Quick Review

Nikka Costa opened last night and played a pretty good set. Her voice is incredible! I don't think 75% of the folks in the building had any idea who she was, so the energy was kinda low. In fact, the biggest reation she got was for "Like a Feather", and only b/c folks recognized the song from the stupid Tommy Hilfiger commercials (that was what I kept hearing "oh shit, this is my jam from the Tommy commercial!" haa!) I love Nikka and it was great to see her live, but I will admit I was a bit disappointed The Time didn't open. Oh well - it was still cool to see her.

Prince's set was the usual, so I'm not gonna post the setlist. Here's what was new/different from the previous leg of the tour:

Whole Lotta Love (ripped it!)

Acoustic Set:
Peach
When Will We Be Paid (full version - a fucking gem!)

As mentioned in other reviews, "Pop Life" is back in the set, and they're doing the ONA arrangement, down to the jazz bridge.

Mercifully, it seems that PR has been trimmed down a bit. I can't even begin to imagine how bored Prince must be by now. He's gotta be ready for a new tour way more than we are.

All in all, great show. Prince turns it out like no other. The crowd was incredible, and one of the loudest I've heard at an arena show - I was quite impressed!
The members section on the floor was the usual freakshow - always one of my favorite things about going to see Prince! We were lucky and had great seats right behind/in front of Rhonda. We were sitting right next to the little kid that Prince pulled on stage and let him hang out for like 4-5 songs. He did his thing with the tambourine the best he could!

Now, if we could just get that elusive aftershow.....
[Edited 9/11/04 9:59am]

oh my fuckin god..i hope she opens tonight...

gooooo craaaazyyyy!
go go go! go go go!

I'm having a hard time deciding which Musicology show (of the 4 I've seen so far, lol) is best - June 2nd in San Jose or TONIGHT!!!! INCREDIBLE!! Man, they put 40 nails in the coffin tonight!!!

I had my club seats tonight - row 9, excellent view of the whole show. Where do I start? The energy in the place was simply off the chain. Prince was feelin' it too (you know it's gonna be a good encore when he solos on PR before singing, but I'm skipping ahead)...

whooooo-ooooo-oo-oo-oooo
whooooo-ooooo-ooo-oo
whooooo-ooooo-o-oo-oo

Nikka Costa!!!!! Wanted to see this chile last year in SF when she sold out too fast for me to get tix - she was great!! I really love her voice. Too bad I missed most of her set - they should separate the drinkers from the non-drinkers All I wanted was a bottle water & I had to wait for 50 rum & cokes to be mixed

whooooo-ooooo-oo-oo-oooo
whooooo-ooooo-ooo-oo
whooooo-ooooo-o-oo-oo

The entire show was incredible, "Shhh" made me lose it! Prince did some AMAZING guitar work tonight!! The acoustic segment seemed extended, the crowd was SO LOUD, right along w/ him for every song. He did "When Will We Be Paid"!!!! "7" will always, always, ALWAYS sound awesome - it's like a kiss on the neck! LOVE IT!!

I screamed when he launched (unexpectedly) into "Whole Lotta Love" but my head BLEW OFF when he rose from beneath the stage & launched into...

call it
CALL MY NAME...

Somebody help me!!! I'm skipping around again. Okay, when the girls got onstage for "U Got the Look" there was one girl up there (probably a member, don't wanna offend her) who barely danced. Prince had to notice b/c he eventually went up to her when it was time to let somebody chime in. He put the mic up to her mouth & (from what I could see) she just FROZE! I'm sorry but it was the funniest thing I saw all night! He kinda backed off like, "'Scuse me??!!" Hilarious! Then a little bit later he joked around w/ her, holding the mic her way but looking like, "I ain't goin' over there!" I wonder if she got the joke? :shock: It was SO funny...

whooooo-ooooo-oo-oo-oooo
whooooo-ooooo-ooo-oo
whooooo-ooooo-o-oo-oo

The little boy Matthew is officially ruined for life now! At first he was pretty shy, but as P kept talking to him & Candy gave him a tamborine, he got more comfortable. At one point Prince says, "give it up for Matthew!" We all cheer & Matthew holds out his arms like, "I am the king!!" That boy is done! He was loving it...

whooooo-ooooo-oo-oo-oooo
whooooo-ooooo-ooo-oo
whooooo-ooooo-o-oo-oo

Let me just say I could sing this ALL NIGHT!!! It never gets old! It always, always, ALWAYS sounds SO $&@#*! GOOD!!! If "7" is a kiss on the neck, "PR" is wedding night bliss! OH MY, I wanted him to play this forever. Just keep going w/ the solo man, let me keep singing until my voice is gone! It's SO deeply, DEEPLY satisfying - watching him put his heart & soul into that song. Kills me every time...

Oy, what else can I say? INCREDIBLE night - thank you Prince, NPG & Nikka!! Can't wait until tomorrow, still can't wipe this silly smile off my face. I feel so lucky that he's ending the tour in my neck of the woods. I swear, I don't think I enjoy anything more than being at a Prince show - he throws an insane party!! UGH, I can't believe this leg is over!! But I'll save the tears for Sunday... did I mention Saturday will be my 20th Prince show ever? Aftershow would make 21!! I like odd numbers!!!

Tomorrow y'all!

Calhoun Square - you wrote exactly what I was thinking and feeling after last night. AWESOME!

I was actully disappointed by the show last night- After seeing his LAST LA concert- nothing will ever top it! He didn't joke around at all, didn't "play" with the crowd like he has in the past concerts I have seen. I mean YES it was awesome- but I had high hopes!

MNlivingCA said:

Feelin' ya there...that last LA show was top of the tops. These September Bay Area shows have been great but Prince looks tired, and so does the band. That's why there haven't been any aftershows this week.

Hopefully tonight he will cap off this tour with an aftershow...thinking positive...

MNlivingCA said:

Huh? Did you catch the part when Prince was admonishing that little boy don't be like Mike Scott (wearing a white suit) because he's a PIMP! He told the little boy this a few times! Granted Prince did later clarify it was P.I.M.P. that stood for something else I forgot. It was hiliarious.

Anyway... it was a great show. John Blackwell was amazing. The solo in the first set with him off his chair, and his sticks going all over the place, truly mind boggling. I was in awe. Oh yeah, the other thing that I thought was somewhat funny was when John began "shadow drumming" during one of his solos, his sticks were moving all over the place but there was no sound because he wasn't hitting his drums! Nice.

Only disappointment was he didn't play Sign O' Times, one of my favorites. Although "Call My Name" made up for it.

David

Last night's show was SICK!!!! "Whole Lotta Love" was insane!!! Wow!!! I can't wait for tonight!!!!

You guys are all bunch of nuts!!! And I thought I was the ballistic one. Sorry I missed last night's show.

sbacon1999 said:

And ... the same exact thing on NPGMC ... Ha ha ha. It's funny how one can tell who is who that way, huh?

CalhounSquare! Glad you had a great time!!!

Man!!! The show was great, but it didn't surpass the June show. I was mad that we missed Nikka...had no clue since we were expecting The Time. We didn't get there until a little before 8:30 after speeding down 280. A little drama with picking up my coworker and cousin, plus we had to get fast food before heading down there. We couldn't hear the acoustics well once we got inside, but I kept thinking that doesn't like The Time's style of music. So after potty stop, and buying the pink t-shirt that I had my eyes set on since June, we headed to our seats right after the stage was cleared. During the show, Prince kept saying give a hand for Nikka Costa and her band. We clapped and just looked at each other like, what? Then it sunk in, and then we were bummed. I've seen her live three times, and she can bring the house down with her band. It's prolly better to catch her in a smaller venue like The Fillmore, which was the last place I saw her. I don't know how else to describe the atmosphere at his shows, but it almost has a Halloween celebration to it, peeps dressed in crushed purple velvet pants, long coats with fur on the collar, just lots of cool and crazy wear. I just had a purple tee with his symbol on it. Not the adventurous dresser. I was waiting for somebody to comment on the girl who looked so stiff onstage and didn't sing along. Did she ever mouth any of the songs? She looked so out of place, I kinda felt sorry for her, but that happened when I saw him in June. Prince put a mike up to a woman's mouth and she just froze. I call John the nickname "Octopus" cuz that what he looks like when he tears into the drums like he does...arms all over the place. What stood out for me are the acoustic sets. I just love the mood and how it feels more personal stripped down like that.

Loved the show.

I enjoyed the June 2 show a bit more because the set was a bit fresher to my ears, (though my ears thanked me this time because I brought earplugs! It's truly deafening down there on the floor.) But I was happy that there were changes to the setlist. I love Sign 'o' the Times, but I didn't feel that song worked that well live. I thought Pop Life was a good replacement.

I loved how he chose 7 to bring the band back instead of Raspberry Beret. I was surprised to hear When Will We be Paid. At the end, the guy in front of me did the "struggle continues" sign, so I know he appreciated it, though I thought the sentiment was maybe a bit too serious for the rest of the show. Fun to hear Peach, and even though the stage banter was the same for Cream, it felt rather fresh.

The girl who didn't sing was hilarious. I think he must not have noticed her not dancing or he wouldn't have expected her to sing. I liked Satisfaction, and though Call My Name isn't my favorite song, I like to hear the new stuff live (I think he messed up the lyrics "everything.....nothing about you is false).

He did Life o the Party with a new rhythm (more like the middle part of the song) which I thought made the song much funkier. And that song by Blackstreet (?) I like the way You Work It was very funky.

Last time I sat behind John B, and while I loved watching him play, I was happy to sit facing the "front" of the stage this time, so Prince was facing us more. It was great to see the fans show John B so much love, and he seemed to appreciate it. I told the girls I was with his story, and I immediately regretted it. They're all mothers. I killed their buzz, but not for too long.

I was so glad I got to see this show again. It was such a great party. And a real workout. I was so glad that despite doing so many shows, Prince still seemed to be loving it. Hope he never stops.

HumbleOne said:

As if I've tried to hide it

Nothinbutjoy said:

Thanks girlie!

CalhounSq said:

Oh no, you never hide - I've learned that!

I loved 9/10 show much better then any that I'd been too. Of course in June we left right after Purple Rain cuz my friend had to get up at the crack of dawn for work, and she's old. LOL

My sons girlfriend and I had the best time at Friday's show, it was incredible. She was adorable trying to reach for Prince and Mike Scott. I've been blessed to bless two people with floor seats, one with a lower level and then five with box seating ... It is awesome to have seen Prince so many times. I'm always in awe of those who travel all around the U.S. to see him - it blows me away. The finances - yikes!

h1