This is an excellent review of Friday's Prince performance.

Prince showcase delivers fun, quells doubts about legacy
By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News
August 28, 2004

All in all, it was pretty stunning - the stage, the sound, the band, the guitars, the horns, the songs and the sheer energy that Prince showed some 75 or so shows into his Musicology tour.

What's almost as amazing is the fact that a quarter century into his career, Prince has the biggest, most successful and critically acclaimed tour of 2004, all because he simply decided that he'd just do that right now.


He has gone from being off the mainstream radar for several years to having the tour of the year - no other act has packed the Pepsi Center for two nights this year. (Tickets may still be available for tonight's performance, and you'd be foolish to pass them up.)

Perhaps because no other act deserved to. No one else can deliver such a deliriously fun show. Prince is truly topping himself on this tour just for sheer exuberance and musical prowess.

In tours over the past decade or so, Prince has had stretches of fiery brilliance but too often went on his own agenda, going through long funk jams but then only perfunctory, truncated versions of his biggest hits. This time he has simply decided to take all the things he does best and quell any doubts about his relevance or legacy.

The big hits were there - Purple Rain, I Feel For You, Sign O' the Times, Let's Go Crazy - but he sprinkled in a plethora of new songs from Musicology (the title cut, Call My Name, Life of the Party) and vintage pieces, including an extended take on DMSR.

It wasn't just his best material that he showcased over 21/2 hours; the show itself was a showcase, an in-the-round extravaganza with crisp sightlines and taut sound (the latter of which actually got better the further away you sat from the stage).

His Lovesexy tour 16 years ago was also in the round, spectacular in its own way, but filled with props and a rigid setlist with little room for improvising.

This was the opposite, with a stripped down center stage, the focus entirely on the music and the musicians.

It was tight but casual, with no one in a hurry to do anything but make some great music.

Audience members were brought onstage to help on Kiss, and a cover of Soul Man just fueled the general party atmosphere.

With the latest incarnation of the New Power Generation, Prince has found musicians whose bonds transcend mere jamming; there's a tightness and sense of purpose that you just don't find onstage these days.

Drummer John Blackwell's work was particularly outstanding, but everyone shone (and was given a chance to shine by Prince).

An extended solo acoustic set in the middle of the show showed Prince at his most casual and accessible - joking with the crowd, stripping all his songs back and running through a bunch of his biggest and best songs, including Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret, I Wanna Be Your Lover, Alphabet Street, and even a fun, spirited take on the Rolling Stones' Satisfaction.

The voice has as much or more range than ever, the guitar solos are just as fluid and melodic.

At press time, he was more than two hours into the show, and we hadn't reached the first encore yet.

Alicia Keys had it exactly right when she inducted Prince into the Rock Hall of Fame earlier this year: There are many kings, but just one Prince.

Great review. Mark Brown also wrote a great Prince article the week before the show.