It all starts when my wife arranges for overnight babysitting and tells me we're going back to Vegas to see Prince for my birthday... Next thing I know we catch the 6:30p JetBlue out of JFK and it left 90 mins late. Almost completely freaked out because we had 10:30p dinner reservations and VIP table. JetBlue must have hyperdrive b/c the pilot got us off the plane by 10pm and by 10:35 we were ordering dinner. Sorry for those caught up in the JetBlue drama this week but I have to give it up to them on this one. As usual 3121 Jazz Cuisine Staff is the best. Merely had to ask for aftershow wristband and after $50 each (just like for NYE 12/29 show) we had pre-purchased wristbands in hand. Personally I thought that was much better than having to leave the show early to get squatters rights at the aftershow. This time I got to see all the encores and knew that we should have an aftershow spot in the music room. All that having been said, let’s just say that 12/29 and 2/17 were like different universes.

On to the setlist…

Spirituality
(Prince proclaims “y’all ain’t ready for me” and they all left the stage for about 5 mins. I know the horn section must hate those spiral stairs)
Johnny B Goode
7
Come Together (feat Will.I.Am from Black Eyed Peas)
Satisfied
Down by the Riverside (horns and Mr Hayes on organ) - during which Prince wanders thru the VIP area into the DJ booth but doesn’t do anything then proceeds to walk thru the rest of the VIP table area giving handshakes, and circles back to the stage, etc.
3121 (more Will.I.Am)
Girls and Boys
I Never Loved a Man (Shelby)
Love Changes (Shelby)
Sugar Mama (Shelby)
What a Wonderful World (Maceo and Renato)
If I was your Girlfirend
Pink Cashmere
Lolita
Black Sweat
Kiss
Encore 1 – Purple Rain
Encore 2 – Let’s Go Crazy

The place was packed and Prince seemed to be a bit more into it than on 12/29 when it was maybe 80% full but had a more hardcore fan base. This was more the “I came to hang out for All Star Weekend and I heard the guy that does Purple Rain is performing” crowd. Oh and I think it was Stripper Night Off because they were all there too (shouts to my table). I heard waaay too much pole-talk…fascinating. But still everyone was pretty juiced and Prince seemed to feed off of it. He sort of had that “oh sh—“ look like at the SuperBowl. It must be nice to have that affect on people. In a nutshell it was a very “y’all ain’t ready for me” show.

Now for the aftershow…

12/29 was an experience in itself just for having been at the aftershow and to be 5 feet away from Prince and the band, but THIS aftershow was completely nuts. First the VIP situation was stressful. Now you have to line up in the VIP line (the $50 wristband line) but you can still stand in the regular aftershow line and hope there will be space (shouts to those who were sitting outside the restaurant at 10:30, you guys are fans to the n-th degree and if was local I’d be sitting there with you every weekend). This particular night there were wristband VIPs (es2v and I) and a seemingly endless list of NBA/Friends of the Band/I’m-with-that-Dude-who-knows-Mike-Phillips people who basically jump all lines and got let in first. Of course I’m like “whoa…hol’ up a second, I’ma have to fight somebody up in here”… But as it turned out they mostly ended up in the restaurant area and the 3121 crew reconfigured the music room and wedged as many folks into the small and rather dark room as they possibly could. This would turn out to be a good thing.

Again much thanks to the 3121 Jazz Cuisine folks, they stay up late make sure the fans have a great experience (Saundra and Kip are the best). I was told that about 40 extra people had to be wedged into the music room but that all the wristband folks were still taken care of (and I think we were). Apparently they had to make room for the likes of Dave Chappelle (never actually saw him but the room was really dark), Will.I.Am, Queen Latifah, Doug E Fresh, Talib Kweli (all but Chappelle were spotted.)

So here we go. 3am and the music room is all dark and PACKED. The band starts into the “do you love live music?” jazz improv set led by Mike Phillips (similar to 12/29). After about 15-20 mins they pause and the Mike Philly “alter ego” makes an appearance and decides “time to get a little crunk in here”. Mike starts beatboxing, Cora picks up the beat on drums, Mike starts freestyling with “Can I Kick It?” (who knew the sax man had rhymes?) and the band joins in hip-hop style with Prince on the keyboard adding various flavas. Out of nowhere Doug E. Fresh takes the mic and starts beatboxing and then jumps into his regular MC call and response thing as only “the world’s greatest entertainer” can. Mike Philly apparently carries around a vocoder in his pocket as well because he began to channel his best Roger Troutman moments throughout. From this point it basically turns into an old-fashioned sweaty basement house party (yes, sweaty); freestyles (Doug E. Fresh, Talib Kweli, Will. I.Am), vocoder riffs, Prince on the keys, classic hip hop refains and chants. For an hour they touch on (soft of a setlist but it was really more like a live mixtape):
I Aint No Joke
Flava in Ya Ear
Pass the Peas
Inspector Gadget (Prince plays the infamous keyboard line himself)
Ay Yo – Aight
Brick House (few times)
Flashlight
One Nation Under a Groove
Sweet Thing – Shelby
Crazy – Shelby
Sugar Mama – Shelby
Then more jazz/funk improv.

2 SOLID hours. It would have been better if we could have just moved the tables and chairs. They weren’t being used and were only in the way. I think they figured out a way to get everyone into the restaurant in some fashion because it was packed. Although we were in the music room, I’d guess that it was great even in the regular restaurant area. It was definitely loud enough.

At about 5am it was over. We went to the Venetian got some breakfast, made our way back to the airport and caught the 10:30 back to JFK. 12 hours. All worth it. Best birthday gift ever. Felt like Hannibal from the A-Team…I love it when a plan comes together.

Excellant report, thanks!!! Hope you have the day off tomorrow to recover!

and Happy Birthday!
[Edited 2/18/07 21:37pm]

Wow what a birthday I don't think you could have spent it any better Thanks for the report sounds amazing!!!!

Wow, loved reading that review! Sounds wild! Glad U had a good expeience w/ the aftershow! Peace & thank you.

Sounds like a great time, thanks for the post!

Question about getting the aftershow wristband, did you do the VIP dinner package or dinner & general show admission? I'm wondering if anyone dining in the restaurant can buy them or only the VIP package people.

Great report, when you said it was like an old-fashioned basement party, it reminded me of the show at "Butter Restaurant" in NYC when Prince gave a show for npgmc members last year on the evening after the GMA performance in NYC. It was a very small room, and a lot of us stood no more than 1 1/2 feet in front of Prince and his band for about 4 hours watching Prince perform just enjoying the atmosphere of partying with his fans. It was like being invited to a family reunion in Prince's living room. Glad you had a fantastic time!
[Edited 2/19/07 5:20am]

OMG!!!

I love when Doug E. Fresh takes the mic!!!!!

Now THAT sounds like fun.

You have enormous shoes to fill for your wife's birthday.

lizlampkin said:

OMG that is THE TRUTH!!!

Your wife.... You are certainly blessed

It was a great aftershow but Friday's was better and longer even more high energy IMO. But hey, it was still da bomb and his band is CRAZY and Cora is an AWESOME drummer love that girl. I spoke with her after the Sunday show in the restaurant and she was so sweet. I can't believe how much weight she's lost in the year she's been playing with Prince. She's a lil waif now. But she's still got the power and I love her drumming style. These aftershows have been a true gift.

Come Together? the Beatles song?

NDRU said:

As much as Come Together with a Will.I.Am rap verse and a funk band can resemble The Beatles Come Together...uh, yeah, that's the one. He did a lot of covers in this set and actually I'd have to say that Love Changes might have been the best song of the night (Shelby really killed it). It was nice to get an almost completely different set. That didn't happen on the Musicology tour...at least not for me. 3 shows, 3 different cities, 90% the same tunes and no opener (no, I'm not bitter, not at all ).

Oh and I forgot this tidbit, Mr. Nelson slipped on the stairs coming down the right-side crowd platform. He played it off so well that I can't even really say that he busted his a-- (but the kinda did). Amazing how he can perform flawlessly in the driving rain in Miami but the 3121 platform stairs got the best of him...go figure. I don't know anything about the guitars not working and all that (show seemed great to me), but the person in charge of putting grip tape on the stairs...now that cat is flippin' chicken this week for sure.

dgroovy said:

Is THAT what that is???? I kept reading how they've been doing Come Together (which is one of my favorite Beatles song cuz it's so funky and all), but I didn't recognize it at ALL and I can't understand anything he's saying. I hate the way he rhymes maybe cuz I hate what the Black-Eyed Peas have become. They used to be the bomb 10 years ago now they're just pandering to the pop audience. But I guess they gotta get P-A-I-D.
[Edited 2/21/07 6:13am]

They did Come Together in December and it was a much more straightforward version with Prince on lead vocals with Shelby. The one on the 17th was just kinda bugged with the whole Will intro,

2elijah said:

Yep. I was thinking the same thing.