Not only was Elton John there -- he sang The Long and Winding Road as the first encore of the evening.

I'm too exhausted too write a full review now. (I'm on about three hours of sleep.) But other than that...

At the aftershow, Sheila E joined Prince and the band for Oye Como Va, Mongo Santamaria's Afro Blue, and an absolutely off the friggin' chain jam on Get On the Boat.

Also at the aftershow, I was standing close enough to Prince to pick his pocket.More later. Right now I'm deciding whether to delay flying back...so I can do it all again tonight.

Please don't tell me that Prince and Elton were on one stage together.....please not.....if so, he really has become a Vegas-act....

abierman said:

I kinda like it. Maybe you have never seen Elton live. Liberace he ain't

Now dig this...apparentally he performed 'Wasted Kisses' at the aftershow.

Not only was Elton John there -- he sang The Long and Winding Road as the first encore of the evening.

I'm too exhausted too write a full review now. (I'm on about three hours of sleep.) But other than that...

At the aftershow, Sheila E joined Prince and the band for Oye Como Va, Mongo Santamaria's Afro Blue, and an absolutely off the friggin' chain jam on Get On the Boat.

Also at the aftershow, I was standing close enough to Prince to pick his pocket.
More later. Right now I'm deciding whether to delay flying back...so I can do it all again tonight.

Please don't tell me that Prince and Elton were on one stage together.....please not.....if so, he really has become a Vegas-act....

abierman said:

You don't know what you're talking about. It was great.

Okay...so...Friday was a very looooong night. But Prince definitely got me Satisfied.

We started with dinner at 3121 Jazz Cuisine. Got there early for our reservation. They weren't quite ready for us when we walked in, but as we were getting a glass of wine, the hostess came over and said she could seat us.

We were in the main dining room. It wasn't terribly full when we got there, but the hostess put us right next to two gentlemen -- one of whom looked vaguely familiar. As soon as I heard his accent, I knew it was Swa. He was with Purplelectric from HQ. Very nice guys -- Sweetie and I had a great time chatting and "racing" dinner with them. (They'd gotten there a little earlier and their first courses arrived just as we were sitting down. But eventually we caught up. )

The food was excellent. The service was polite and efficient, but not overbearing. It was a great start to the evening.

Afterward, we made our way over to the club for the show. We were seated around 10:15, which left us with a bit of a wait. But DJ Rashida was spinning tunes, which were accompanied by great vintage video of legendary Black entertainers (including Josephine Baker, Bill Robinson, Lena Horne, and Cab Calloway). It was amazing how the videos meshed with the (mostly) Prince music being played.

I've seen people on other boards criticize the job Rashida does at these shows, but I thought she did great. I don't know whether she is the one who put together the entire show (music and video), but she kept it rolling and really got the crowd worked up. Nearly every song that came on elicited excited "ooohs" and "ahhhhs" from the house -- which was packed.

As it got closer to show time, the video accompaniment became more "Princely," though it was still random. Finally, they played the testimonial video from his induction into the UK Hall of Fame...and then it was on. The curtain went up...and we heard the opening strains of "Joy in Repetition."

One of the Twinz preceded him out the sort of "garage" door that comprises the back of the set. And then...Prince. He had on a black, knee-length coat, a white shirt with pleated ruffles alolng the front placket, and black trousers. The hair was divoon.

He didn't play guitar for the first part of the song -- that was the part (I'm sure someone has written about in the past) where he and "Twin" sing and sort of act it out. I don't think it really works -- especially when they get to the part about "in the alley over by the curb" because there's absolutely no physical contact between them. They just kind of stand there. But anyway...

He came to the edge of the stage then and went into his usual blistering guitar. It was awesome (as it always is), but seemed shorter than I've seen it in the past. That may be the result of trying to "middle ground" it.

From there, he went into the rocked out "Anotherlover..." he played for the Super Bowl presser (yes, even the part where he played the guitar around Miss Twin again). This is one of my favorite songs...so I was thrilled to hear it again live.

Now, I have to crib a bit from Swa's review at HQ because I don't keep setlists. From here, he played "7," The Beatles' "Come Together," and "Girls and Boys" -- all of which got the crowd very whipped up. Imagine a packed house doing the "hand dance" from the G&B scene in UTCM. It was quite a sight.

He slowed things down a bit with "Satisfied." He walked through the top tier of VIP, coming within about two feet of me. (Breathe, Genesia...breathe...)

He proceeded to the back of the house, where he sang the rest of the song, then launched into "Down by the Riverside" as he made his way through the top tier of the other side of the house. As the band took off on a jam, Prince left the stage briefly, changing only his coat -- to a slightly shorter black one with a stylized, mirror-image "3121" wrapping around both sides.

The change was fitting -- because at this point, he played a rollicking "Lolita," followed immediately by "Black Sweat," which continues to amaze me in its live form.

I sensed that he didn't want to get too deeply into 3121 mode at that point, because he swung right into a rocked-out version of "Kiss" -- much to the delight of the audience. From there...it was "Musicology" and oh, baby -- was there a lot of booty shaking going on at that point. (Not just mine, either.) He could have sung the ABCs at that point and the house would've given him a Grammy for it -- he had everyone right where he wanted them.

The band jammed on "Pass the Peas" for a bit, as Prince left the stage for another wardrobe change. It was a full one this time -- he came back in a fire-engine, lawdhavemuhcy red suit that almost killed me. (Ain't no color I love on that man more than red.) He had his spare change on his collar and cuffs again and even though I've dogged that look in the past, I didn't even care.

He took things down at that point with the "Gotta Broken Heart Again." People, this is the jam. He stripped that song down to its bittersweet essence. If you ever have the good fortune to hear this live, you will be moved to tears. Sweetie actually had to hand me a napkin from the table.

He didn't keep us "there" for long, though -- bringing the tempo back up with "Cream," "U Got the Look," and after a shout out to Elton John (who was sitting in a booth at the back of the house), "3121."

Prince then left the stage and we all got ready for the encores that were sure to follow. Suddenly, there's a commotion and we realize that Elton John is on his way to the stage. He came right past us -- and Sweetie shook his hand, which made his night (Sweetie's, not Sir Elton's ). "Do you think he'll sing?" we asked each other. And sho nuff...

Suddenly, Elton is onstage and does a beautiful take on "The Long and Winding Road." He was in excellent voice and the crowd was completely enthralled and enraptured.

Afterward...our man was back to cap the evening with a "heaven help us" version of "Crazy." People were just going nuts -- dancing and singing along. He left us wanting more with a rendition of "Nothing Compares 2 U" that had me blubbering again. (Napkin, please... )

And then...The Aftershow. Stay tuned.
[Edited 2/11/07 14:28pm]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! What a great report, I have goosebumps just from reading it!!! Sheila?? OMFG is right!!!! did you even know she was in town at that point?
[Edited 2/11/07 16:19pm]

It was a night of absolute magic. Hard to imagine anything topping it -- ever.

Great review Genesia, I was at this aftershow as well was in line since 1:00am and was able to get into the main room, I was seated in the back booths against the wall. It was very dark in there, I am a little selfish and want to be able to see Prince, but the music was awesome. A lot of people, VIP's I guess, were let into the main room before the people that were in line and I just thought that was wrong but thats just he way things are done I guess. If you can get into this show do it it's great!!!!!

Great review Genesia, I was at this aftershow as well was in line since 1:00am and was able to get into the main room, I was seated in the back booths against the wall. It was very dark in there, I am a little selfish and want to be able to see Prince, but the music was awesome. A lot of people, VIP's I guess, were let into the main room before the people that were in line and I just thought that was wrong but thats just he way things are done I guess. If you can get into this show do it it's great!!!!!