Pre-Concert
Friday morning was a bit bizarre for me. I’m on may way to work and the girl I was taking to the concert calls me and tells me that she won’t be able to go because she came down with the flu! (I saw her the next day and yeah, she looked awful.) Well I figured it would be fairly easy to call someone else up and take them to the concert. Boy, was I wrong! Fast forward to 3:00 p.m. and I still could not unload the extra ticket. (By this time I wasn’t looking for a date anymore I just didn’t want this ticket to go to waste) Well, at 4:45 p.m. I finally get a call from a friend of a friend of a friend, who tells me that she would love to go but she doesn’t have a ride and can’t go until 6:30 p.m. Let’s see, I have a 32 mile drive ahead of me on a Friday evening heading towards L.A. and I’m leaving at 6:30 p.m. Sure, I should get there in about 3 hours! First I miss the sound check and now I’m going to be late for the concert. Well, I pick her up and hoped for the best. She turned out to be a very nice person. It turns out this was her first Prince concert and she was very excited. She tried to get some tickets through Ticket Master but they were all sold-out. She asked to see the tickets but when I told her we would have to go to will-call and get wristbands she looked at me kind of strange. She even asked, “Are you sure we’re going to get in?” I had to laugh at that one! Well, we made it to the theater at 7:52 p.m. We rushed over to will-call and got our wristbands. She inquired about the laminated card we got but I told her she would find out about that later. We made our way in and picked out our seats and for arriving at such a late hour the seats were very good. As soon as we sat down, the concert began…..

The Concert
I’ve been trying to think of a way to accurately describe (review?), the concert on Friday night but I don’t think words could do justice to the show Prince put on that night. Let me just say that this man is truly amazing. Actually something I enjoyed just as much as the concert itself was the reaction of the fams there that night. The Kodak Theater is beautiful, and the sound was great. Everyone there had a great time. During the concert, the girl I took kept saying, “Now I now how my mom felt when she saw Elvis”. Man, she screamed her head off that night. Behind me was this guy who at one point called one of his friends and said, “Listen to this, this is what you’re missing.” During “The Everlasting Now” song I could hear another guy yelling, “This is major man, this is major!” Behind us there were also two very fine looking women (plastic boobs and clip-on curls, but who cares they were fine!) who kept screaming things like, “My panties are so wet” and “Oh my God, I want him so bad!” (Prince that is, not me unfortunately) They were great! Above and to the left of us were some balcony seats. In these seats were 3 rather large women. They were having a great time. They were yelling and screaming, jumping up and down. That balcony took a licking that night. They were having so much fun you couldn’t help but feed of their excitement as well. Prince even acknowledged them quickly at one point.

The band itself was great. Johnny B. seems to have 6 arms instead of two. This man can play. Candy was amazing! This is the first time I’ve seen her live. She is a very beautiful and talented sax player. (I hate to say this but I’m glad she was there and not… well, you know who) Prince seemed to be in a very playful mood. He did some very funny bits during the concert especially during “Adore”. Sure he did the “is it better to give or receive” bit, and he plugged his Music Club. But the way some people described it they made it seem (at least to me) like the show came to a standstill and Prince gave his speech or did his infomercial. Nothing could be further from this. The show is so smooth and tight, that when he does this it doesn’t interrupt from its flow. The 3-hour show flew by. He closed with “Anastasia” a perfect ending for a perfect show. I actually saw people crying during this song. Then the house lights went up and the after show was announced. So then, we headed on to the after-show….

The After Show
When they announced the after show the girl I took (Lori is her name) asked if I thought we’d be able to get in. The after party was held at a club just above the Kodak Theater. Didn’t even have to move my car. When we got there a line was forming and people were trying to get in. The bouncers were telling people to wait in line or checking to see if they were on the guest list. Lori took one look at the crowd and said, “Oh well, maybe next time”. But I told her that this is where the NPG Music Club laminate card would help. Sure enough, as soon as I showed my card to the bouncer, he let us right in. Damn that felt good! I even looked back to see the crowd of people, on the other side, waiting to get in. What took me by surprise was that the first line wasn’t the line to get into the club, it was just the first line to get to the second line. But it turned out ok, the second line was for Music Club members and it moved fairly quickly. We were in the club in about 5 minutes. At around 12:45, Prince came out and started to jam. He played songs that I’ve never heard before but man, were they great! Prince also played some classics: Girls and Boys, Peach, Raspberry Beret and others. Then Larry G. came out. I don’t care what people think about him, this man can play! He is truly a legend. He looked very sharp! At one point there was this woman on stage that I did not recognize. Prince said something about this being a family affair but I’m not sure who she was. Larry G’s wife?

At first I was dumb enough to try to get close to the stage to see The Man in action, but it was just to crowded. At one point I was actually squished up against that actor from Boogie Nights and The Count of Monte Cristo. The place wasn’t really that big so I figured that if I moved towards the back of the room I could still see Prince play and not be squished along with everyone else. I was right. I was talking to Lori when I heard Prince start to play “Love Bizarre” I thought it was kind of strange that he would play this song but I figured, “Cool, I’ll get to see his take on this song.” (I know he wrote it and semi-performed in it, but I’ve always considered it a Sheila E. song) Next thing I know the crowd starts going wild. I didn’t know why until I saw HER. Sheila E! Wow! Gorgeous! Candy, Sheila and Prince, my night was complete. She came out and jammed with the band for the rest of the night. Towards the end Prince had everyone chanting, “It ain’t over, it ain’t over”. But unfortunately it was over, (at least for me) I left at around 3:00 a.m. Six hours of Prince and his music. It truly was a beautiful night.

Wow, a great review! And the girl was amazed, wasn't she?

Thanks for the scoop and all the fun commentary.

Tooooo cute. LOL

Prince is the man!!! My first concert and I hated for it to end! The band was incredible!! There were monemts during the show where I truly felt hypnotized, as I think much of the audience did. Can't wait for the next one.....

Thank you for the review!

So are you and Lori going out again?

I dunno know if I could handle being that close to the stage and watch a concert like that, I might faint or somthin. I've been to the Park, and I barely made it thru those concerts.

I'm a member AND I hope to go the the concert here in Minneapolis.


Thank you for the great report, and glad you had a good time.


Peace & Love.....get free.....yeah.....



NPG MUUUUUsic CLUB.....

touche said:

and will there be a second date?
MS

How do you become a member. After the concert i found myself amongst a group of people who were looking for a promotional party. Security said you had to be on the list. I was soo close yet so far away. Please tell me how to become a member and get one of those cards!
[This message was edited Mon Apr 22 13:54:01 PDT 2002 by cruzmorfin]

cruzmorfin said:

Hey Cruzmorfin:

Just go to Prince's website Love4oneanother.com, and sign up, and don't worry, you'll be happy. Of course, you have to pay some "preferred money for a preferred membership", but it's worth it.

NPG MUSic CLUB.....YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.....
[This message was edited Mon Apr 22 14:41:31 PDT 2002 by touche]

I think it was great of you to take a stranger. I think you must have brought another Prince admirer into this crazy world called Org, hehehe.
Too bad for your sick friend though. She must feel bummed out TWICE.
Sick AND missing those great shows.