Prince fans get a royal surprise
Pop legend performs at Winnipeg nightclub

-Winnipeg Free Press, June 8, 2002

by DINAH CLARKSON

You could say he just wanted to throw himself a birthday party, but as a Jehovah's Witness, Prince, who turned 44 yesterday, isn't big on celebrating birthdays.

Maybe he just loves Winnipeg.

Either way, about 400 fans benefited from the pop icon's generous mood as he treated them to a surprise show at Le Rendez-Vous on Tache Avenue early yesterday morning - just a few hours after he completed his two-and-a-half hour scheduled set at the Walker Theatre Thursday night.

Rumours were circulating in the city Thursday afternoon that a second show might go ahead. An announcement was made at the end of the Walker show that an "official afterparty" was being held at Le Rendez-Vous, but there was no mention made of Prince taking the stage.

Around the same time, TV and radio stations were giving both confirmed and unconfirmed reports that the 1 a.m. show would happen.

By 11:30 p.m., the line at Le Rendez-Vous was already long and the security guards were everywhere, so there was no mistaking something was going on.

"There was just this buzz," says Winnipegger Kenton Larsen, who headed over to St. Boniface after leaving the Walker. "A friend who works at the bar said he'd heard this was happening, then it was on the radio, so we thought we'd come down."

Bobbette Shoffner was at her home in her pajamas when she flipped on the radio around 11 p.m. and heard the news.

"I just called my friend and got dressed and came down," she said. "I'm a fan. I've got the CD collection."

Though tickets for the Walker show went for $150, those who showed up at Le Rendez-Vous paid only $30, with money going to Prince's own charity, Love 4 One Another, which benefits underprivileged kids.

Asked if that miffed him at all, Larsen said not really.

"It would've been nice if they'd have let people with ticket stubs from the Walker in for free," he said. "But the people just coming [to Le Rendez-Vous] aren't going to see the whole thing."

True. While the folks at the Walker got a select few hits
- Prince played mostly newer material - those who got into Le Rendez-Vous didn't get any.

Prince sang covers of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love and Bill Withers' Ain't no Sunshine, but the rest of his 90-minute set, which wrapped up around 3:15 a.m., was full of extended, blistering guitar solos and long, funky jams with his five-piece backup band.

According to staff at Le Rendez-Vous, the late-night show was organized Wednesday afternoon.

"They first contacted us around 4 p.m. and it was finalized that night," said communications officer Michelle Savard.

"Apparently, Prince is just big on his fans and wanted to do another, more intimate show. It was a way for him to have closer contact with them.

Prince played Whole Lotta Love..woohoo! White man music too..well OK Led Zeppelin based it on an old blues song but who cares!!! I gotta hear him do Zep..that is so damn cool.

alexandrnevrmind said:

WAOOO!This after sounds great,I hope 1day I could see him play the Led Zep cover "whole lotta love"...