What an incredible performance! Prince reinforced a point I have been trying to prove to non-fans for years.....and that is that he is the BADDEEST guitar player on earth!! Clapton, Santana, Stevie Ray....they are great....but Prince is unparalleled in my opinion. I will let someone who took better notes explain the set list, as I was just enjoying the music and not trying to remember every song he played. As always, the piano medley was my favorite part. The one dissapointment was I, nor anyone else, could find out anything about an aftershow. We asked John (the drummer) while talking with him after the show had ended and he said there was not going to be one. Kind of hard to accept, but if so, oh well. Hopefully I won't here of where it was today! Either way, I am just happy to have seen this tour in such a great venue and to enjoy a truly rewarding show...Go see this tour people!!!

I still can't beleive I was there. And, yes, the only work I have been able to use to describe the experinece is also INCREDIBLE.

As soon as a catch up on my sleep ... if I CAN sleep ... I will share more about this experience and the musical introduction my 16-year-old daughter had to Prince last night.

But for now, if you are so inclined, here is a great review from the Lakeland newspaper:

Just Call Prince a Great Performer
He plays Saturday to a jam-packed crowd of 2,200-plus in Lakeland.

Sunday, April 7, 2002

By BILL DEAN
The Ledger

LAKELAND -- Call him "The Artist," "Prince" -- heck, call him "Ishmael," because it really doesn't matter.
Whatever you want to dub him, exactly 17 years and a day since he last played The Lakeland Center, Prince returned with a furious, fiery yet ultimately sentimental vengeance Saturday night at The Center's Youkey Theatre.
At a usual capacity of 2,186, the theatre is far smaller than the Jenkins Arena, the 10,000-seat venue Prince played on three occasions in the 1980s.
But on Saturday, a jam-packed crowd of 2,200-plus somehow crammed into the sold-out house, and proceeded to fall into the palms of the diminutive, purple sage of funk-drenched pop and soul, who all but left the place smoldering in ash-kicked ruin.
His new, secret smart-bomb was "The Rainbow Children," the concept album/paean to new-found religion (his Royal Purple Badness is now a benevolent Jehovah's Witness), which fueled much of Saturday's two-hour-and-45-minute show.
Leading a five-piece ensemble that included veteran jazz saxman Najee, trombonist Greg Boyer and others, The Artist Who Did Very Little Wrong Yesterday baptized the faithful quickly Saturday by starting with the one-two punch that leads off the album, "Rainbow Children" and "Muse 2 The Pharaoh."
That jazzy, groove-laden start, with Prince ripping staccato bursts of guitar solos on a Fender Telecaster, segued into a host of instrumental jams, funky new songs and well-placed covers along with a smattering of classics that harkened back to his 1980s beginnings.
If anything, the Prince of 2002 is a more seasoned, resonating performer who rarely missed an opportunity to rev up the crowd and pump up the volume.
In a dark, formal suit over white shirt, he effortlessly changed from electric guitar to electric piano and solo microphone as if he'd been doing it most of his life, which of course, he has.
While the crowd warmed to the new album's "Wedding Feast," well-named "Mellow," romantic "She Loves Me 4 Me" and funky "The Everlasting Now," it got a lesson in ever-lasting funk and R&B from such covers as the Ohio Players' "Love Rollercoaster" and Sly & The Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song."
But Prince didn't stop there: He rolled out Erykah Badu's "Didn't Cha Know" and even Santana's "Soul Sacrifice," with its bursts of Latin-tinged lead guitar.
He also dished up such classic Prince hits as "Raspberry Beret" and "Take Me With U" among others.
The night's most mesmerizing moment, though, came with a 20-minute medley of hits played on solo piano, with Prince waxing nostalgic on everything from "Adore," "The Beautiful Ones" and "Free" to "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World."
How to top that? With full-length versions of "Purple Rain" and "Nothing Compares 2 U" followed by another encore set that ended with "Rise Up."
On Saturday night at the Youkey Theatre, Prince or whatever you want to call him, did just that. And so did the audience.
Call him Gifted, Incredibly Talented -- call him Genius. You'll get no argument from me.

Hehe...
You know, I think after your first Prince concert you go out thinking completely different about him, especially if you didn't like him first and a friend asked you to come with him/her.
I think even me will be surprised and hooked and kicked in the ass when I see him the first time!

"The Artist Who Did Very Little Wrong Yesterday"... at least they are creative!

calldapplwondery83 said:

Yeah... I think it's funny how a lot of the journalists always look for something negative to say about Prince. But then when they go see him peform live, the only thing they can say is "Damn.... he IS good... I guess he IS a genius afterall!"

People, people... it's always been about the music, the art - NOT the persona.

WAIT RIGHT THERE!!!!!

Did that report say.... Wedding Feast?!?!? Can anyone else confirm this? Do my eyes deceive me?!

No wedding feast that I remember from the Lakeland show...

I was there as well, and he definately DID NOT play Wedding Feast.

He played the crap out of everything else though! I was really hoping I'd get to see him play some bass, but no go this time.

My wife wasn't really crazy about TRC before the show, but after leaving, she was like " Umm Honey, did you bring the Rainbow Children cd?"

One of my favorite parts was during HCYDCMA when he said "..make a white man wanna moan up in here.." then he put the mic up to a white guy in audiance. Without missing a beat, the guy, in his best Prince falsetto, said "call me!". Prince gave him one "those" looks and said, "I'm scared of you!"

Did I mention that John Blackwell was absolutely beating the crap out of some drums? This was my first time really getting a chance to hear him play. The guy is just plain ridiculous!
[This message was edited Mon Apr 8 6:22:58 PDT 2002 by ace316]

whoa..this reviewer read names off the TRC tracklist and put them in his article..wedding,everlasting now,and she loves me 4 me were NOT played..amateur...

.
[This message was edited Fri Apr 19 5:39:30 PDT 2002 by luvy]