Oh, but I think he does belong in Vegas, it's always a party, you can always catch a flight there from anywhere at almost anytime, and no matter how outrageous or eccentric Prince decides to be, he won't get criticized by the goofballs in this world because after all, it's Vegas, and anything goes!
Aside from it's shortcomings, Vegas is so much easier than other places he could be like fake-ass LA and rude/expensive-ass NY and newchic-ass Miami, please don't flame me, I have great friends in all 3 cities, but Vegas is, well, Vegas man! And Prince has brought new class to the city for sure!!!

FROM SBACON1999 (Posted over at HQ)



Whew! Almost 7am here in Vegas and I’m just too keyed up to sleep. This weekend was a perfect example of how Prince can play almost exactly the same setlist but put on two very different shows. Tonight’s show was off the hook – definitely one of the most memorable shows of his I have seen. On to the details…

The band had another long rehearsal today, starting around 5pm and not wrapping up until about 8:30. The lines were held outside to wait for the rehearsal to end. Once we were in the venue, DJ Rashida started her set at 10 and it was a good one. Similar to the night before but different enough to not make it stale. She ended with the usual Adore and then the UK Hall of Fame video was played. Cue Beyonce’s intro and the Linn drum machines to DMSR started up. The band went right into a great version and right off the bat, we knew Prince was in great spirits. He was grinning ear to ear, teasing us (Do you love me?) and taking his time with the song, extending it into a 7 or 8 minute jam.

My highlight of the night – hearing the new song “Somewhere Here on Earth”, a beautiful, soulful ballad with absolutely gorgeous vocals. I’m not great at describing songs so I won’t even try, but suffice to say that I can’t WAIT (and I’m praying and hoping!) that this becomes available soon in whatever format. It was a love song but not a sexual one, and from the lyrics I think it was about despite everything that Prince and his lover go through, they will be together somewhere on earth (It had nothing to do with the lyrics from his NAACP speech). After he played it, he asked “Did u like it?” It was very sweet. And of course the answer was a resounding YES! Prince, please release this yesterday!!

Throughout the show, Prince was energetic, teasing, and having a great time. He spent more time than usual circling the VIP tables, taking the mic with him and cueing the band from the dark. He got up on one of the risers usually reserved for the Twinz to dance with the crowd. And ithink he threw about 8 towels into the audience. Satisfied was yet again a highlight, and the band had great fun on Down by the Riverside, Pass the Peas and Musicology, all three going into extended jams with fantastic horn work. Those guys just have so much fun up there! There is a new trumpet player, also there last night, named Lee Hogan. He fit in just fine.

Another highlight of the show was watching my fiend Monique get personally picked by Prince to get up on stage to dance and be helped up by him on stage! Monique held her own up there, dancing with a Twin and then by herself on the speaker. At one point, Prince looked her way and sad “We doing okay honey?” She was in heaven!!! All told she was up there for about 8 minutes with Prince performing an extended Musicology. Suffice to say I was not shocked to hear Monique say “This is the BEST show of his I have ever been to”. LOL. Go Monique!!! Our other friend, Dereca, also went up on stage during Pass the Peas! So all told, our crew was having a GREAT night. Oh and he was so close to me on the speaker that I got a wonderful noseful of his aroma. Hot-ness.

I can’t say enough about how much energy there was in this show and even though the setlist was nearly identical to the night before, Prince really took it up several notches. So if you are planning to come to Vegas and can only make one show (I recommend two!!!), choose the Saturday one. This is my third trip to 3121 and I have to say that Fridays are good, but Saturdays tend to be great.

The show ended without any encore which was too bad since they had set up a song for Shelby to do. So we headed over to the 3121 Jazz Cuisine restaurant for the afterparty. They seated us in the main room, RIGHT in front ot Prince’s microphone. Oh man, was I excited. I immediately got my second (third? fourth?) wind and was super excited. At our table were Shelby’s parents who were extremely gracious and sweet. And I could definitely see where Shelby gets her generous spirit.

Now remember that the daylight savings time change has occurred by now so it’s actually about 3am when we get into the restaurant. The band is already setting up, though I was more concerned with how quickly Prince would be sitting in my lap – I was that close. Unbelievable. The band went into their opening number (sorry, I’m terrible with instrumental titles and jazz) which was rocking, they’re all so talented. About 10 minutes later, Prince appeared in the restaurant wearing an orange suit (and looking F-I-N-E). He picked up the leopard guitar and jumped on the mic to accompany Shelby on what I think was called “Super Mommas”. The song was great, very high energy. I found myself rocking out mere inches in front of Shelby and about 2 feet from Prince, Surreal.

But it was over before it began. After the song ended, Prince put down his guitar, Shelby mouthed “I love you! I”ll call you!” to her parents and she and Prince bolted out of the room to catch a plane. No slight on the band, but the mood in the room deflated quite a bit since Prince had gotten us so pumped up! But on reflection, in the old days of his club aftershows, they would have sold tix and Prince would have never showed. So I was really glad he was able to squeeze in a number for us before leaving. The band played on their own for another 25 minutes or so. All told, I would say the show was about 1 hour.

There was a young, female sax player who sat in with the band at the aftershow. She had a few solos and did really well. Perhaps one of these new jazz artists Prince alluded to in his NAACP speech?

Another highlight of the aftershow – meeting Mr. Hayes. Unsolicited, he popped around to tables before the show to say hello. He is the nicest guy and as a fan, I really appreciated him chatting with us. He’s also very funny, telling us that Prince keeps sitting on people’s laps in these aftershows and that we should cure him of that by pinching his butt to deter him. LOL. After the show, he was gracious enough to put up with my inept camera phone skills until I finally figured out how to snap the pic of him with my friends. Thanks Morris!





Wow...glad you had a great time!


-----

From Craigmortimer (posted over at HQ)



dmsr - long jam with part of controversy horns. he fell over on a riser
somewhere here on earth (new slow number)
lolita
black sweat
kiss
shhh
peach
musicology/prince + the band
pass peas
wonderful world

acoustic:
guitar
raPberry beret
snows in april
the rules

3121
girls+boys
satisfied
riverside
purple rain

no encore even tho lyrics for nothing compares were put on his board. good show total 95 mins

aftershow 55mins. prince came out for only 1 song. thats poor by him as it was $50 to get in
[Edited 3/11/07 8:06am]

whoa Prince drinks?

My review of March 10th - don't hate me for my opinions these are just my observations as I see them.

Met a few really lovely people from Housequake and a girl from Fulham (Sarah French lives in Fulham), a nice guy from Liverpool who’s name escapes me and a lady from US again I am sorry can’t remember your names. These lovely people were kind enough to let me stand with them in line and also in the main room of the concert which believe me if you are on your own is a massive benefit as going to the toilet means you lose your place in the crowd and we were lucky enough to be quite close to the stage – stage left – pretty much were I was on the 9/10 Feb with only one person in front of me. Having purchased her tambourine the woman in front of me was shaking it for all it was worth – sometimes not in time which was a shame but I really thought she was going to do either herself some damage or me the way she was shaking that thing !!!!! I think the Liverpudlin had a word with her before the concert started – something along the lines of “enough with the tambourine already” which seemed to work. Its very strange how where you start of standing before the concert is not necessarily where you end up once it actually starts and I don’t know how this happens. There I was in the same place as last time and extremely happy with that but when it all kicked off managed to find myself 2 foot to the left of where I started behind two women on the edge of the techie box. Which I have to say was a pretty fine place to be could see Prince extremely well when he was up front and with just a slight turn of the body to the left a pretty good view of him on the podium there too. However I did find as the evening progressed that these women in front of me had ideas of their own & I'm not sure what the problem was – they were in front of me and I was more than happy to stay where I was but the foot stamping & hair flicking in my face really got to be a bit of a pain. I noticed they had been drinking before the concert so perhaps they were a little high. But I do think they could have been a little more considerate of people around them.

Prince came on pretty much on time – the video did not show the DMSR video of him which I though a slight shame as it is rather endearing. But he started with that as his first song & lovely it was too. He looked hot in his little suit n red shirt with corset top and black patent boots/shoes n blingged up. Now I would just like to say that on some occasions being that close can be a bit of an eye opener, sure he looked hot but being so close I got to see that he had way too much makeup on n he really doesn’t need it – in Feb he looked so much better for not having so much on – even the Twinz had too much on as well – it just gives the effect of making them all look rather tired rather then glamourous, but hell like I say he still looked hot.

Now rather than go through each song – there are people better qualified than me to do that just wanna give my opinion and please remember it is just that. Now first off I would just to digress just a bit. Now whenever I have seen Elvis at Vagas I always got the feeling that with all the rich people sitting at their tables whilst he sang felt like they were in control of him n he had to entertain them, whereas with Prince he is defintely the one in control n demands to be taken notice of, he really is the one with the power n not the audience. That’s just how I see it.

I thought again n this is just my opinion that he took a bit of a while to get into the show it felt like he was feeling a bit tired n I found it all a bit contrived now I know this is an unfair criticism but some of the things he said n did I have read that he has done on other nights “don’t you love me” etc and teasing the crowd by pretending to walk away – now I know this is a show and its all show business but I personally prefer it when he is just being himself – which I felt he was later on once he relaxed into the show. I also thought the Twinzs didn’t really add anything to the show, just a bit of a distraction to be honest in my opinon – good looking girls, fairly good dancers but they just danced like dead bits of wood – no soul no sensuality – which for me was a shame. They are pretty girls dancing with wooden smiles on their faces n flicking their hair about – I personally could have done without them, but maybe that’s cos I is a woman !!!!

I also didn’t really think that much of the new soulful ballad he sang – sure it sounded lovely when he sang it but instantly forgettable – sorry that’s how I felt.

I enjoyed hearing guitar, a nice joyful song and rather fun too I thought.

Now I know y’all gonna think me lame but I had to leave halfway though Sometimes It Snows in April but only because my feet were killing me, I was tired n had a plane to catch early in the morning but mostly if I am honest cos that song is just so sad I could feel the tears springing to my eyes n I just didn’t want anyone least of all Prince to see me blubbing. Believe me when I sob I really sob my heart out – you would think it was the end of the world or at least a broken heart – there’s just something his songs do to me that make me a blubbering wreck n I just didn’t want anyone to see me in that state – so I had to leave.

I had a wonderful night n I will always remember it with great happiness.

Personally I was lucky enough to go to an aftershow on Feb 9th and that for me was the best – it seems with the lights down low and the freedom to play whatever he wanted he relaxed and was just himself and that for me was just too pure joy for words to explain, and I so grateful for having had that experience.

My review of March 10th - don't hate me for my opinions these are just my observations as I see them.

Met a few really lovely people from Housequake and a girl from Fulham (Sarah French lives in Fulham), a nice guy from Liverpool who’s name escapes me and a lady from US again I am sorry can’t remember your names. These lovely people were kind enough to let me stand with them in line and also in the main room of the concert which believe me if you are on your own is a massive benefit as going to the toilet means you lose your place in the crowd and we were lucky enough to be quite close to the stage – stage left – pretty much were I was on the 9/10 Feb with only one person in front of me. Having purchased her tambourine the woman in front of me was shaking it for all it was worth – sometimes not in time which was a shame but I really thought she was going to do either herself some damage or me the way she was shaking that thing !!!!! I think the Liverpudlin had a word with her before the concert started – something along the lines of “enough with the tambourine already” which seemed to work. Its very strange how where you start of standing before the concert is not necessarily where you end up once it actually starts and I don’t know how this happens. There I was in the same place as last time and extremely happy with that but when it all kicked off managed to find myself 2 foot to the left of where I started behind two women on the edge of the techie box. Which I have to say was a pretty fine place to be could see Prince extremely well when he was up front and with just a slight turn of the body to the left a pretty good view of him on the podium there too. However I did find as the evening progressed that these women in front of me had ideas of their own & I'm not sure what the problem was – they were in front of me and I was more than happy to stay where I was but the foot stamping & hair flicking in my face really got to be a bit of a pain. I noticed they had been drinking before the concert so perhaps they were a little high. But I do think they could have been a little more considerate of people around them.

Prince came on pretty much on time – the video did not show the DMSR video of him which I though a slight shame as it is rather endearing. But he started with that as his first song & lovely it was too. He looked hot in his little suit n red shirt with corset top and black patent boots/shoes n blingged up. Now I would just like to say that on some occasions being that close can be a bit of an eye opener, sure he looked hot but being so close I got to see that he had way too much makeup on n he really doesn’t need it – in Feb he looked so much better for not having so much on – even the Twinz had too much on as well – it just gives the effect of making them all look rather tired rather then glamourous, but hell like I say he still looked hot.

Now rather than go through each song – there are people better qualified than me to do that just wanna give my opinion and please remember it is just that. Now first off I would just to digress just a bit. Now whenever I have seen Elvis at Vagas I always got the feeling that with all the rich people sitting at their tables whilst he sang felt like they were in control of him n he had to entertain them, whereas with Prince he is defintely the one in control n demands to be taken notice of, he really is the one with the power n not the audience. That’s just how I see it.

I thought again n this is just my opinion that he took a bit of a while to get into the show it felt like he was feeling a bit tired n I found it all a bit contrived now I know this is an unfair criticism but some of the things he said n did I have read that he has done on other nights “don’t you love me” etc and teasing the crowd by pretending to walk away – now I know this is a show and its all show business but I personally prefer it when he is just being himself – which I felt he was later on once he relaxed into the show. I also thought the Twinzs didn’t really add anything to the show, just a bit of a distraction to be honest in my opinon – good looking girls, fairly good dancers but they just danced like dead bits of wood – no soul no sensuality – which for me was a shame. They are pretty girls dancing with wooden smiles on their faces n flicking their hair about – I personally could have done without them, but maybe that’s cos I is a woman !!!!

I also didn’t really think that much of the new soulful ballad he sang – sure it sounded lovely when he sang it but instantly forgettable – sorry that’s how I felt.

I enjoyed hearing guitar, a nice joyful song and rather fun too I thought.

Now I know y’all gonna think me lame but I had to leave halfway though Sometimes It Snows in April but only because my feet were killing me, I was tired n had a plane to catch early in the morning but mostly if I am honest cos that song is just so sad I could feel the tears springing to my eyes n I just didn’t want anyone least of all Prince to see me blubbing. Believe me when I sob I really sob my heart out – you would think it was the end of the world or at least a broken heart – there’s just something his songs do to me that make me a blubbering wreck n I just didn’t want anyone to see me in that state – so I had to leave.

I had a wonderful night n I will always remember it with great happiness.

Personally I was lucky enough to go to an aftershow on Feb 9th and that for me was the best – it seems with the lights down low and the freedom to play whatever he wanted he relaxed and was just himself and that for me was just too pure joy for words to explain, and I so grateful for having had that experience.

LittleNicci said:

How were you so close to the stage? I thought VIP tables were closest to the stage. Where are the VIP tables in relation to where you were standing?

LittleNicci said:

Hello Little Nicci,

This is Suzanne from Fulham (I am very bad with names too! lol).
It was great meeting you and to share this experience together.
We were so lucky to be so near the stage, it was my first time and truly unforgettable. Time went too quickly but I feel so blessed!.
He was amazing, sang beautifully, he rocked!, outstanding guitar playing and despite wearing too much makeup he looked damn fine to me, I caught a few smiles and nice looks, I was truly "satisfied"...
I really appreciated your enthousiasm for Prince music.
When is the next London meetup? drop me an orgnote please.
I think my passion for his music will get "worse".

All the best,

Suzie

This was my first time seeing Prince live and it was 100 times better than what I expected it to be.

Yes, there were people in the crowd fighting. Yes, there were some women who were a pain in the ass. Yes, I wished he'd played for longer.

But it was still the absolute highlight of my life and the BEST concert I've ever been to. Ever. I was lucky enough to have people in the crowd help me to the front of the stage, because I'm seriously short and I think obviously a super freak fan. AND I was able to get up on stage and dance, and even had people help me get my spot back up front afterwards.

He SWEAT on my y'all!!!!!

Anyway, if you get a chance, come hell or high water, get your ass to Vegas. No tour can compare to this. I'm telling you people - SWEAT. Hot. Sweat.

Hi Little Nicci,

I am looking forward to the April gathering in London.

Are you playing the guitars you bought? , you definitely had a good deal.

I have to say that I shed a few tears when Prince sang "Sometimes it snows in April", I had to stop myself, a "lady" with a smudged mascara face is not too glamourous
His talent is undeniable, he has a special ability to share strong emotions with his public.
He played guitar beautifully, I wish he played the piano but it was already a treat to be there.
Ah! good times!