I must admit, I was very leary of how this concert was gonna be considering I'm not a big fan of TRC, and also because I was bringing a friend along who knew very little of Prince's music beyond his hits.

We threw all those worries out the door when Prince hit the stage. His performance in Cleveland was one of the tightest and most enthusiastic I've seen in years!

I had renewed my NPG membership the night before the concert and was told that there was no guarantee that my name would be on the list when I got there because the list for that show had already been submitted. I brought along my confirmation email and kept my fingers crossed. After getting searched, I proceeded to (Billy Sparks?) who only asked to look at my tickets, then asked me where I was from (youngstown) and then handed me my pass. Everything went real smooth. After that we darted towards the stage in a state of delerium considering what was about to happen. We sat down 3 rows from the stage looking around at all the performers as I mentioned "I wonder when Prince is gonna show up". My friend quickly replied, "He's right there! at the piano!". I was in shock as I noticed him sitting there all low-key with a white skully on playin around with his keyboard.

The rehersal went on for a little over an hour. In addition to what was mentioned in the other posts about cleveland, Prince at one point asked if any of us play any instruments. Someone said they play tambourine. Prince joked about what if you were a professional tambourine player, then remarked something like "give him a solo!". LOL. I gathered up a slight amount of courage to ask Prince "Are any new songs going to be added to the set?" to which he simply replied with a stare. Then someone elaborated on the question asking if it was gonna be like the Columbus show. Prince replied "It's gonna be BETTER than the Columbus show." Several people made remarks about giving us all free tambourines and other stuff, but Prince kept flashing his empty pockets.

If there was any regrets of him not performing hits like "When Doves Cry" and "Lets Go Crazy" it was probabbly because the few older songs he did do were so freaking amazing, it made us all want more. His versions of Take Me With You, When You Were Mine, and Rasberry Beret were the best I've heard in a long time. Love Rollercoaster was one of the highlights of the evening, the crowd went nuts.

The Abe Lincoln song was kinda hokey, I think the experience would have been better if he just would of spoke what he has to say about him rather than try to sing it out. It sounded awkward.

In the middle of the concert, Prince spotted some woman in the front row who was chowin down on a chocolate sundae. He stopped in the middle of one of his numbers and told the guy next to her to "pick your girlfriend up!". Then he looked at her and said "Are ya with us?....good. we can continue now." I laughed my a$$ off.

Then later in the show he brought another guy up to play the cowbell and did a duet with him (guitar and cowbell). The guy was trying his damdest to stay in sync with the song. And Prince was trying his damdest to keep up with the guys beat, which kept changing. It was hilarious!

OHH! one last thing about the rehersal. For some godforasken reason, the guy behind me kept falling asleep and SNORING LOUD! My friend and I looked at eachother trying so hard not to laugh. Maybe the smooth jazz stuff Prince and his band were practicing knocked him out. The rest of us were in a trance.

How many were at the sound check?

- Matt

MatthewCho said:

Hmm, the 1st 4 or 5 rows towards the center were filled. No more than 50 perhaps.

MatthewCho said:

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