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Pop Psychology: A Prince of a show

By Josh Wardrop

Sunday, August 22, 2004

After all these years, I finally get it. Sure, I've loved his records, shook my head at some of his daffier moves, and admired his sheer musical and cultural impact. But until I saw Prince perform live on Wednesday night at the FleetCenter, it's obvious I just didn't have a clue.

Wednesday's show (the second of three local dates on Prince's "Musicology" tour, and his first area appearance in six years) was quite simply one of the most phenomenal musical performances I have EVER witnessed. There are rock stars and bands with charisma, who inspire passion from their fans, but never have I seen a single musician who enthralled an audience and held it in the palm of his hand as perfectly as the man born Prince Rogers Nelson.

Onstage, Prince came across as anything but rusty from a decade of few tours and even fewer hits. Everything from his immaculate white and gold clothing, to his band's musical arrangements, to his effortlessly, fluid movement around the "in-the-square" stage was done with a fascinating precision, yet was never mechanical. On a rational level, you know that a huge touring show like Prince's is performed largely the same night in and night out, but everything about this show seemed organic and spontaneous, nonetheless.

Prince proved his absolute mastery of the stage by being able to keep the intensity and excitement nearly level throughout, whether he was performing his extensive catalogue of hits -- such as a "Purple Rain" medley that whipped through "Let's Go Crazy," "When Doves Cry" and "Baby, I'm a Star" -- or extended, sweaty funk work-outs that weren't about whether you knew the song, but if you could feel the music.

Credit also needs to be given to Prince's band, the New Power Generation. Simply put, I have never heard a tighter band than this in concert. Everyone was right on point, from the horn section of saxophonist Candy Dulfer, trombone player Greg Boyer, and the immortal saxman Maceo Parker (who got the evening going with a funky opening set), to the rhythm section of drummer John Blackwell and bassist Rhonda Smith.

Prince has implied that the "Musicology" tour will be the last time to hear his hits performed live. Other acts have said this before then backed off of it, but Prince is willful and usually sticks to his guns. So who knows? This may truly have been the last chance to hear songs like "Sign O' The Times," "Controversy," "Pop Life" and the veritable jukebox of hits that Prince delivered at the FleetCenter.

An absolute highpoint of the Wednesday show was the acoustic segment, in which Prince took the stage alone, with a guitar and a revolving chair, and proceeded to recreate some of his many notable songs in an entirely new style. Before this show, few would have envisioned songs like "Alphabet St.," "Peach" or "Little Red Corvette" done so simply and intimately. The freshness and newness of the interpretations left audiences hanging on every word, every gesture -- not always the case when an artist simply mows through their back catalogue.

That segment of the show also revealed Prince at his most playful, a side that people don't always get from his usual reclusiveness and his occasional proclivity toward pompous proclamations. Whether it was imploring the audience to sing a particular part of a song (a move that always garnered results, and quite obviously delighted Prince when it did), or mock-demonstrating how he sings the line "Everything you do is success," from "Cream," to himself in the mirror -- the Prince that audiences got to see on the FleetCenter stage was a marvelously self-aware, jovial, natural performer.

There were few truly notable omissions from the set. Some (myself included) may have missed hearing faves like "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man," "1999" or "The Beautiful Ones." And, of course, it's been well-publicized that today's Prince, a devout Jehovah's Witness, doesn't do his saltier numbers anymore. So, there was no "Darling Nikki," no "Head," no "Sexy MF" or "Gett Off." But, in all honesty, it was actually better that he ignored such numbers entirely rather than taking the tack he employed on "I Feel For You," really the evening's only disappointment. Prince changed the lyrics -- "it's mainly a physical thing," became "it's mainly a spiritual thing," for example -- and the attempted three-part harmony between Prince, Dulfer and Smith simply didn't mesh.

Normally, for me, the mark of a truly special concert experience is achieving that one transcendent moment -- that particular song, or that majestic solo, in which the performance reaches a pinnacle of excitement and moves the listener in a way that we just don't get to feel in our everyday lives. Prince's show, however, was totally different -- there didn't seem to be one peak moment of experience. They were ALL peak moments. By the time Prince returned for a solitary encore song -- what else, "Purple Rain" -- the crowd was more than satisfied, they seemed nearly overwhelmed by the knowledge that they had, in fact, been live witness to that often bandied-about, but rarely lived-up to designation: musical genius.

The Lowdown: A few live shows of note this week, starting with Tuesday's visit to the Worcester Centrum by your "American Idol," Fantasia Barrino, as well as Diana DeGarmo, LaToya London and the rest (yes, even Camille Velasco) for the "Pop Tarts Present American Idols Live" tour. On Thursday, it's some top-quality, workman-like blues from Buddy Guy and The Robert Cray Band at the FleetBoston Pavilion, and on Friday, country star Kenny Chesney lights up the Tweeter Center. Finally, a performance by Ireland's easy on the ears (and eyes) sibling group The Corrs, rounds out the week Sunday, at the Pavilion.

If there was ever a "something for everyone" week at record stores, this would probably be it. Country fans get something new from mega-star Tim McGraw ("Live Like You Were Dying"), as well as the deeper, darker side of the genre from Steve Earle ("The Revolution Starts Now"). Old hippies and new, or just anyone who likes a groove, can check out albums by Jimmy Cliff ("Black Magic"), Donovan ("Beat Cafe") or G. Love and Special Sauce ("The Hustle").

Hip-hop enthusiasts will "Welcome Back" former P.Diddy protege Mase, while r&b fans can check out the new double disc from the prolific R. Kelly ("Happy People/U Saved Me") and "Throwback," an album of covers by the long-MIA Boyz II Men.

Finally, there's all kind of rock in stores this week, everything from the caustic songs of Henry Rollins ("Everything"), to the supposed final album by Guided By Voices ("Half-Smiles of the Decomposed"), to garage band The Mooney Suzuki's attempt to move into the mainstream with "Alive & Amplified." And finally, for whatever reason, Dee Snider and Twisted Sister have re-recorded their 1982 breakthrough disc, "Stay Hungry," added a few bonus tracks, and put it out as "Still Hungry." Well, at least it keeps him off those VH1 metal retrospectives...




( Josh Wardrop can be contacted at jwardrop@cnc.com. )

Excellent review, I think most non-hardcore fans can relate to this review. The finally get it.

Although, the songs he missed were played at other Boston shows. I also agree that "I Feel For You" was the only low-point, and not that low. The song just doesn't do it for me anymore, but I understand why he played it to remind people he wrote it, and it was a #1 hit.