Prince still reigns but not in purple
No-frills, bare-bones musician, jazzy and religious

Nick Lewis
Calgary Herald


Monday, June 03, 2002

Prince has dropped some of his spicier material.

Review

Prince at the Jubilee Auditorium Sunday night.

Attendance: About 2,100.

Prince is dead. Long live Prince.

The artist formerly known as The Artist, formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, is now just. . . Prince.

But how different the kingdom since he last roamed it.

His purple reign has ended, the world music press have unsewn their tongues from the back of his trousers, and his latest disc, The Rainbow Children, in music-speak, is tanking.

He has converted to a Jehovah's Witness and hence reportedly no longer performs about 50 of his more explicit songs live (including Cream and Little Red Corvette), has severed his relationship with his record company, disconnected himself from the media machine and hasn't charted a single since 1994's The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.

It's easy to assume the Purple One is washed up.

Yet the day 43-year old Prince Rogers Nelson dropped news of a last-minute cross-Canada ballroom tour two weeks ago, Calgarians worked themselves into a frenzy to find $125 to re-enter a world where it's always 1984, and people party like its 1999. Nostalgics may have been disappointed because this was no greatest hits tour.

One Nite Alone With Prince: A Man and His Music, showcases the newest incarnation of the flamboyant musician, who now performs a litany of no-frills, bare-bones funk jam sessions in lavender-splashed ballrooms -- mostly material from his 23rd album, the jazzy and religious Rainbow Children.

Drenched from spring showers, fans were greeted by an army of black-garbed security who searched them thoroughly for cameras and recording equipment -- Herald photographers were also barred from shooting the "once-in-a-lifetime" event.

Garbed ceiling to floor in purple crushed velvet, shone by an array of lavender spotlights, the stage was flanked by three viewing screens across which clouds and other graphics breezed by.

Backed by a five-piece band and special guests Maceo Parker and Candy Dulfer on saxophone, and drummer John Blackwell, Prince looked smart in a grey single-breasted suit and a grey wool tuque.

"For those of you who expected to get your Purple Rain on, you're in the wrong house," was how he greeted the audience, before leading his band into one of many funk jams.

Spending the majority of the concert covering jazz excursions most of the audience were unfamiliar with, Prince never let them down.

When he burst into excellent covers of the Ohio Players' Love Rollercoaster, the Delfonics' La-La Means I Love You or Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know, he got screams Justin Timberlake would envy. And when he threw down favourite Raspberry Beret, it just got louder.

True, like many, I was disappointed he didn't break into sensual tracks such as Sexy M.F. or Cream. Like Al Green, R. Kelly and Little Richard, Prince has juggled the religious and profane worlds, but his latest decision to drop some of his spicier material hasn't hurt his showmanship, at least nothing Calgary fans would indicate.

Prince still rules.