FuzzyD said:

a setlist off the top of one's head would be almost as good. awhile ago, during those 3121 celebrity parties, people would post about the most inane crap, like who was there and how so and so spilled their drink on their friend's lap, blah blah blah, saying "i'll let someone else post the setlist" or not even mentioning the fact that music had been played at all.

i just wonder how it is that it doesn't occur to someone to try to recall what songs were played, when they get on here 5 minutes after getting home from the gig to tell us all about it while telling us nothing at all.

RZR said:

Well, for me, I didn't get home till lunch time today - I live some 4hours away from London... One of things that has been posted, can't remember by who (could have been an extract from artriclae...) was that at the start after Maceo gave his all, there was a "tedious" trumpet solo - this I disagree with. Trumpet is always amazing!

The other tracks that stand out in my memory were, Satisfied, Ssh, Black Sweat, Girls and Boys, Lolita - I am not keen on anyway, but you know live - all sounds great.

One of things that I always moan about is that Prince doesn't use his guitar in the way he can - you know - really bloody play it.... but live he always manages something...and last night he CERTAINLY did. I was well pleased!

I had a VERY tall, broad man in front of me and when I tried to see passed him all he did was stand square against me! The down side of a small standing concert...

BUT - There were some songs (nothing compares to you) that really did move me - they were just indescribable.

My God - this is even 'messier' than Sly's report!!!

Don't think I have done one before... Note to self - will try harder next time to take note of play list!
[Edited 5/11/07 16:25pm]

FuzzyD said:

no, you're not.....exactly my point!

please take a note.....Maceo doesn't play trumpet.....

I believe with the 'tedious' solo they meant Greg Boyer on trombone (who was always amazing the times that I've seen him!).....

smoo said:

TUNA! That brings back memories. Didn't Prince say something like "We're gonna open up a fresh can o' Tuna!" after talking to the dude?

jonners said:

Wow. Awesome. Would like to have been there. What was the capacity of the club? Was it packed?

lalalailoveu said:

[Edited 5/11/07 19:55pm]

what a night - on my way home from seeing Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd), went for a stroll through St Jame's Park....whats that i hear...Purple Rain....got closer and heard a set similar to koko, but he also played '7', Purple Rain. Play that funky music (white boy), black sweat etc....

i guess this mustve been the £10,000 a ticket gig - but it was free in St James Park

thanks for all reviews

APOLOGIES FOR POSTING THIS REVIEW SO LATE - I’VE BEEN TOO BUSY TILL NOW. HOWEVER, THAT WAS THEN...THIS IS NOW!!

I was fortunate enough to get a ticket to Prince’s secret, no so secret gig at the Koko Club. I was also fortunate enough to meet up with a few org’ers who helped make my night even more memorable. You know who you are! Paul, I owe you a pint of Guinness!!

As we joined the back of a very long queue which snaked all the way round the club the relentless purple rain did nothing to dent our mood and anticipation. At least there wasn’t any Thunder!! Princely discussion and debate flowed as we edged nearer to the doors.

Seeing David Furnish arrive sparked debate about why Elton had been left home alone babysitting the Poodles and who else of a VIP nature would turn out.

The Club itself was perfect. Small, intimate and even early on there was a buzz around the place. We shuffled to about 15 yards from the stage and set up base camp. All that was left to do was wait. The DJ kept spinning his tunes, the time kept ticking on by as the air of expectation built. I think there was one pint we all felt that we were going to...ttttt tick BANG!

As 11pm came and went discussion turned to guessing when the Great Man would make an appearance. As the crowd swelled Prince’s band took the stage at just after 11.30. The place went crazy, excitement hit fever pitch levels as everyone strained to catch the first glimpse of Prince. It was like being a kid on Christmas Eve waiting up all night to catch a glimpse of Santa. With the band cutting up the stage with some funky jazz laced soul He kept us waiting for 15 minutes unitl...enter stage left Prince made his appearance. The whole place errupted. Whoops, cheers, whistles, and screams met him as he strolled on. U could feel the energy. U could feel it was going to be a night to remember. Prince was in a playful, teasing (so many hits so little time) and provocative mood. U could see he was there to enjoy himself and showcase his new band.

I have read the journalists reviews and must say that I was disappointed with what I read. Personally, the gig had an after show feel to it. The set was loose, inpromptu and all about Prince enjoying himself as he interspersed old skool tracks with new ones. The introduction of Shelby J and the jams from the band who enthralled us with their funky licks dovetailed Prince’s energy and enthusiasm. At times u could just close ur eyes and let the funk wash over u. Talk about intoxicating!

It was great to watch Prince engage us, thrill us, delight us. Taking the mick out of some of the lucky guys n gals dancing on stage and even giggling at the guy who got stage fright when invited to take the mic and sing along to play that funky music added to the personal feel of the concert. It was my first after show-esque experience, and it left my hungry for more.

If Thursdays performace was a prelude to what Prince has in store for us in August, its going to be one hell of a 21 days!! Prince was at his funky best and no-one, and I mean no-one is going to be disappointed. It was at times goosepimply good. The set list on the night is as follows: (note: if there are mistakes..please don’t shoot me down - I was having a great time and lost myself in the moment on more than one occasion. All I know is its bound to be a tad more accurate than NME’s version! Lol)Big thanks to Christian - peace man!
SET LIST:

pass the peas
satisfied
down by the riverside
girls and boys
i never loved a man
lolita
black sweat
kiss
shhh
musicology
sing a simple song
play that funky music
wonderful world
love is a losin game
gotta broken heart again
cream
u got the look
crazy
nothin compares 2 u
lets go crazy



Its truly a beautiful night!!.Thanks to Christian, Steve and the rest of the gang for making it just that little more special.
Peace & B wild!..remember to keep shaking that Ass!

vivid said:

I was quite surprised he didn't end with 'the big lighter song'. I've seen him play it a few times, but it would have been a great end to the night.

Yes i thought i was on the stairway to hell.. it was nasty!!!

Anyway, I havent heard from the girl with the footage of us all up there, but as soon as i do, I will post here and let you all know so you can get copies.

In the meantime have a look at this....

http://www.flickr.com/pho...000&size=l

not everyone is on this pic, but im there in green and i think a couple of other people might spot themselves

Enjoy!!

Melanie x

Give us us fans a chance prince and we will show u what'a happening!

wrekkastow said:[quote]APOLOGIES FOR POSTING THIS REVIEW SO LATE - I’VE BEEN TOO BUSY TILL NOW. HOWEVER, THAT WAS THEN...THIS IS NOW!!


gotta broken heart again





Wow- how was this live? This set list is pretty much a Vegas 3121 set, but I hadn't seen this gem listed.

I'm happy for all the Euros. I'm in Boston and close enough to be crazy enough to spend more money!

Rev said:[quote]

wrekkastow said:

He has played it several times in Vegas, also on the NYE-show that I've attended and it's good! The fact that the set-list is pretty much a Vegas 3121 set bothers me.....wasn't he saying that he & his band had practised about 150 songs??? And please, will somebody tell him to throw 'Pass The Peas' from this set-list?????

msmgooden said:

That's a great picture. A great moment shared. It's like we're all 'on stage' buddies. We should have a reunion every year. And every year we'll wonder whether "The Straddler" will turn up.
[Edited 5/12/07 22:43pm]

This thread rocks!

I didn't go to the gig, but it is SOOOOO exciting to read the initial write up, but most importantly, the reports from people who were there and who also got up to dance with him

I got up on stage during 2002 Hammersmith show and your accounts brought back exciting memories!! Glad you all had such a great time!!!

DolphinFriendlyStarfish said:

Yup that's me in that photo...fair hair and black vest top..great shot...so amazing to have something to remember it all by!! : EMMA x

emmahart said:

YOU'RE HOT! Remember watching you up there on Thursday. Great moves! Wot a night eh? Glad you had a great time! Hoped you liked my review x

Prince turns into a Pearly King


Caspar Llewellyn Smith
Sunday May 13, 2007
The Observer
Prince
Koko, London NW1

He can't help himself. Not content with arriving in London this week to announce that he will play an unprecedented 21 shows in the capital this summer, Prince snuck in a secret gig at Koko in Camden - secret, but with a healthy dose of celebrities in the house: David Walliams, Damien Hirst, Will Young, Sophie Ellis Bextor, David Furnish, Pete Burns and so on down the food chain, all craning for a view, hanging from the rafters. Inevitably, there was only one star, one genius, Chaplin, Astaire, James Brown, Jimmy Page, Miles Davis and more compacted into his 5ft 2in inch frame. While his band, led by horn players dressed like extras from Robert Altman's jazz movie Kansas City, pumped the room with funk, Prince sidled on, slipped in a pirouette, sang feather-like into the mic, and gently eased himself into the night.

Wearing a knitted hat and a suit possibly intended as a homage to one of London's Pearly Kings, he was quite the tease, mentioning his hits only to shake his head as if to say he wouldn't play any. 'Raspberry Beret? Uh-uh!' But alongside covers of Sly and the Family Stone and his latest discovery, Amy Winehouse (her 'Love Is A Losing Game'), as well as disco anthems including 'Play That Funky Music, White Boy', there was room for a handful of classics: 'U Got the Look', 'Cream' and 'Kiss' - the reference to watching Dynasty switched to Desperate Housewives.

The show might also have included a first for Prince: an attempt at a stage dive. This was his one act that came off half-cocked. He had taken the stage early (by his standards) at 11.40pm and played for nigh on two hours, reappearing for his second encore with an extraordinary version of Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy', as if to claim his legacy. After a ravishing 'Nothing Compares 2 U' and a final encore of 'Let's Go Crazy' he walked back on stage alone to promise the shows of a lifetime at the O2 Arena in August, and still looked like he'd barely broken sweat. If he'd been allowed, he'd probably have played until dawn.

^
liking that report, cheers for posting...

darshan said:

Pete Burns should die in hell for the things he has said about Prince in the past. Calling him a has been and has lost it!!!!!

Take a look in the mirror you ugly excuse for a man! Get your own life in order and accomplish more than 1 song in your life before you make any comment or try to pass as a so called celebrity!

Freak is what comes to mind!

Savage said:

I can't bear Pete Burns. It's not the fact of his physical appearance for me, but that he is so ugly inside.

wrekkastow said:

Still buzzing from the whole experience...what makes it even better is that this time I have photos and video evidence...danced on stage twice in 2002 but that seemed like a dream as no footage...this however is documented!! Can't wait til August!! Emma

darshan said:

Anyone else at Cafe de Paris in 1998 would beg to differ

emmahart said:

Share!!
I've only managed to come across a bunch of really blurry pics so far...

NewFunk said:

Lots of footage on youtube.com - have seen 6 videos alone with me in it...just search under Prince/Koko!!! Have a couple of photos of me taken by my friends but not so exciting for anyone else as it's me with the Man!! Also uselss at getting photos attatched /links...never seems to work with me! etc.Hope that helps xx emma xx

From RWD magazine:

All-Star London Loves Prince
Artist: Prince

The Artist Formally Known As Some Kind Of Weird Symbol Thing hit London town hard last night. RWD - as well as MIA, Will Young, Johnny Borrell, Carl Barat and Chris Moyles - was in attendance to see the triumphant return of The Prince after a nigh-on 10 year hiatus from our shores.

And hell to the yes, it was well worth the wait. From blistering renditions of U Got The Look, to covers of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy, the 48 year-old sounded and looked like a man half his age. Whether whirling around the stage conducting his overbig band, jumping into the crowd for a little stagedive or popping up to the balcony (standing but one foot away from RWD, prompting us to scream like a 12 year-old girl and crazily try to take pictures without flash), the diminutive music-machine had the crowd in raptures.

Looking like he was enjoying himself as much as his adoring audience, Prince told us just why he loves playing on this shores. ‘Cos y’all know what’s really happening in America,” he laughed before launching into a version of Amy Winehouse’s Love Is A Losing Game. While his set might have been short on the hits – just Kiss, U Got The Look, Boys & Girls, Cream, Lets Go Crazy and Nothing Compares 2 U – his amazing voice and overwhelming presence easily made this Show Of The Year to date.

Indeed, one invited fan got so over-excited after being invited to join Prince onstage, she proceeded to kiss her idol and hump upon his little legs. And no, it wasn’t RWD (though maybe we would have done the same thing given half the chance!). But we want to know who this chick is – if anyone out there knows the grinding girl, get her to holla at us n- she is a legend (and probably very, very hungover today!).

“London I love you, goodnight,” he said shortly before 2am leaving RWD feeling like Christmas and ended way too early. But fret not, Prince is playing at the 02 Arena, and other venues this August. Tickets may have sold out now, but head to Ticketmaster right now to try and cop yours. We promise you, you will NOT be disappointed, it’s gonna be a night to remember.

From Hattie Collins of The London Paper:

Being a music journalist, it's sometimes easy to become a cynical, boozy, grumpy, faded hack. But hey, every job has its benefits. Don’t get it twisted though; just because we take great pleasure in slagging things off, even we have a day-off from the haterade every once in a while.
For me, my journalism kryptonite is the one and only Prince. Quite frankly, he could arrive onstage and fart for four hours and I’d act like it was the best show ever.
So last night, after doing what a good journalist does best and blagging myself two tickets to the hottest show in town, I had what could be described as a near-religious experience.
Prince proved he was the Number One Greatest Living Performer (alongside Mary J Blige of course, and, yes, I refuse to choose) for a number of reasons:

1) He wears stilettos. 2) He’s just so skinny and beautiful. When the girl beside me managed to blow him a kiss when he popped up to see us balcony-huggers, he did the cutest ‘Carry On’ style ‘Ohh Missus’ with his eyes – camp and yet provocatively sexy all at once. 3) His back-catalogue bitches – granted he played the meh-ish Kiss and Cream but he also dropped U Got The Look, Boys & Girls, Nothing Compares 2 U and Lets Go Crazy. 4) His backing dancers were like Beyoncé – on four keys of speed. Never have I seen such speedy acrobatics in all of my life. I mean, it really was a lot. 5) He had Maceo Parker onstage with him – dude can really, really play the sax. He does that whole circular breathing thing and shit – trust me, it’s pretty damn dope. 6) When he appeared one foot away from me on the aforementioned balcony, I was so excited I couldn’t even take a proper picture. Why oh why must the miracle of flash desert you in times of extreme need? (See pic, right for proof) 7) His voice remains utterly and truly exquisite – how does it drop from falsetto to bass so beautifully, I really don’t know. 8) He’s 48 and he can still move like a motherfucker – so he may no longer break out the splits, but he glides, sashays and pops about with the dexterity of a man half of his age. 9) He covered Gnarls Barkley’s horrible Crazy and made it sound delicious. 10) He got a slightly paunchy audience member up onstage to sing along to Play That Funky Music White Boy. How happy must that man be today? Especially cos he looked like a proper Prince nerd (i.e. me). 11) When another, clearly mullered participant attempted to hump his little legs, he ran off stage and reappeared with a towel on his head all embarrassed. Totally cute. 12) He played a tiny-weeny instrumental of my favourite Prince song ever – Sometimes It Snows In April. That song really reminds of my aunt, Gemma, who died of cancer in 1986. Which brings me to… 13) I believe many proper (some might say obsessed, but whatever) Prince fans love him so much is because his music reminds us of important parts of our lives. Seeing as his more famous songs were made in the ‘80s, when I’m guessing a lot of fans were either in their teens, 20s or 30s, of course, a lot of life-changing things happen. For me, Prince was the soundtrack to first crushes, a little heartache, loss of life and real good ole times. But whereas Madonna, Salt & Pepa and Michael Jackson also played in the background during those years, Prince’s lyrics, vocals and musicianship somehow spoke a whole lot louder to a teenager whizzing about with all those crazy hormones. You could really indulge yourself, ya know? To the point that today, 14 happened. 14) The day after the show, you can actually get slightly pathetically emotional listening to, say, Condition Of The Heart or Pop Life or Insatiable. Maybe it was seeing the mighty man in such close proximity, but some weird feelings somehow emerged. And, without sounding wanky, that just goes to show how like, cool and everything, music is, right? 15) His music remains relevant years and years later and doesn’t sound a jot dated. I mean, I loved the Jackson 5 and all but I swear if I hear ABC again, I may actually break some speakers. Purple Rain? Play that beotch everyday and I’ll love like I just heard it for the first time. 16) Finally, last night served to remind me how totally excited I am that I’m seeing him again this Summer. Yes, debunking the journo myth that we don’t pay for anything, I bought tickets for the 02 shows the second I heard they were on sale. In fact, ahem, I bought one ticket. I mean, I tried to buy 4 so I could with my friends but the views were crap, so I had to roll for dolo this time. Sad, maybe, but I don’t care. And at least this way I won’t have a friend like last night saying ‘Is this Sign O’ The Times, is it? Ohh, I think he’s going to do Alphabet St.’ It was all I could do not to throw her from the balcony. And this is a good mate too, but really, it’s like when you used to watch Dynasty on a Friday night and your uncle came over to pick up your cousins and him and your mum would talk all the way through. How annoying. 17) Well, I can’t really think of a 17, except to say that even putting all I love about last night/ the man himself into 16 points, it’s hard to truly do justice to the little gorgeous man. Just go beg/ borrow/ blag your 02 tickets if you can, because you will not, I repeat not, be disappointed.

I just came across this link:

http://www.musiclikedirt....ko-100507/

I thought cameras weren't allowed...oh well nice read though