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Monday, June 17, 2002
Over the rainbow
Prince preaches message as fans soak up Purple Rain

By ANN MARIE McQUEEN, Ottawa Sun

PRINCE got reacquainted with his aging Ottawa fans last night in a feel-the-love kind of concert which ended in a short sermon from the newly-converted Jehovah's Witness.

The music was so good, no one seemed to mind.

The 44-year-old -- formerly known as a supremely talented pop star and then, for a brief time, as an unpronounceable symbol -- blasted into the National Arts Centre last night. From five rows away he didn't look a day older than when he pouted his way across the big screen in Purple Rain almost two decades ago.

I'd wager for most of the crowd who nearly filled Southam Hall -- those in their 30s and 40s who likely haven't picked up a Prince CD since 1993's The Hits 1 and 2 -- it took almost two hours to hear a Prince song they recognized. And even then it was just a quick burst of a joyful Take Me With You and the upbeat Raspberry Beret, until encore time.

But they didn't care, spending most of the three-hour concert on their feet for jazz, soul and blues tunes heavy on sax and guitar jams and new outlets for that funky falsetto we fell for so long ago.

It's a good thing too, for at $99-150 a pop, tickets to Prince and his powerful band don't come cheap.

BROUGHT OUT HITS

The purple one, who incidentally wore a purple suit for most of the show with a white shirt, collar up (how '80s!), opened his show with the title track from his latest album, Rainbow Children. Though he told the crowd early on to "surrender your expectations, for those of you who expected to get your Purple Rain on tonight," he later sang the 1984 hit.

"So many hits, so little time," he purred at one point.

Things hit a frenzied note in 1+1+1=3, also off the latest album, then quickly changed gears with Rollercoaster, the old hit most recently covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

At times the first two hours of the show felt like a Grateful Dead-style free-for-all, and Prince made it clear the band was enjoying the show as much as the audience.

"Ottawa, we're just having fun, you can all go home if you want to," he shouted.

SENSUAL MOVES

"Sexy!!!" screamed out one female fan, summing up the allure of this slight, unlikely sex symbol. Though Prince has reportedly found religion, he still oozed sensuality every time he came in contact with something else -- be it a fan, keyboard, guitar or mic stand.

The audience went crazy as original Sly and the Family Stone member Larry Graham walked up on stage to sing A Simple Song. They also helped Prince belt out a surprising version of James Taylor's You've Got a Friend.

This was Prince with a message, railing against corporate conglomerate-ownership of radio stations, racism and people who just can't get along.

The music stopped when Prince urged everyone to "agree" as a sort of way to world peace, then prompted the audience to go home, "pick up your Bibles, New World Translation ... learn it, love it."

"Yeah, Jehovah," screamed an enamoured fan, proving when it comes to the most recent version of His Royal Purpleness, the audience hasn't missed a beat.

PRINCE

National Arts Centre

'FREE-FOR-ALL!'

Sun Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5

-ANN MARIE McQUEEN, SUN

concert sounds like it was great, but I think it's sad that Prince is urging his fans to read only ONE version of the Bible, the version that JWs read...if he had just said "read the bible" that would be okay...why cant we read any version of the Bible we want?