy. After arriving, it became clear that the club had its own motives...firstly, those of us with laminates formed a separate line, but those without the laminate were let in concurrently. In fact, their line was empty before those of us with laminates were allowed to enter. Furthermore, I for one was confused by the policy with the laminates. It didn't make much sense to me that I was allowed to take my brother as a guest for the soundcheck, but those guest privileges were not valid for entrance to the afterparty. My brother therefore had to fork over the $20 to get in, much to my disappointment. I don't blame Prince for this- it seemed that the club had its own agenda- an avaricious one. The accommodations within the club were not overtly impressive- it was crowded and cramped because the walkway from the entrance to the dancefloor was quite thin. Furthermore, the dance floor itself seemed rather small. However, people seemed to be having a good time, which was important. I left in a little bit, unfortunately not being able to dance with CamilleStarr and crew as I had hoped. However, I had a great time and it undoubtedly was the strangest Prince experience I have encountered yet, having to deal with uppity and demanding fans while also meeting and running into some great people. Thanks to Prince for giving us another great show, and thanks to all of you out there who pleasantly surprised me by running into me!

i just got home and all i can say is thanx to dan and wow what a show still jammin TRC. what a gr8 night could just feel the love coming off the stage . now if i can just come down so i could fall asleep .

Can't wait for Prince to hit Los Angeles. I just hope he'll perform with the same energy and enthusiasm as he has been doing as described in these posts; it's a known fact that Prince gets easily bored and might start changing things around and I won't hear the same songs that you have been raving about. I don't understand why his tours hits Los Angeles in the latter part of the leg. Is that why his fan base here is dwindling because he doesn't have much love for Los Angeles? I hope he reads this. Last year, I have to go to San Diego to watch his Hit n' Run tour and couldn't make it in the smaller Hollywood Palladium venue.

um, did I say that the Santana medley was absent from the Saginaw show? He did play that in Saginaw... I did...yup, I'm losing my mind

Have just returned from the Detroit Show. This will be brief and somewhat personal (and long over due) but from the heart.
I have been extremely ill but nothing was going to keep me from this show! The night left me Spiritually nourished, mentally challenged and musically STUNNED!!!!!

Thank you Sally

Thank you Nathan

Thank you Prince

and Thank you God

That's all ~ but if there is any way at all you can see this show GO!!!!!
(yes,Ian you are VERY memorable to those who know you ~ thank you for the hug!!!!) (and Dr. Groove ~ it was a pleasure!!!!!)

did they ask 2 see yer ticket at the soundcheck?

bigbarcey said:

Not me...you may have been able to see it!

u gotta b shittin me, i missed the saginaw show, and i have an exam tomorrow so theres no way i coulda made it tonight

bigbarcey said:

i missed the soundcheck, not the shoe

Moonbeam, did you catch Prince's performance at the afterparty?

It seems these after parties are really worth the hassle, I hope when he comes back home he has the after party at the Park.
MS

all this reports sound sooo great... cool that you all have such a great time!

BTW, it took me longer to read " awe-inspiring " than the rest of the report!

SaxJedi, Prince didn't do an aftershow in Detroit but on the other Detroit thread someone joked that he did, so that's been misleading people. Ya didn't miss anything there.

calldapplwondery83 said:

lolz.

Who in the hell were these "uppity" people?!
Since when did it become a no-no to stand up, dance & sing-along at a concert?
Were these people there to watch a play?!

XtrueX said:

That was what we were saying as well- it may have taken place in an opera house, but it was no opera! Prince even said, "We're in an opera house, but this ain't no opera!" He also encouraged us to "get out of our seat" and at one point dared us to "sit down for this one." It seemed like people got the picture after the encouragement though!

What if prince was to perform inebriated? Just a shot-in-the-dark.

When I went to a concert in MD back in 1998, A few people asked me to sit down too. I just ignored them and stood the whole show. What really pissed me off was the fact that they sat, like a bump on a log for the whole show. How can you sit down during a Prince Concert?!!! Well, I'm not sitting so if you're their and you're behind me and can't see. STAND YO ASS UP!!!

Peace

I hate people using smilies. Its childish. If you write a positive comment why do you feel the need to punctuate it with a little smiling face?

funkyfine said:

cuz it's cute, dammit. but seriously....

I'm very happy 2 hear this review. Colorful!

The plea 2 help the homeless is Onederful 2 hear that the RAINBOW CHILDREN HAS NOTHING 2 DO WITH RACE. YES - WE ALL NEED 2 HEAR THIS. Any how, instead of having a garage sale - give your clothes 2 to shelters, they really need them. Children live at these shelters 2! They need clothes, shoes, household items, etc. That's the way 2 go.If u can't give money - u can give things u don't want anymore - it is amazing how they can be of use to others.

Very nice review! 2 happy!

CherryMoon said:

U are the only one that got it I all most got into a couple of fights about that sit down shit, one guy saz I know all of his stuff too !could u please sit down I told him hell no I paid not only for the seat but also for the spot I'm standing in "HELLO" and he did'nt even know A CASE OF U he asked what album is that from I just looked at him.....(LOL)

It's weird that people would not only challenge you about enjoying yourself at a concert but then punctuate it with a "who's been a Prince fan longer" snooty-ass comment!
Sometimes I really do think that people are beamed down from another planet just to mess with our heads.

RICCO-----

You need to sport your stuff in MN!!!

In 1993 I saw Prince front row in Richmond, VA. I was 7-months preg. and had to tell people, "You are at a Prince Concert!!! Get on your feet!!" I couldn't believe it! 4 or 5 songs in and people were sitting down in the first 10 rows---Sick and Wrong---

Anyway, I did eventually have to sit down, an hour and a half later (and only for a few minutes).

Can't wait to have "One Nite Alone" myself. Thanks for the report!

Peace & B Wild

TruthBTold said:

let the TRUTH BE TOLD I'm thinking about moving there!!!!!

XtrueX said:

ain't it the TRUTH remember we must be GOD-like ,it get's hard sometimes, it's comes out in the wash in Time...I heard that somewhere LOL

Ricco,
I checked out the jacket on your profile. Wow, your talent is incredible! If you don't mind me asking, how much do you charge to airbrush a jacket?
Anybody out there who hasn't seen the jacket picture at Ricco's profile, you must go see it NOW! Go. Now. I mean it!

Wonderful jacket ! You know what comes next .....I want woone

Saffireseven said:

HI i have one of Ricco's coats and i love it Prince was joking to us at the sound check about all of us who had one owe's him, we asked what did he want ..... his reply was he had to get one. NOW i ask how are we suppose to get Ricco down out of the clouds after that soundcheck?