Saw Prince in Philly last night. P and band seemed a little tired to me.Too many shows in too short a time. Don't get me wrong, they were great. But not the same energy level as the two shows I saw in New York. Jill Scott opening was a great choice.Crowd was a bit subdued. People sitting during some songs.Back in the day,(80s,90,s) NO ONE sat during a Prince show! Maybe because it was a Monday night.(Lame excuse)Wachovia Center could be anywhere USA. No vibe whatsoever. No conparison to going to Madison Square Garden. Philly's cool, but it ain't no New York! Got to hear Pop Life, which he did not play in NY. It sounded great.

Setlist:

Opened with the usual Alicia Keys video
1. Musicology
2. Let's Go Crazy
3. I Would Die 4U
4. When Doves Cry (Dance routine and outfit looks like Micheal Jackson)
5. Baby I'm A Star
6. Shhh
7. D.M.S.R.
8. Pass the Peas (Maceo takes over!)
9. I Feel 4 U
10. Controversy /Housequake
11. Renato's piano
12. Georgia on my Mind (Tribute to Ray Charles-Maceo singing and sax, Renato on keys)
13. Sometimes It Snows in April (Renato solo)

Acoustic set:
14. Little Red Corvette
15. Cream
16. On the Couch
17. I Wanna B Your Lover
18. When Will We B Paid?
19. Alphabet Street
20. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
21. Black Sweat
22. 7 (full band joins P)

23. Pop Life
24. Sign 'O' the Times
25. Question of U / The One / Fallin'
26. Let's Work (Prince badass bass solo)
27. U Got the Look
28. Life 'O the Party
29. Knock on Wood
30. Kiss
31. Take Me With U

Encore:
32. The Beautiful Ones
33. Nothing Compares to U
34. Purple Rain
[This message was edited Thu Aug 26 10:25:31 2004 by jjazznola]

Sunday's crowd was MUCH better. It never stupped on sunday. I think him coming on at 9:30 got some people a little tired by the end of the night. Who knows, but the crowd definatley wasn't as alive as sundays.

Sunday was the most love I'ever ever heard P get at a show

is "when will we b paid" a new one for the acoustic set? i don't think i've seen it listed before. and i STILL never got to hear their version of "knock on wood". sounds like you all got a good show that night...PLUS some jill!

I have to agree that the sunday crowd had a lot more energy...as did P and the Band...
IMO, the two hour delay from the listed start time was a bit draining...

As far as the opener goes...Jill's ok, IMO, but i grew tired of her by about 8:30...

jjazznola said:

ugh...PLEASE don't say that...that's the worst thing u can say...

Wahday said:

Maybe that was the most love you've seen at a Prince show, but a bunch of us drove up from DC for Sunday's show and we were disappointed at the Philly crowd! We're not used to seeing people sitting during a Prince concert, even on the slow songs and on Sunday, that's what we noticed. I'm not sure what the deal was, but I thought that when he only sang Purple Rain as the encore instead of the usual 2 or 3, that it may have been a reaction to the crowd response. When Prince comes to DC, we KNOW how to party!!

jjazznola said:

I was one of those people sitting down.
When I go to a concert,I like to sit and watch and listen and focus on what's going on on stage,not impressing people with my dance moves.
And trust me,I CAN DANCE,I just don't want to.
The entertainment isn't supposed to be in the audience,its supposed to be on stage.

Matter of fact,one time I was at a Teena Marie concert a few years back,and these girls were in their own little world with their so-called dance routines,they started doing the Bump,and I let them take my attention away from Teena to turn around and look at them,how annoying.

jjazznola said:

Wahday said:

he came on at 8:30 on sunday

and the crowd was def. most hyped.
he made a lot of comments toward us about how much love we showed him.
like: "I love you" and "AWw"

Prince.... so fuckin banging dude

Anxiety said:

Nah. "When Will B Paid" was played in DC on Aug. 12 and, I believe on the 13th, as well. Def on 8/12. Plus, it was good to hear "Love Bizarre" on the Aug.22 show in Philly. I was really hoping for Sheila E to be present or even The Time to open during at least one of the DC or Philly shows, though!

alexnvrmnd said:

The Time is opening for him 2nite!!!

jjazznola said:

Don't feel bad about the crowd...I saw NY's shows (2 nights) and no crowd is like a NY crowd..we know how to party...

gypsyfire said:

When I posted about people not sitting at a Prince show, I wasn't referring to anyone doing coordinated dancing at their seats or trying to impress people with their dance moves. It certainly wasn't that kind of party in the area where I was. I simply meant that people were getting into the music and it's just hard to sit when you hear something THAT good! The entertainment WAS most definitely on the stage and we simply were giving the man his props. Prince has indicated at more than one show I've been to that he LIKES his audience on their feet. He even had the lights on an old guy who was sitting and got him up at one show! Whether one can dance or not isn't the issue. Having a good time is!

alexnvrmnd said:

he also did it at the second atlanta show August 10

When Will We Be Paid was also performed Friday, August 13, at the Washington DC show.

NewPowerSista said:

I agree, musicians take you sitting down and calmly listening to their show as an insult, or simply that you're not interested. I've been to enough concerts to know just how much they "FEED" off of the energy the crowd puts out. I thank God for Tuesday nights crowd. They were off the chain a hundred times louder and more hyped up than NYC could ever be. I know without all of their screaming, and jumping up and down Prince would not have given us as memorable of a performance as he did. In my honest opinion, 8/24/04 Philly, was one of the BEST Prince concerts I've ever seen! I left that place so exhausted and dizzy, like I'd just gone 5 rounds with the Mike Tyson of Funk. I gotta thank Prince AND that audience for such a great night.

Eye was at the 8/23 show and thought it was awesome...do you ever think that the state of mind of how one judges the show is through the glass of how one feels that night? just thinkin...

FanofDaFascist said:

In defense of those of us who sat down for some of the songs I'd like to say this: For me, I now *have* to sit down on occasion because of a disability/chronic illness (kidney failure, diabetes and other related/associated illnesses). Trust me, I stood for a good part of the show, but honestly, I sat during the whole acoustic set...not because I wasn't having a good time, but because I HAD to. I was hurting real bad at one point and for a minute during a song, I felt my blood pressure starting to crash and I thought I was going to need some help...fortunately, everything evened out and I was fine. Believe me when I say I wish to GOD that I could handle a show standing up nowadays, but those days are over it seems. But...that won't stop me from seeing my favorite bands (granted they have seating). *wink*

So basically I just wanted to give people the heads up that if someone is sitting down, it very well be for a very good reason.

Heh, I like that "Mike Tyson of Funk"...niiiice.

Peace and b wild.

To reply to "raddahone" who said "Eye was at the 8/23 show and thought it was awesome...do you ever think that the state of mind of how one judges the show is through the glass of how one feels that night? just thinkin..."

I was in a great mood and had a blast at the show. We were partying big time and had seats 7 rows up from center stage. But at the same time I can compare to the two shows I saw last month in NY. It wasn't just Prince. Other members of the band seemed to be running on a little less energy. As for the crowd, even Prince made mention of people sitting down. I've been going to see live music including Prince since the 70s. It is very hard for any band to be on top of their game every night. Especially long into a demanding tour such as this one playing primarily the same show every night, sometimes 3 nights in a row.(money grab!)Even great musicians have good and bad days. The good thing is Prince on his worst night blows away most any other band on their best night! I'm still happy as hell I went!

LadySycamore said:

Oh no, Lady Sycamore, I don't want you to think I was talking about INDIVIDUALS sitting! I didn't mean that. I was speaking to the issue of large sections of the audience sitting when I'm used to seeing them standing at a Prince concert. Certainly your situation is a reasonable one (and I'm really glad you felt well enough to stay through the entire concert!). I do understand the need to sit some or much or even all of the time! What I saw was just a crowd that didn't seem to give Prince the kind of response that makes him work even harder. Everybody knows that the best shows are where the audience and the artist give back to each other. I meant no disrespect to anyone who NEEDED to sit.

NewPowerSista said:

"Nobody understand your music but yourself" lol - THEY'LL NEVER GET IT.

NewPowerSista said:

Oh hail yeah I was gonna stay! As long as there were seats to sit in, it was all good.

Peace and b wild.