Hi! I just got back from one of the most memorable Prince experiences I have ever had. I live in Michigan and I have had this weekend trip to Toronto planned since the begining of May. When the Toronto show was announced in late May on one of the days that I was going to be in town I was estatic that I would be able to see this tour again. I have already seen two shows( Saginaw and Detroit) and thought it would be great to see it again. I arrived at the theatre around noon joined by 20 other people armed with chairs and umbrellas to battle the onslaught of rain. Their was already a list made and I have to thank the guy that was taking care of that list because he did an excellent job(sorry I forgot your name). Everybody was really cool and I had a chance to make new friends. I did make enemies with some of Torontos best bums( some bum actually asked me if I could help his friend out with his stinky feet problem.).Prince says in concert that it's always better to give than to receive, so I gave that guy a swift kick in the ass. Just kidding.
So anyways they let everyone in for the soundcheck around 5:35. Right when i walked through the theater doors I could not believe what I was hearing. And no, it was not Lemon Crush being sung by Larry Graham. It was ELEPHANTS AND FLOWERS. I quickly grabbed my front row seat and stood in awe of what I was hearing. This had to be the first time publicly that this song has ever been played. I know theres a rehearsal from 91 with Rosie Gaines singing but beyond that I think it's safe to say that this was the first. This song kicks ass live. The arrangement sounded like a cross between the studio version and the way he does Strange Relationship live on this tour. The horns in this song really gave it alot more life. Prince was in a great mood and he really looked like he enjoyed playing it and watching the crowds drop jaw look on their faces. After a full version of that song Prince went right into a full blown rip-roaring complete version of BAMBI. The guitar solo was rather extended and Prince gave the audience his classic guitar face while he was playing it. I thought i heard the highlight of the soundcheck with elephants and flowers but what can next almost made me do a underneath the cream in my jeans. Prince went right into Led Zepplins classic WHOLE LOTTA LOVE. You are not going to believe how unfuckenbelievable his version sounds. This song has so much energy when he performs it that I think his cover version of this song will go down being a Prince classic live song. Some people in the audience went totally nuts when he went into this ( I included). I gave Prince a big thumbs up and he replied back to me with a huge smile on his face. In this lifetime I never expected Prince to sing "I wanna be your back door man". The song lasted about 12 minutes and had a really cool bass break down during the middle of the song peppered with some incredible guitar work. This song grooves. I'm sure this is going to be a big hit at the celebration. Prince then went to the keyboards and started playing PEARLS B4 THE SWINE. This was the whole song but instrumental. Very nice horn and sax solos add nicely to the arrangement. Prince then went into THE GHETTO. It was mostly instrumental with Prince playing the keyboards. Then what came next was a rather cool Xenophobia styled jam. At first I thought it was a song from Xenophobia but right when I heard " In France There Was a Man" I could not believe he was doing a psychadelic jazz version of SIGN O THE TIMES. This was like a 15 minute jazz oddessy. Prince kept repeating in his lower and softer voice " Toting a machine gun" He kept on vibing with that for minute and then went into a very angry styled keybaord jam. I hope he does this at the celebration because people are just going to dig it. After sign of the times, Prince then returned to the mic and Takumi handed him a bass. This bass is a black with a cool little design with a mirror under the pickups. He then went into DAYS OF WILD. During the part when Prince says " God Bless America" after that he said not tonite. He repeated that like 4 times. Even though we were in Canada I thought that was rather tacky and not cool. Larry Graham came on stage with bass in hand sporting all white and a pair of Jerusalem joggers. Man that guys got some funky toes. They jammed on that for about 10 minutes and the crowd got really into it. Larry of course was also sporting a bad case of bass face. There was also a really lame chant of "Free the Slave and Play that Bass". I kept looking for slaves but I couldn't find any. Do you think if you actually did free a slave the first thing he would want to do is play bass with Larry Graham. Yeah, I didn't think so either. This soundcheck was absolutely AMAZING!!! There was so many highlights that it's hard to just pick one. The soundcheck lasted around 80 minutes. After days of wild Prince left the stage and that was that. No questions just some great playing and thats absolutely fine with me.
Peace
BIG CHICK
ps
Always remember Big Chick Huntsberry.

Bravo, great review.I'm jealous, I hope I could see 1 of this soundcheck in Europe, especially the Led Zeppelins cover!Finally Prince play a Zeppelin tune,that's incredible and fantastic...

"real music , by real musicians".

was there an aftershow, i know they announced an afterparty, but i didn't think p would play so i did not go...

There was an afterparty at this club called "The red drink".First of all, it was hard to find. I thought Prince was going to be there so I went. That was a mistake. First of all, Even though we had the laminate, still had to wait in line, then I got in and it was way too crowded. You could barely walk anywhere. And the music was way too loud, and there were plenty of rude people gulping booze and dancing where they stood. Then it turned out Prince was not even there. That was it for me. I was gone.

Nice review! You are making me so jealous, I want to hear Whole Lotta Love, too! Must be incredible...Prince, what about a surprise download!

front row? where were you? whats yer name, if u dont mind me asking. samantha and i had the first to seats in the stage-right section, from centre.

Also as for the afterparty, i found the club pretty cozy. Granted we were the first P-conert ppl there so we waltzed right in, and the dj turned that god awful dance crap off once a significant number of us showed up.

Awesome night.

Bob



I think Prince showed up after 3, but same old thing.

BigChick said:

"front row? where were you? whats yer name, if u dont mind me asking. samantha and i had the first to seats in the stage-right section, from centre."
I was in seat 5 & 6 with my friend. I was the guy with the leopard cowboy hat and orange sunglasses that danced on stage. Prince also gave me that percussion instrument thingy too. That show was awesome. Does anybody have that show on video. I really want since I was on stage, and will reward someone greatly for it.
Peace
Big Chick

Great review! Thanks...

BigChick said:

You were great on stage. Thank you for making me relive this fantastic soundcheck.