These were my 9th and 10th shows, so I admit to being incredibly spoiled...Went to the last two night's shows and since the setlist remians largely unchanged (I understand why, though it's frustrating), I will offer some bits:

Monday was a superb show! The band was tight, and Prince seemed "in the zone"; not coasting, but just that everything was coming easy, and he was working the crowd. He danced and sang much more than I thought he would be doing this late in the tour, and his voice was awesome. Guitar was tasty, and he was playful and loose...Frenzied pace throughout the night. The audience was loud, but not singing like we did in D.C. last Saturday! By the end of the night though, the whole place was wild!

Highlights:
When Will We Be Paid (acoustic)
On the Couch (acoustic) Heck, the whole acoustic set was awesome
D.M.S.R. (sounds better than ever)
The Beautiful Ones
Purple Rain (One of the better live vocal performances I have seen him give on this)

Tuesday, while being better than most shows any other artist would give, was sub-par for Prince. (The worst of the four shows I have seen this tour by far, IMHO).

The trouble began halfway through the opening medley when P. dropped the mike stand and mike (BOOM) right during the vocal -Yikes! It seemed like he never quite recovered...

He missed the opening vocal cue for SOTT, and bluffed his way into pretending to abort the song in favor of Let's Work, but it was really a save face thing. Also forgot the lyrics to Call My Name and "crooned" through the bridge. Started to pull in the guitar for the PR solo until realizing that he hadn't sang the third verse yet. (Where everything seemed to come easy on Monday, Tuesday, everything seemed to be a chore). Still, the man danced, played, and sang to put most to shame, so I shouldn't complain!

Highlights:
The acoustic set again, was fantastic
Shhh (This song has aged well!)
Patti Labelle coming up during a long medley that included No Diggity! Patti and Prince danced, flirted, and he gave her the mike and she wailed!
Got a Prince guitar pick!!!

I think the comment made on another thread about too many shows in too few days is a good one. The band was great on the last night, bu tlacked energy (except for Candy) who seemed to carry the band.

Again, 99 percent of the people will have left seeing one of the best shows of their lives. It was just one of P.'s weaker shows on the tour

Club seats were fantastic, (third row, on the end of one of the wings, right on the aisle) EXCEPT that at the last minute, P.'s head security guy had two chairs set up right next to me for VIP's so I was stuck there (don't know who these people were). Anyway, due to the fact that I couldn't step into the aisle, I was stuck staring at Mike Scott's behind for major portions of songs (as he was directly in my line of sight to center stage! That was frustrating. Wish they could get brotha to sit down, or lose ten pounds. Anyway, he's a great addition for his style and chops - just not who I paid that much cash to see that much of!)

All in all, a great time with so many Prince fans, seeing The Man get the props he deserves! May try to make one more show this tour...

Peace

jpav said:

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Wow, this was my 3rd show of the tour and I totally agree with you. I took a pure MJ fan that had never attended a Prince concert before. I thought I was missing something when he was singing SOTT/Call My Name, but I didn't want to admit to the person I went with that "I think he just forgot the words."

I was on the 5th row really close to the stage and when he dropped the mic I think he did get flustered.

I felt like he rushed through Purple Rain.

But, I still luv him and had a great time.

rushed through Purple Rain. He sang the song for about 10 minutes and must of did the ohh ohh ohh ohh four more times.