NuPwrSoul said:

Well one can't have it both ways. I mean if one doesn't give Lincoln any credit for freeing slaves; then he can't be held accountable for not getting reparations for ex-slaves.

The 13th Amendment was ratified on Dec 6, 1865. AFTER Lincoln's death on April 15.

As for his role in the Civil War. Only a white person from the south should have any issue with that. The southern economy really depended on slavery. More so than the industrial north. How soon do you believe the south would have given up slavery without the Civil War. Probably would have had slavery into the 20th century.

A southerner will tell you the Civil War was really about States rights. True perhaps. But there would have been no 13th Amendment with the southern states (assuming they would have still been states) exercising their rights.

I think Prince is totally off base picking on Abraham Lincoln as some racist. And I still can't see what the whole point of his anti-Lincoln crusade. Remember this is coming from a man who probably does believe that Santa = Satan. I'm surprised we haven't seen any letter from the club (that just happen to "appear" in their mailbox) about the Easter bunny.

BTW, I'm not implying you hold the views I answered; I am just responding to them

justhemusic said:

It's kind of hard to critique it when you haven't seen it yet while only reacting to what is reported as the set list. Personally, I thought the fact that it's not a greatest hits set list makes it pretty fresh to begin with.

NuPwrSoul said:

* Yo on the foundation I give U props 4 being a sharp young man...I was about 2 say brotha, (ha) but keep sharp~

Thanks for the report.

Supernova said:

I don't care if the setlist never changes. I haven't heard most of these songs live so I'm DYING to, whether DC heard them layed out the same way or not.

I can't really blame the guy for having a setlist - I sure as hell would. Maybe he just shouldn't have said "no setlist" b/c virtually EVERY performer has one, so why penalize him for it? At least he doesn't have acrobatics & 50 costume changes.

I'm sure if he did change it around a lot, folks would still bitch that he didn't play so&so when he came to their town, etc. I don't think it'll get stale, I think they'll only get better.

I just want the show to get here already!

What's up with the reports? Thanks to whoever posted the brief one on this thread...

Look, dont get me wrong...I'm one of the folks who is GLAD that he's not doing yet another 'greatest hit's' tour...I've been to enough of his shows where that was the case.

I actually LIKE the song list he's chosen to play so far. I just don't want he and the band to get bored playing the same stuff the same way in the same order with the same planned routines & speeches everynight...I don't want a show that is supposed to make the audience FEEL like it's spontaneous' when it it's really not...'faux-spontainaety'.

Now I'm NOT saying that the ONLY way to get that true spontaneous energy is to change which songs you play...because if you change the arrangement and compositions of the songs each night, that can ALSO create a VERY interesting and creative atmosphere as well (one night 'When You Were Mine" is a rock tune, maybe the next night they play it as a ballad....maybe the next night they play it like a blues number.) If they are doing that type of thing then I will have NO complaints. If they are NOT doing that type of genuine musical exploration, then I was simply suggesting that a set list chnge is an easy way to keep it fresh for the musicians on the stage and thus the music fans that's all.

(FYI: My favorite artist Meshell Ndegeocello is a MASTER at this...you could go to 10 of her shows back to back ad each one would be different because of her setlist and/or because each night she and her AMAZINGLY TALENTED band actually change the songs themselves. I've seen her do the song "The Way' in about 5 or 6 different arrangements...ALLof them explosive. Because of this her shows are ALWAYS an adventure...as much for HER as for us I think. You just never know what you're gonna get..except for the fact that it will always be great and challenging!

Obviously Prince has the ability to do this type of 'on the edge' show...he's done it for years at his famous legendary 'Aftershow' Performnces where he and the band just let it ALL hang out...I'm just saying that if he REALLY want's his official concerts to be cutting edge and explosive and enguaging then he should just play them like he plays his aftershows...loose and raw an full of genuine spontainaety, vitality & honesty....


That's actually exactly what Meshells REGULAR concerts are like...her REGULAR shows have the same intimacy, rawness and musical exploration as Princes old AFTERSHOWS did. And talk about ENGAGING the audience...Meshell is always 'in the moment' with he crowd...you never feel like she's performing AT you...she's performing WITH you.


That's all I'm saying. We KNOW he's got the goods...but he keeps it under lock & key and only brings it out on occasion...i say REALLY throw the plan out the window each night and go on a journey. If he does that, I garauntee true MUSIC lovers will GLADLY take that kind of trip with him. I know I would.

BanishedBrian said:

Larry G & Tina were hanging up by the soundboard...along with Mani. I actually had that conversation on the way back from the restroom.
[This message was edited Sun Mar 31 7:13:07 PST 2002 by welcum2thedawn]

Paris9748430 said:

He played it at the soundcheck in Buffalo...inviting members on stage to sing the chorus!

"Thomas Jefferson was a brilliant theorist and diplomat who fell in love with one of his slaves... OR he was a slaveholding hypocrite who raped his slave.

Abraham Lincoln was a political visionary who held the country together and realized along his political career that slavery was wrong... OR he presided over the exploitation of black men and women to advance northern capitalist interests, subdue the southern rebellion, and failed to secure the appropriate reparation for the ex-slaves."

Actually I think your point would be better served with an "AND" rather than an "OR". Again we fall victim to wanting to believe in the extremes rather than the reality which likely is somewhere in between.

Here is a quote from Abraham Lincoln for Prince to chew on: "If slavery isn't wrong, then nothing is wrong." Furthermore, it is my understanding of the history of the 13th Amendment that, if it were not for the work of President Lincoln prior to his assassination, the Amendment probably wouldn't have passed. I believe that Democrats were refusing to vote in favor of the Amendment until President Lincoln personally took matters into his own hands and persuaded them to vote in favor, or else.

Folks, god love him, but there is a reason that Prince hasn't written any history books yet. Nor ever will.

You all have some good points.

But the way I see it P is trying to point out a miss-thinking in our system. That would explain the Xenophobia title also. It's not that Abe was a racist that's important. It's the fact that Abe and every other president has been a white man with white man ideals. This country was based on Euro desendants owning land and inslaving blacks. The problem is that since that time we continue to do the same thing. We just fon't do it here, we do it in every other country that's not already inhabited by whites. We give them Christianity, we take their land and their natural resorces and we sell them shit and pay them less than shit because they aren't white. We call this "Democracy" and we claim that we are "saving" them from themselves or from some other thing.

The point isn't that Abe was a racist to me, the point was that he didn't really care if the blacks were set free. (and since they still aren't really I guess it hasn't mattered to anyone since) he just cared that the wealth of the white man, and the principals of "Democracy". That's the message I'm getting. It's that the whole set up is a lie, not just Abe.

What's been the response/reaction 2 the shows from the casual and curious folks in the balcony, who obviously showed up to hear LRC and Purple Rain? Has anybody been able to guage this?

solyts said:

Thank you so much. This means a lot to me.
PEACE
[This message was edited Mon Apr 1 20:16:26 PST 2002 by Jagjams]