Just got back from the KC show...I live about 2.5 hrs away from KC, so I'm just getting online to let everyone know how it went.

I am a member of the NPGMC, but I had two friends of mine wanting to go with me(with membership could only take 1 guest). So I can't report on the soundcheck, but I'll do the best on everything else.

Five minutes before the show started, I saw Candy Dulfer head back to the back of the theatre. I don't think the majority of the people there knew who she actually was...but she did have her sax with her and had some pretty serious personel following her around, so she got more than a few glances.

A few minutes before that, a guy came out and lit the inscense they had on each side of the stage. They had like 2 little fancy inscence pots with like 8 sticks or so in each, and the guy just came out and lit them with a lighter. Me and my friend were joking on how they better get the show started before the "atmosphere" was gone.

In the NPGMC section, there couldn't have been more than 30(maybe 40 at most) people sitting down there...no joke. There were only 3 rows, and in the Midland theatre, there were no seats on the side where the speakers obstructed the view, so the seats only went the width of the stage between the speakers. It was hilarious...there is like this total barricade blocking the NPGMC members from the rest...it was easy to pick the club out from the rest.

Now I have read what people have said about the stage setup, but I never could quite grasp what the stage would look like from peoples descriptions. I always thought it would look like the inside of "I dream of Jeannies" bottle or something. But its like this: Renato's keyboards are to the left, then Rhonda stands right after him, more towards the center of the stage, John Blackwell is sitting behind a plastic see through case playing drums in center back, then there is a platform immediately on the right of the drum set which featured Maceo Parker, Candy Dulfer, and Greg Boyer(trombone). To the front right stage there is another keyboard setup, made for Prince, which is incidentally on wheels(they moved this setup to center stage later for the Prince-alone medley portion). Behind all of the setup there is a white backdrop which is used most of the time as a video screen, where various images are shown...in correspondence to the song...wavy water on rainbow children, planes and bombs and people checking their luggage at airport terminals on Xenophobia, the Abraham Lincoln quote before Avalanche, pictures of old book pages to do with slavery during Family name, there was fire on one screen, several times they put up images of free flight through blue sky and clouds(usually when Prince was talking about God) and stars flying at you like in outer space when he sang Anna Stesia...Also the NPGMC website address at the end while everyone was leaving the venue, and at the end of the concert when Anna Stesia was followed by a quick recapture of Rainbow Children, there were the words "rise" raising up on the screen....very cool. The lighting was top notch...I actually thought I might have eye damage after some of it...flashing strobe type lights on various parts of songs, and intense flooding colors(oranges, greens, purples(of course). Oh, and did I forget to mention the flat plastic tall bubble contraption that had bubbles racing through colored lights and water by Renato's keyboards. And the old car grill that was a front to Prince's keyboards?

Ok, sorry enough of details...on to the show...well pretty much the same setlist as everywhere else. Prince was dressed in sort of a white sleeved get up, I think the middle suit section was maroon. His look is very Jam of the Yearish(imho). During Adore, when he was joking about smashing up the ride, he said- "what baby? You did what? My ride? You smashed up my ride? Where is it? In the front? OOh lawd...who was in the front seat with you? Maceo Parker? Oh that's alright...I guess I'm going to have to just produce his next album for him or something..."

He didn't pick anyone to change last names with on Family name, but when he said..."Violet Brown" he said afterwards, "Sounds like an oxy-moron to me"

The set was very jazzy...even the uptempo songs were a little toned down. But Prince plays tons...I mean tons of guitar...mostly that tan one(is it a strato caster?). He only dawned Habibi on Anna Stesia and the end of Family Name.

He also asked the "would you rather give or receive?" to this one girl and she actually said "give" and she had a look on her face like she knew what was coming. So he said, "So why don't you give your front row seat to the poor guy behind you?" And then, just when Prince thought she wasn't going to, and even chimed in with a "doesn't sound so great to give now, huh?" type remark, she switched seats with the guy(it was still in the NPGMC seats...like I said...only 3 rows! So he said to the girl...for being a giver, I wanna give something to you...a guitar solo. Then he brought her upstage and played for her as she sit on a pillow.

The show was pretty high energy, even during the slow songs, but I gotta say, I was getting a tad sleepy when he was doing the ballad medley thing. I think it was a mixture of hearing these songs so many times, plus it was just him and his keyboard, and one still blue light on him(at first this was cool, but this portion of the program I swear went on for like, at least 40 minutes, with no change in atmosphere or sound except for when songs(or shall I say, short interpretations of the songs) changed.

Prince is still a first class act on stage, especially in this age of such fabricated commercial cerealbox suprise type bands. But like Prince says in the ONA tour, "If you drove here in your Little Red Corvette, you might have come to the wrong place...last time I checked this was not 1984"(that's what he said in KC).

Prince is in a new stage of his career. And what I saw of him in KC was less of the pop-py, dancy, get all in your face-dirty let's see how many splits he can do type Prince.

It was more of the jazzy, slow and mid-tempo groove, no dancing but lots of guitar, lets let a song unfold the right way no matter how long it takes, lounge music type Prince. I like it very much, but I think its going to take some time for people to get used to it...I suspect even some of his hardcore fans.

Oh, and by the way, at the concerts outro, Prince(after leaving the stage), re-introduced the band using the Bob George voice changer and it has been here that he has announced the official after party. He didn't mention one for KC. By the way, I love the voice changer, especially on Family Name when he is doing Thomas Jefferson. Sorry so long!
[This message was edited Sat Apr 13 2:05:48 PDT 2002 by princeiscool]
[This message was edited Sat Apr 13 2:08:38 PDT 2002 by princeiscool]
[This message was edited Sat Apr 13 2:11:31 PDT 2002 by princeiscool]

Thanks for the detailed report. Very much appreciated.

Was the Midland Theater full?

Brendan

I just can't see how Prince fans would have a hard time getting into a show that focuses on the music.
I guess there are still alot of fans who want the "cartoon" Prince, instead of the real musician, but I'm not one of them. I mean, if Prince was still using the "ejaculating" guitar he used during the PR tour, or humping the floor a la Darling Nikki, well, he'd be a bigger joke than MJ.
I guess I don't equate class and maturity with boredom, especially if the music is slamming. But, to each his own.
BTW, great review.

Butters said:

I'm agree with u ,let the real MUSICIAN rise !

.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 18 22:29:04 PDT 2002 by luvy]

blueangel7 said:

Great review, dude!

Novy said:

I don't think the show was sold out or anything...I'd say it was probably about 85%. oh man, you know what? That midland theater gave me the creeps though. I mean it looked like a haunted theatre...totally out of the movies. It is an old movie theatre from back in the 1920s. It has all kinds of chandeliers and designs...i think I read it was designed by a Russian architect or something. The creepiest part about it is that there were all kinds of little kid statues all over the place, just like in that movie "The Haunting". I expected when the lights to go out for one of them to say somethin' to me! Somebody call Scooby Doo!

ONEDERFUL report, nicely put! ! !



I will say that I enjoy the ballads as well, and LOVE his piano playing and dramatic ballads.

Prince has always been "Prince the Musician 2 me", Not to mention, humanitarian, poet, and artist. I admire his strength, but I think he has a real sensitive side as well, and it shows in his music. When Prince shines on his guitar solos, every ounce of his soul speaks.


As far as the dancing goes, I believe dancing is an art, a release, automatic for some, and not for others, and not to mention fun. I really would not miss the dancing, because there is already so much to absorb. I'll just make up for it dancing around the house as I listen to his tunes.


I love the old funk, I grew up on it. So, it's good to hear that music again. It seems Jazz is really coming out into the limelight, and this is a good thing. It is a Onederful form of expression AND FREEDOM.

Thank you again.

*****


I'm from Planet K-Pax where we r all born in2 our world in our "MOST EXALTED FORM", we all know RIGHT from WRONG, therefore, we do NO wrong, we learn from ONEANOTHER!

(HEY NOW, WOULDN'T THAT BE NICE ?)
[This message was edited Sat Apr 13 8:25:54 PDT 2002 by sosweetofspirit]
[This message was edited Sat Apr 13 8:28:33 PDT 2002 by sosweetofspirit]

princeiscool said:

I think this is the first report I've seen on this tour where the show was not a sell out.

Old movie theaters are very elegant and well preserved in some cities. I live in a city where an 6,000 seat auditorium built in the 1900s where Prince played in 2000 is right now undergoing a multimillion renovation. When the renovation is complete in 2003, it will be a state-of-the-art 4,000 seat theater.

I'm kind of hoping that Prince will be the first performer to play in the newly opened theater when it opens next year

thanks for the review!

sosweetofspirit said:

Sho' would. BTW, princeiscool, thanx 4 the detailed report!

Great review.Like you just let the whole experience sink in and enjoyed yourself..I would imagine that those thirty or forty people at the soundcheck must have a story to tell..

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Butters said:

But, there is room for him to be both, and I think that's what (most) people like! At least I do. I LOVE the musician side of him, but I'd also like to see a show!

Thanks Princeiscool for such a wonderful report. Almost felt like I was there. Still waiting on the Purple One to come to our part of the universe and can't wait especially after you told us what we can look forward to. Prince is getting better as time goes by and his REAL fans will see that sure enuff.

i went to all 3 shows in D.C., the one in NY and the one in Kansas City.....(i'm addicted to this club....are there any support groups out there for this?) it was obvious to me (probably not to others)that the band was tired and perhaps Prince was not pleased to see a lot of empty seats but they jammed hard, esp. during the soundcheck(it was also cool to see them work out a new song).....I'm not crazy about the whole npgmusicclub promotion stuff but since i was able to sit in the center, front row...i can't complain.....in some ways, what he's doing with this club is revolutionary and brilliant! (during one of the songs....Prince checked out my University of Maryland t-shirt and then during another song, he said someting about 'friends from Maryland'! he's so cool! peace to Michelle, Nikki and the guy who made the list (p.s...did anyone notice when Maceo got no sound from his sax during Nothing Compares to You? Kind of an uncomfortable moment but I think that not too many people noticed....later

oh yeah, that's right pkidwell, ...I forgot about Maceo losing his sax sound! Poor guy...Prince said, as he did alot that evening(it seemed like he almost showcased his horn section), "Give us some horn Maceo!" Then Maceo stepped up to do his duty and....no sound. But, like a real showman, he just went through the motions like it was sounding off fine, until a sound guy ran out and fixed the situation. This is a testament to how intimate these venues are, because, even though the volume was plenty loud at the Midland, I could still faintly hear Maceos sax ringing out.

Thanks to everyone for letting me know how much you liked the review. I know how much I enjoy reading other orgers reports...it just makes you feel like you went to the show yourself. Living through the Org, you'll never miss a night on this tour!

princeiscool said:

Actually the NPGMC section extended back about 3 or 5 more rows. I got there with my girlfriend about halfway through the soundcheck I think, around 6pm, and the first 6 rows, including that little pit area, were all pretty much full, with an empty seat scattered here and there. We tried to sit in the middle, in the next row back, but some staff told us we needed to find seats in the next row up or farther, since we were in non-NPGMC seats. The only places left with 2 seats or more next to each other were out on the sides, where the view was obstructed a little by the gigantic speakers. Having to choose between being able to see Prince when he was at his keyboards or Renato, we chose Prince of course and sat on the left side.

So, I was a little dissapointed that being an NPGMC member I still had an obstructed view of the stage (though not too bad), but I was VERY pleased to be so close to the stage anyway. I've been to one other Prince show in my life, on the Jam of the Year tour, and I had nosebleed seats that time. I loved the show, and that Bob George effect is sick live!

Batdance said:

But Batdance... I thought places like KC were "starved" for a Prince show and that he should stop scheduling sold-out shows in DC, NY and ATL because members in the midwest get no perks?

Sounds to me like the 30 NPGMC members in KC got an intimate soundcheck... whereas the 200-300 members in DC and NY got crowded soundchecks with no personal interaction.

As a DC member, I think it's really unfair that people in KC get to talk personally to him up close. If this club thing is going to work, he can't only let members in places like KC get all the perks.

BanishedBrian said:

Brian the DC show I attended didn't have a soundcheck cause it was at midnight and Paula Poundstone was up before him. I'm in the midwest and he's only done two shows in one city in this area, Chicago and I was at the first one before I knew we could go to soundcheck. I think people in DC and NY get crowded soundchecks because people will travel up, meaning non DC or NY club members, and make a weekend of it. The Louisville soundcheck had about 150 people in and we still got to talk to him. I think it just depends on the atmosphere of the soundcheck. Indianapolis didn't have nearly as many people in it but for the most part it was a sedate crowd and they talked only sporadically. You're more than welcome to come visit Indiana next time through, I'd love to have more company as I convert those I know to the Prince family.

undefined

Prince cannot control everything!

If the DC show's soundcheck was crowded and the KC show wasn't, then he can't b held accountable 4 his popularity in each of these cities. The population will differ, the number of Prince fans will differ, the number of tickets sold will differ - If the soundcheck was less intimate than others because of the increased audience then I'm afraid thats 2 bad! U can't have everything! I live in the UK and havent seen him since 1998!

Dan said:

I agree 100%. My comment was a sarcastic reference to the whining from this thread about how Prince only gives the "perks" to people in DC, ATL, NY, LA, etc. while ignoring the midwest:

http://www.prince.org/msg...&tid=12259

Cool report dude!

I can see you had a great time there, but like you said about the piano medley:

"but I gotta say, I was getting a tad sleepy when he was doing the ballad medley thing. I think it was a mixture of hearing these songs so many times, plus it was just him and his keyboard, and one still blue light on him(at first this was cool, but this portion of the program I swear went on for like, at least 40 minutes, with no change in atmosphere or sound except for when songs(or shall I say, short interpretations of the songs) changed"


Do you think that Prince should make the medley a little shorter and play it maybe during the middle of the concert instead of the end? Or even play some lesser known songs?

Or would that completely change the set of the performance and thus not be a good idea?

.
[This message was edited Sun Apr 14 11:14:52 PDT 2002 by Abrazo]

did he do
anything after the concert ( after party )small cities dont get the after show so thats a bad perk for living in a small city where in DC they have after parties

"the lighting was top notch"thank fuck coz when u are witnessing the worlds greatest musician up in close quarters the lighting has to be on point!!!!

ps your email address is kinda cool...are u thinking of having it copyrighted?????
pps..your face looks familiar....didnt u take out jill dando and eat her or something?????