I just wrote 2 reviews of both concerts and prince.org ate them both, so I'm gonna have to post this review one paragraph at a time, let's see if that works.

Yeah I know I owe Prince an apology. Prince is still the best musician, singer/songwriter, perrformer, and electric guitar player to rock the stage. The Jersey concert was the first time I had ever been able to score floor seats anywhere close to the stage thanks to Mike Smith and the great staff at the Meadowlands, they accomodate the disabled. Anyway, highlights of the show for me were:
The Question Of U (1st time ever live, excellent guitar)
I Feel For You
A Love Bizarre
Sign Of The Times
Life Of The Party (hot babes onstage!
U Got The Look
Adore!
Shhh..... (John Blackwell is incredible, he may be Prince's best drummer yet! Look for his solos on this one, awesome!)

Controversy
Let's Work
Alphabet St.
Red Corvette
Prince & the Band (Very interesting new song, however it's uncool of him to still take shots at Warner Bros., everybody knows he is in high-level negotiations with them, I mean how could he not be, it's the 20th Anniversary Purple Rain DVD! Doesn't he stand to make millions off of this deal even if he doesn't incorporate his input? And what if he does bury the hatchet with Mr. Warner? Knowing Prince, what he must have from the cutting room floor in his vault from the recordings of 'Purple Rain' must be incredible! How about the 20 min. live version of 'Computer Blue'? Does it exist on video? A question only Prince himself can answer. Hmmmm.....)

Take Me With U (a girl that was pulled on stage with Prince had a chance to sing and forgot the lyrics! It was hysterical, Prince was like 'Somebody come get your daughter off the stage!', I saw the girl afterwards and was like 'u better get your purple rain on', another dude was like 'yeah, there's no excuse to forget the words to take me with u'!)
Purple Rain (I won't spoil the encore, I will say it was awesome)
I was surprised I didn't see the Sopranos in the audience! I was so close when he was doing the solo on the purple symbol guitar 'habibi' at one pont he was right in front of our faces! I must say hi to Scott and his girl who sat with us in the handicapped section on the floor, his 1st Prince concert, I know he had a blast! Bruce defintely got some competition in Jersey now, Prince rocked that place!
Prince and the NPG
Continental Arena, NJ
Excellent
*****

On To Hartford yall!!!! (that's right I am crazy, I went to 2 Prince concerts!)

FrankieDJ said:

Yes that was crazy when that crazy women didnt know the lyrics. You were close Im jeolous. I am trying to get floor tix. at the Colliseum in long island NY.

Hartford was pretty much the same setlist that's already been posted for Jersey except for a couple of real gems that I can't believe I got to see:
I Love U In Me (from B-Sides I think, at first I couldn't place it because it was a different acoustic version, but once he got to the chorus I was blown away! That is one thing that I love about Prince and the other artists I like is that they play rarities!)
What A Wonderful World (my late dad loved jazz, especially sacchimo. thanks maceo)
1st Encore: Whole Lotta Love. Prince's blistering attack on Led Zeppelin's classic was truly phenomenal, but I must talk about John Blackwell now. I believe he shares Prince's talent in how they can just hold the whole crowd in the palm of their hand! Friday night in Jersey right from the gitgo I was thinking how his style of playing reminded me of John Bonham's, and it seemed like he knew Bonzo's entire solo! I'm a big Zeppelin fan from way back also so I thought that was very cool. And to give these incredible inspired performances after what just happened to him is amazing. I just lost my poppy who I loved dearly in January, I know that is not the same as losing your kid but I still feel the pain he feels of losing someone you love. You go John Blackwell, one of the best drummers I've seen.

I've had a real incredible summer, these are some of the shows I saw:
The Who
Fleetwood Mac
Simon & Garfunkel
Eric Clapton
Sting/Annie Lennox
Rod Stewart
And they were all awesome, and I know those were all top tickets, and Prince and the NPG topped them all! Even the WHO-> and that's my favorite band of all time! Prince's show is tight. Even the unplugged set is brilliant. My good friend Rob Myers who's been really sick lately and his wife Carmen, even they made it to the Prince concert last night and they had a wonderful time as well, their 1st Prince concert and they said they loved it, thanks again Prince for them. My buddies Jimmy and Raul as well who also were there, big ups. I wish I went to the Garden now, Prince was great but Hartford Civic Center is horrible.

The merchandise was really excellent! I got a purple Prince t-shirt with the 1999 album cover logo, sweet! Also a retro 'Prince and the Revolution' Raspberry Beret shirt for my angel of a wife Jane, who keeps me alive every day and gets me to all these concerts, she loves Prince too! I also copped 'Days Of Wild' cd and the tourbook, everything was pretty reasonable. Prince I take back everything I said, you rock dude!
Prince and the NPG
Hartford Civic Center
Excellent
*****

prchick11 said:

I hate Nassau Coliseum myself, it's not really good for the disabled. I might go to the Fleet Center in Boston now if I can, that's how awesome Prince was! I'm joinin' the club! Oh and that was the first time I saw him play that 'habibi' guitar, it was off the hook! And big uppin' Eugene 420 for that setlist of Jersey, helped me write the review!

One more thing I forgot to mention, the Prince "Musicology" CD that was given to every ticketholder is so cool, it's not like the one in stores! It's like an album cover style slipcase. I'm pretty sure it's a collectors item, I had the regular CD that came with the booklet and I thought the packaging was cheesy, but I love the giveaway version, and the cd is really starting to grow on me in about 17 Days!

FrankieDJ,

This is the first I've heard about the "1999" and "Raspberry Beret" t-shirts. How much were they and what does the "Raspberry Beret" one look like? Other shirt styles?

I'll be at the Houston show on August 7th and I want to know how much $$$ I'll need...

Thanks!

bruiserrules67 said:

OK, the 1999 one costs 35 bucks, it is completely purple, it says PRINCE across the front same as the 1999 album cover, on the back it says Musicology Tour 2004ever! On the white shirt it says 'PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION' on the front same as the logo on the 'Around The World In A Day' album cover, the design is wild, Actually it's a combo of the various DJ 12 inches from that album:
Raspberry Beret
Pop Life
Paisley Park
America
The back is blank, it was a steal for 20 bucks, I bought 2! Another shirt I saw had the PRINCE logo from the 'Sign Of The Times' album cover, the rest of the shirts varied with pictures of Prince on the front. I also saw a poster of Prince and the NPG was 10 bucks, it was nice but the same picture was in the program, get the program instead! Have a great show and I hope Prince plays 'Bambi' at your concert! Peace.

FrankieDJ said:

One other shirt I saw in Jersey was completely white with a pointy collar, it said 'YES' on the back from the Lovesexy album cover, Prince and Musicology on the sleeves, it was real fancy. I would guess about 70 bucks. It is nice tho.

FrankieDJ said:

Purple Rain was also the encore in Hartford, I forgot to mention in my review. It was so awesome!

FrankieDJ said:

\

One last thing about Hartford Civic Center, and I hope Prince reads this. The day I bought the tickets in Hartford, the woman at the disabled ticket window was so disrespectful to me, I was like 'I represent 6 wheelchairs' and she wouldn't sell me the tickets, the 1st day they went onsale! I had to curse at her for a half hour, I even called Madison Square Garden, my favorite place! She finally sold me the tickets after a lot of disrespect.

FrankieDJ said:

Then at the concert Sat. nite, during 'Take Me With U' I moved my wheelchair to see Prince better and was rudely told by the usher in 119 to go back to my seat! Then my wife gets up to dance and pushed her chair back, the usher made a snotty remark to my wife, then during the encore of 'Purple Rain' the same usher allowed a gang of ambulatory people to hover over me, my wife and my disabled friends during Prince's entire encore!

FrankieDJ said:

Hartford Civic Center DOES NOT accomodate the disabled properly! I would sue them, by they are managed by my favorite place, Madison Square Garden, so they skate, but I'm never going there again even if it's Prince. If Prince and the NPG ever comes to Connecticut again, I hope he plays Oakdale instead like he did in '97, at least that venue has a little class and treats the disabled with more respect. Peace.

FrankieDJ said:

I forgot to mention, the 'Musicology' cd given away at the concert doesn't have the DVD-ROM content that the store version has, when you pop the store version in your computer you can watch the 'Musicology' video! However, the cd giveaway at the concert is still an ingenious marketing ploy, IMO.