I got there shortly after 4 o'clock. Almost immediately, some guy came over - NPN I guess...All I heard was "You're Aerogram? I'm Billy!"Errrr.. Bobby...No wonder I wasn't sure if you were NPN
He explained the whole entrance ritual to my friend. Inside, all the members lined up and down a staircase. It was fun watching people climb up and down and start conversations. I didn't recognize anyone, and could decipher none of the brouhaha, so I just enjoyed sweating with everyone in the stairs. We were flanked by two pairs of men - not sure if they were gay, but it felt cozy.

Walking in the soundcheck, there was a blaze of yellows and Prince and the band were performing what I eventually recognized as "Elephants & Flowers" Everyone was on their feet and I knew right there and then that no one would get numb buns from too much sitting that night. I didn't expect Prince to perform at the aftershow, so I had already guessed it would be far more music than talk, and I sure got what I predicted, but FAR more than I expected. The soundcheck was a full-fledged concert. Not only did we hear Bambi, but also Dorothy Parker, DOW (twice) and Sign O the times. I loved Pearls before the swine! In fact, the soundcheck substantially changed the new-old songs ratio, to the point where the TRC and ONA material seemed sandwiched between healthy doses of more familiar fare -- call it a Hit n Run/ONA combo... sorta.

The "real" concert... We were in the third row in front of an obscenely tall couple. Whoever you are, you both have lovely shoulders.. . Naturally, I could only see shapes and whatever was large enough on the screens, but I had my binocular-glasses with me. Am I glad I brought those. I felt self-conscious wearing them, so I had them on only a few times, but thanks to them I saw the band at work -- Maceo, Greg, Rhonda John Blackwell, Renato.. these guys are the absolute best! I felt priviledged to hear them, especially Maceo. As for Prince, I didn't want to look at him through binoculars unless he was far away, at the piano. It was all classic Prince moves and facial expressions. I was struck by the fine lounge theatre he delivered during songs like The Other Side of the Pillow and of course the piano medley.

The atmosphere inside Massey Hall was absolutely incredible. It's a cliché to say a Prince concert is like a religious experience, but last night the cliché was as true as it gets with 2500 people hollering and clapping like a large congregation of Southern Baptists after a particularly sinful Mardi Gras. Prince pulled all the stops and then some. He didn't talk to this crowd as much as he did at other stops, but the bound he achieved through music and performance was undeniable. Everyone spent more than half the concert on their feet, shaking that ass, stomping and clapping. Young and not so young, dressed up and dressed down, sexy and chaste, excited and quietly attentive... all the extremes were there, but somehow everyone got what they wanted out of this incredible show, including my somewhat reluctant firend, who got swept up like everybody else.

All I can say is... thank you, Prince, and please come back as often as you can. And a big "merci" to the NewPowerNorth folks and especially Bobby for welcoming us all to the venue.

Edited due to.. huh.. why don't you read the thread?
[This message was edited Sun Jun 16 8:15:29 PDT 2002 by Aerogram]

cool.

Thanks man.

Aerogram said:

Aerogram,

It was Bobby!
Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you! Ronny and I were talking about that you were going to be there, but we didn't know who you were! Anyway, sometime soon I hope!

Great! Love it to read reports, I can live with you that moments! Thank you!

FunkyMan said:

I should have brought the beanie or worn a t-shirt with my avatar. As for not hearing Bobby's name correctly, that is typical for me. Sorry I didn't attempt to strike up any conversations with people around me, but I stood no chance, especially in all that noise. I had a wonderful time and it was great to be experiencing the music with other fans. There were some crazy MFs in the first row lol.

Aerogram said:

I was one of them crazy MFs in the first row I saw you before the concert, but it was just so loud I wasn't sure if I should have approached you to say hi. Glad you had a good time

Samantha said:

I saw like, six or seven women that I thought could be you, so it was a little confusing, hehe..

Aerogram said:

Maybe you'll remember me from the shirt I was wearing... or I should say lack of Was the gal wearing a backless piece of cloth that was held together by fishing wire... got a lot of attention good and bad from my fashion choice last night

Samantha said:

Samantha,

I saw you (obviously - I'm a guy). I thought you were Bob's date! You looked great!

Samantha said:

Yes!... You looked smashing.

Hey, Aero, what did you think of that bald usher that was up on stage? (The one Prince said, "Wait a minute - you're dancing too sexy!") You think he was straight?

FunkyMan said:

You never know (hey, did you know Patrick Swayze is straight?), but let's just say he looked gay to me even with my eyes wide shut.

Thanks Aero for the wonderful review glad
you had a good time. 8)

FunkyMan said:

Let's pretend she was, shell we

And Aero, not to worry about my name. Most ppl thought i was npg staff and asking me for seat upgrades!!!

Bob

NewPowerNorth said:

And Aero, not to worry about my name. Most ppl thought i was npg staff and asking me for seat upgrades!!!


Heh...I thought you were Samnation... But at least I didn't ask you for an upgrade.

NewPowerNorth said:

how do u manage Bobby?

Thanks for the review Aero!

Thanks for the review Aero... glad you enjoyed the show.

ELECTRICINTERCOURSE said:

thats enough outta you!

Bob

Thanks for the review, Aero. I'm so glad you had a good time!