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Prince makes fans wait - but delivers on stage 07/07/07 Prince makes fans wait - but delivers on stage
BY ROSS RAIHALA Pop Music Critic Article Last Updated: 07/08/2007 12:15:57 AM CDT http://www.twincities.com...source=rss 
Prince never meant to cause us any sorrow and he never meant to cause us any pain. He only wants to see us standing in the ... blistering heat. Indeed, the 49-year-old Minneapolis native's three-gig, 7/7/07 marathon Saturday in downtown Minneapolis involved, for many, seemingly endless periods of waiting around, often in the steamy outdoors where temperatures reached the upper 90s. But, man, the moment he took the stage, all was instantly forgiven. He opened his Target Center show with a breathtaking "Purple Rain," complete with old Revolution mate Wendy Melvoin on guitar, and it was the sort of transcendent moment those in the sold-out crowd will tell their grandkids about. The day started with a promotional gig on the eighth floor of Macy's, when a grinning Prince Rogers Nelson announced from the small, simple stage: "Minneapolis, I am here!" It was a promotional tie-in to help launch his new fragrance 3121 and, judging by the worldwide press he's already received, it did its job before Prince had even played a note. The packed house of about 1,400 fans - many of whom camped out when the tickets went on sale last month - waited more than an hour past Prince's scheduled start time of 4 p.m., standing shoulder-to-shoulder in anticipation. Few appeared to be reserving energy for what would become a long night, with the headlining concert at the Target Center followed by a hotly anticipated First Avenue after-show. So what did Prince give the Macy's crowd in return? Clad in a smart white suit and oversized shades, he sauntered in as his horn-enhanced band played "When the Saints Come Marching In" and delivered a brisk, but memorable, performance. While contracted to play only seven songs - yet another reference to his love of that number - Prince busted out some lesser-known '80s hits ("Girls and Boys," "Take Me with U"), a pair of tracks from his 2006 disc "3121" (the title cut and "Get Back on the Boat"), one bona fide classic ("Let's Go Crazy"), a savvy cover (Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"), two songs with his special guest Sheila E. ("A Love Bizarre," "The Glamorous Life") and a blazing tear through his new single "Guitar." Meanwhile, in that dripping heat, another 1,500 or so fans waited outside First Avenue to buy tickets to what would be Prince's first gig at the club in 20 years. And after that, the Target Center's doors didn't open for more than an hour after scheduled, presumably because Prince was running late from Macy's. But, again, when Prince took the stage at 10 p.m., only the grumpiest in the crowd could hold a grudge. From the opening notes of "Purple Rain" to a reprise of "Take Me with U" and an even hotter take on "Guitar," Prince was operating in overdrive mode. Heck, he even whipped out a killer cover of the Cars' "Let's Go" and followed it up with a soulful, show-stopping "Satisfied." Prince was still onstage at press time, with the First Avenue gig almost certainly not taking place until well past midnight. "If y'all got a cell phone, you better call the babysitter," Prince said at one point. "Because we're gonna be here all night." | |
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Prince Thrills Fans With 3 Minneapolis Shows
Jason DeRusha Reporting: http://wcco.com/local/loc...25408.html (includes video report  )
(WCCO) Three concerts, one night. Prince sold out shows at three separate Minneapolis venues Saturday night. His first show was on the eighth floor of the Minneapolis Macy's Store. Prince was there to launch his new perfume, 3121. He opened his set with a song by the same name, playing in front of approximately 1,200 people. Prince was scheduled to play seven songs in this intimate venue. WCCO-TV News Anchor John Reger was in attendance. "Prince is such a great performer," said Reger. "It's one of the best shows I've seen." His second show was at Target Center. It was scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m., but the doors to Target Center were not even open to ticket-holders at that time. Prince is known for late starts, but the doors were supposed to open at 7:30 p.m. According to Target Center spokesperson Courtney Hasko "the doors were held an hour per the tour." Hasko said that the Macy's concert started an hour late. That pushed the Target Center concert back as well. By 9:00 p.m. the line was slowly moving into the arena. Either way, the big attraction for many die-hard Prince fans was the surprise after-party at First Avenue. Prince last played live at First Avenue in 1987. He made the bar famous in his 1984 movie "Purple Rain." Fans lined up starting early Friday night. More than 1,000 people winded around the building, hoping for a chance to get into the show. Lia McWhorter came to Minneapolis from Birmingham, Alabama because, she said, "He wasn't coming to see me, so I had to come to him." Some fans who lined up Friday were issued presale numbers, so they didn't have to spend all day Saturday waiting for in the 90 degree heat. "We're Prince proud," said fan Dani McFarland. "And he loves Minneapolis too." Haley Gienow spent nearly 18 hours in line. She flew to Minneapolis from Niagra Falls, Canada. Her plan after getting tickets was to "wash up the sweat, rest up and get ready to scream and have some fun." One of the people outside First Avenue was one of the first mentors in Prince's Minneapolis music career. Pepe Willie helped Prince get started from his Minneapolis home in 1975. "I mean Prince is bringing it back home. Now he's coming back and you know he appreciates all his fans," said Willie. "Believe it or not, I knew he was who he would be today." There's no way to know when Prince's after-party would begin. No doubt it would start late. Just how late? Dani McFarland didn't care. "I hope he plays forever tonight." | |
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In a purple haze
Fans were lofted to seventh heaven as the hometown star returned for three shows in a row. 
By Jon Bream, Star Tribune http://www.startribune.co...90348.html "Minneapolis, I am home," Prince declared after his first song on Saturday. This was going to be no ordinary Prince homecoming. On the seventh day of the seventh month in the year '07, the Purple One was venturing where he'd never gone before: three concerts at three separate venues in three consecutive blocks in downtown Minneapolis in the course of 10 or 12 hours. Doesn't he ever rest? The first show of the tripleheader was at Macy's department store on a Saturday afternoon, the most unlikely place for a hometown concert. He agreed to play seven songs to promote his new perfume, 3121. But in a furiously funky and fast-paced 45 minutes, Prince squeezed in nine numbers. Afterward, Edward Thomas, 33 -- who flew from Houston with his wife, 6-year-old daughter and mother-in-law to baby-sit -- was singing the praises of Prince. "He is the only entertainer I go to see live," said the accountant, who has seen eight Purple shows. "We'll spend about $4,000 on this weekend. It's definitely worth it. I'd do it again." And he hadn't even seen the second show in the tripleheader at Target Center, which was included in the $250 package for Macy's and a couple of bottles of the perfume. (Tickets for the nightcap at First Avenue were sold separately on Saturday afternoon, as people lined up four-abreast around the entire block for 1,500 tickets.) Prince doing a tripleheader happens about as often as Justin Morneau hitting three home runs in one game. Saturday's trifecta was the Rock Hall of Famer's most aggressive hometown statement since he did five Christmas week shows at the old St. Paul Civic Center in 1984 during the Purple Rain Tour. The Macy's gig was his most unusual setting since he played at a Holiday Inn ballroom in Sheridan, Wyo., in 1986 after the premiere of his movie "Under the Cherry Moon" -- a locale determined by an MTV contest. Prince performing for 1,400 people in the eighth-floor auditorium of the department store formerly known as Dayton's happens about as often as Minnesota's other purple icon wins the Super Bowl. Oops, the Vikings are overdue now. The first-floor fragrance section of Macy's was reeking of perfume and purple -- sparkling drapes, custom-made rugs with "3121" part of the pattern and four purple chandeliers. The stage was not elaborate, with an overhead star outlined in red lights. Prince gave the kind of performance that declared "Baby, I'm a star," tearing through a few songs from last year's CD, "3121," two songs associated with Sheila E (who was sitting in his band), two tunes from "Purple Rain" and his new single, the rip-roaring "Guitar," which will be featured on his new CD, "Planet Earth," due July 24. In honor of Prince's triple play, the governor of Minnesota and the mayor of Minneapolis both declared it "Prince Roger Nelson Day." 7 fans rate the show If you couldn't gather by now, Prince has a thing about the number seven. Born on the 7th of June (he turned 49 -- seven squared -- this year), he had a hit in 1992 called "7." The numbers in "3121" add up to seven. He last performed at Target Center in 1997 and at First Avenue in 1987. So we thought it appropriate to ask seven of the 1,500 fans at Macy's -- people came from as far away as Japan and Europe -- to rate the show on a scale of 1 to 7. Mechelle Gonzalez, 41, San Francisco, who has seen him more than 100 times in concert: "It was wonderful. He fell into the crowd at the end and I had my hand around his waist." Rating: 7. Brian Turner, 48, New Hope and morning host on radio station Cities, um, 97 who saw Prince regularly at First Ave in the 1980s: "It reminded me that he is arguably the best live performer on the planet. Prince is like Picasso. He has his different periods. I hope he does it 'til he's 90." Rating: 8. Sherri Jordan-Nuckles, 41, Atlanta, who has seen 66 shows: "It was the ultimate Prince experience." Rating: 3121. Jan Peterson, 52, Greenwood, Minn., four times: "It was fantastic." Rating: 100. R.T. Rybak, 51, Minneapolis mayor who was wearing the same paisley shirt he wore when he saw the hometown hero in 1987: "Prince can make a Minnesota Minnesotan look funky, including a middle-aged mayor. Since 'Purple Rain,' the rest of us may have lost a beat but he hasn't." Rating: 7 Dorene Jackson, Minneapolis, who used to watch Prince rehearse in her aunt's basement when he was in high school (her cousin Andre Cymone was in the band), 10 times: "It was awesome. He's so talented. I'm really glad he's from Minnesota." Rating: 7. James Kidd, 39, Hilton Head, S.C., who has seen at least 50 shows and has tickets for three more in London next month: "It was absolutely amazing considering it was at Macy's. He normally does small venues as the after-shows." Rating: "6 because of the length." Although Kidd was excited about the soon-to-begin proper concert at Target Center (where the doors opened 75 minutes later than scheduled and tickets cost as much as $131.21), he was disappointed that he wasn't able to buy a ticket to the after-show at First Avenue (where tickets were only $31.21, not $77.07), the landmark club associated with Prince since "Purple Rain" was filmed there. "Maybe it's God's way of telling me to sleep," Kidd said. Yeah, someone please tell that to Prince. Late at Target Center In front of 15,000 people at Target Center, Prince played it late, loose and laughing, with lots of passionate, roaring guitar. Since he's always been in his own time-zone, he took the stage at 10:05 for an 8:30 p.m. concert. Of course, he'd changed outfits since Macy's and swapped Sheila E for Wendy Melvoin, guitarist with Prince & the Revolution. So naturally he started with "Purple Rain" and "Take Me with U." His Purpleness was more talkative than ever in his hometown. He invited people onstage to dance and joked about one man looking like his gym teacher. He summoned a man, who could have passed for a retired Vikings-sized lineman, onstage to sing "Play That Funky Music." And Prince even played cover boy himself, doing the Cars' "Let's Go" and the Beatles' "Come Together." After a duo set with Melvoin that included "Raspberry Beret" and "Sometimes It Snows in April," Prince broke into the anthem for the trifecta -- "7." Of course, to him, the night was still young. "You got a cellphone?" he asked. "Call your babysitter. We'll be here all night. And I'm still going to go to church in the morning." Jon Bream • 612-673-1719 • popmusic@startribune.com | |
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Thanx Serpan ..
and oh .. post some video clips on your page of this .. [Edited 7/7/07 23:59pm] | |
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Thank u Serpan. Nice read. Sorry 2 hear the sound system being lousy 4 those seating further in the back  |
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pennylover said: Thank u Serpan. Nice read. Sorry 2 hear the sound system being lousy 4 those seating further in the back
It happens 2 often...why r there so many sound problems with Prince concerts?! | |
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serpan99 said: [ He summoned a man, who could have passed for a retired Vikings-sized lineman, onstage to sing "Play That Funky Music."
That was John Goodman. It was sooooo bizarre.  |
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CarrieMpls said: serpan99 said: [ He summoned a man, who could have passed for a retired Vikings-sized lineman, onstage to sing "Play That Funky Music."
That was John Goodman. It was sooooo bizarre. I so didn't realize at the time it was John Goodman! That's crazy!!! Oh, and does anybody else think that this John Bream guy is a little dumb? He had a cool idea letting fans review the Macy's show, but that review was horribly written. Swapped Sheila E for Wendy? Did you not watch the whole show, John? Thanks for posting these, serpan. Gotta love the Purple One...... | |
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 ThanksLove is whatever u want it 2 b | |
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serpan99 said:
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slideshow:
 http://www.startribune.co...90220.html
http://photo.twincities.c...d-in-line/
u recognize urself??
 [Edited 7/8/07 7:08am] | |
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serpan99 said: slideshow:
http://www.startribune.co...90220.html
http://photo.twincities.c...d-in-line/
u recognize urself??
[Edited 7/8/07 7:08am] Very nice link Serpan99! | |
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CarrieMpls said: serpan99 said: [ He summoned a man, who could have passed for a retired Vikings-sized lineman, onstage to sing "Play That Funky Music."
That was John Goodman. It was sooooo bizarre. Are you sure? | |
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lovemachine said: CarrieMpls said: That was John Goodman. It was sooooo bizarre. Are you sure? I was in third row directly in back of the man that went on stage. It was NOT John goodman. Just fyi | |
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the man is a machine. seriously! he must be dead-tired by now and is gonna hibernate for hours. awesome pics!! "So shall it be written, so shall it be sung..."  | |
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Does the man sleep? | |
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LilCub said: Does the man sleep?
It was rumored that he "X'ed" in the '80s. I think that's how he recorded "The Black Album." I think something similar was involved on 7/7/07. | |
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music is his drug most any musician can share stories of staying up for days playing and/or writing songs | |
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lilmexjlo said: LilCub said: Does the man sleep?
It was rumored that he "X'ed" in the '80s. I think that's how he recorded "The Black Album." I think something similar was involved on 7/7/07. Explain this to me. I don't quite understand. Thx. Lemme | |
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thx to all for sharing the articles. prince is definitely the hardest working person in showbizz, straight outta the tradition of james brown. personally, i'm so happy with his successes recently. it makes me proud to think that when i was 17/18 (around 1989-90) that i stood firm when ppl were saying things like "prince! why prince?"
i am more convinced than ever that Prince is one of the greatest performers of all time, if not THE greatest. maximum respect to you Purple Gemini | |
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tznekbsbfrvr said: the man is a machine. seriously! he must be dead-tired by now and is gonna hibernate for hours. awesome pics!!
He only played music for 4 hours total and most of the time he's standing in one place strumming a guitar. I would say your average bricklayer or construction worker or roofer is putting in a harder days work every single day of the week. [Edited 7/9/07 6:41am] | |
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serahstar said: lovemachine said: Are you sure? I was in third row directly in back of the man that went on stage. It was NOT John goodman. Just fyi And I was all the way in the balcony of section 240 and could tell it wasn't John Goodman. Where are people getting this idea? | |
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RipHer2Shreds said: serahstar said: I was in third row directly in back of the man that went on stage. It was NOT John goodman. Just fyi And I was all the way in the balcony of section 240 and could tell it wasn't John Goodman. Where are people getting this idea? i have no clue. | |
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RipHer2Shreds said: serahstar said: I was in third row directly in back of the man that went on stage. It was NOT John goodman. Just fyi And I was all the way in the balcony of section 240 and could tell it wasn't John Goodman. Where are people getting this idea? Meh - folks wanna believe what they wanna believe. Maybe an overenthusiastic Roseanne or King Ralph fan spread the word. | |
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Thanks for the pics and reviews Serge!
 I'm firmly planted in denial |
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VLM123 said: RipHer2Shreds said: And I was all the way in the balcony of section 240 and could tell it wasn't John Goodman. Where are people getting this idea? Meh - folks wanna believe what they wanna believe. Maybe an overenthusiastic Roseanne or King Ralph fan spread the word. I'm 99.9% certain it was John Goodman. Prince even said "John Goodman" at the end of the song. Maybe some of ya'll who were in the sections with bad sound couldn't hear that. |
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CarrieMpls said: VLM123 said: Meh - folks wanna believe what they wanna believe. Maybe an overenthusiastic Roseanne or King Ralph fan spread the word. I'm 99.9% certain it was John Goodman. Prince even said "John Goodman" at the end of the song. Maybe some of ya'll who were in the sections with bad sound couldn't hear that. I am 100% positive it was not John Goodman. Like I said, I was in the third row sitting directly behind the man and we patted his back when he came back to his seat. (He did resemble him) I can also tell you prince was NOT wearing underwear... | |
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Fantastic pictures. Thanks. | |
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4bjb said: lilmexjlo said: It was rumored that he "X'ed" in the '80s. I think that's how he recorded "The Black Album." I think something similar was involved on 7/7/07. Explain this to me. I don't quite understand. Thx. X = "ecstasy" I don't remember where I heard this rumor from.... I think it was from a bio. | |
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