Some of the songs were similar to previous nights, but the performing of them was just superlative.

Sounds like you had a great time, I wish I could've been there Saturday too as
it sounds like you got an excellent show. But alas I couldn't afford a third night
in a row!

I really hope he continues to open with a different track each night and also
continues to mix the set list around. I agree that Lolita and Black Sweat can
be a weak spot, but I think it depends on what song came before them and
what introduction Prince gives them (as they're not well known by the
general public). On opening night they didn't work too well either, and I think
that was because they followed a very slow part of the show during which
a lot of the audience sat down (What A Wonderful World & Somewhere Here
On Earth). Following that, Lolita was obviously intended to get everyone up
on their feet dancing again, but because most of the audience didn't know it,
it didn't really work. However, on Friday Lolita and Black Sweat went down a
storm! This is because they followed blinding versions of Anotherloverholen-
yohead & Peach (so the crowd was still hyped and in the mood to party), plus,
Prince gave a little spoken intro about this being live music by live musicians
at that point and also said that he was gonna show London how to funk!
Then he launched into Lolita, and the crowd went with him.

The setlist, hopefully in the right order, but quite possibly not...

Opening Set - Nikka Costa including a performance of Push and Pull.

Main Show -

01. Let's Go Grazy (Just the opening lines worked so amazingly well in getting the crowd worked up into a frenzy and then to perform the whole beast with that guitar screaming throughout. Wow. And Master Boris, you might just be right, each show is seemingly opening with a different number. Whilst I loved Purple Rain opening, I think this one worked just as well, and perhaps better to get the energy levels high right from the start)
02. Take Me With You (Damn, when that drum roll came in! I'm sure there were a few of us wondering whether he was going to perform the whole Purple Rain album in sequence, or maybe that was just me! But what a great opening. Again, the crowd were singing this to their heart's content on this one. A great way to keep the momentum going.)
03. Guitar (My word. Despite the fact that this is a new song, the crowd was already on side and it seemingly rocked their socks off)
04. Shhh! (Damn. For me, this is always for the hardcore. And it melted tonight. Heartwrenching, as always, when he's performing it well. And an excellent point at which to 'break it down' from the energy of the first three numbers).
05. Musicology (Again, I assume the general crowd didn't know this number but quite frankly, as the pounding of that beat comes in, it sends the usually unfunky crowd into dancing on the 2 and 4. Awesome sequencing to have this come in after Shhh!)
06. Prince and the Band (Whilst this is not a particular favourite of mine, it made my night knowing that he was performing a really obscure funk ditty that I assume only a few in the audience would have been aware of. Once again, like Musicology, the groove kept the crowd dancing. He rapped each verse of the jam over an insanely funky beat and then for each turnaround yelled to the crowd "What's my name?", to which the crowd screamed "Prince!". Naturally, what they didn't know, bless them, is that the rest of the short chorus goes "...and the band", which I'm sure the hardcore all chimed in with. I certainly did. Excellent surprise for those looking for something unusal and novel. The performance of Prince and the Band lasted around 5 minutes. Excellent, excellent addition. Thank you, Prince.)
07. Pass The Peas (Prince went old school with Maceo. It's such a catchy turnaround that the crowd were lapping up the funk and dancing all across the arena. The general vibe of the night, whether it was because it was a Saturday night or not, was very good)
08. Play That Funky Music (If I remember correctly, Prince asked the crowd whether they wanted new music or old. I think the resounding response was "OLD"!!! Whether he liked it or not, he turned out the most FUNKTASTIC performance of Play That Funky Music. My God, this was an absolute God-send of a number for the crowd. I have absolutely no issues with covers, if they work. And this one was as funky as Prince's heels must have been the end of the night. Damn, that bass playing just drove into your soul. Awesome).
09. Sexy Dancer (Well, once could rightfully argue this was Le Freak as that was the lyrical performance of the song but make no mistakes about it, Prince was performing Sexy Dancer on the Hohner. I thought this was a clever way of selling the song to the crowd but also keeping those old school heads grooving. Brilliant. And it lasted forever, which sent me into old school heaven. I must say, I remember this performance of Sexy Dancer/Le Freak, much more so than Wednesday's night, where I think I just was too amazed to believe what I was hearing)!
10. I Feel 4 U (The main show started off with a pop/rock section until Shhh! and this portion of the night was certainly all old school. It worked a treat and the crowd got really into this. Memories of Chaka, I suspect. Again, excellent placement of a crowd pleaser in case the show became too obscure from the relatively unknown numbers earlier)
11. Controversy (I must add, with an extremely extended jamming section. Damn, did this bring the house down or what?! I couldn't quite tell if it was the just the fans loving it but my God, the roar of the crowd sounded like even your average nobody was feeling this beat. Simply off the hook! And the section with the ominous 'People call me rude' bassline just thundered across the arena. Spine chilling! Did I also mention that he also checked into the crowd a number of times to enquire, "Who in the house know about the quake?!" Of course, quite a few of us responded "We do!" ... Loving it, just loving it)
12. What A Wonderful World (The pace was just funky as all get out until this point, so it was a cool little interlude for the crowd to settle down and enjoy the fact that they had just been dancing for the past half hour!)
13. Cream (Excellent placement, again. This brought the crowd back to their singing voices. My God, are those Twins fine or what?! Diggin' that dance routine and those booties. Oh lawd.)
14. U Got The Look (I don't know if it's just me but somehow the crowd seemed to remember, or know, this song. What a rocking version. So far, the sequencing of the setlist was working an absolute treat. And I was genuninely surprised at how much love the man was getting from what can be quite the conservative crowd during lesser known numbers. Not tonight. I think it just goes to show the true quality of certain pop numbers. Irrespective of whether they're known or not, they just work instantly. I have to say, his monumental guitar playing was very good at keeping the crowd in awe)!
15. If I Was Your Girlfriend (Well, this is quite possibly my all time favourite Prince song, so I don't need to say anything here except...WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!! Again, the crowd were digging it...or maybe it was just me?! More likely the latter but it was very atmospheric last night. And that bass plucking? What a treat to hear).
16. Pink Cashmere (Prince mentioned a number of times that he knew he had more popular songs but that he loved this song and he just wanted to do it for that reason alone. It was almost like he was asking the crowd to allow him this one indulgence. Well, for one, playing to a general crowd in excess of 20,000, I think he indulged quite a fair bit - take a look at the old school funk section, for example - but at the same time, it was clear he knew when he might lose the crowd. He almost verged into territory of being apologetic by explaining his desire to perform this one for himself, and that he'd be back to perform the better known songs in just a minute, but thankfully, he didn't quite go there. Excellent song. Excellent performance. A very nice string of mid-tempo numbers here).
17. Lolita (Now, after promising the crowd more popular songs after Pink Cashmere, what does he do? Play Lolita?! Whilst I dug it, for me this was his first miscalculation of the night. The crowd clearly would have loved something akin to When Doves Cry or Alphabet Street or even The Most Beautiful Girl In The World. But not Lolita. Definitely not Lolita).
18. Black Sweat (For me, I just love that incredible booming bass line that absolutely crunches into the stadium, but again, this was the second poorly judged performance of the night as far as keeping the crowd going. Yes, he played the bass but he didn't play the crowd and in an arena of 20,000, especially after you promised them that you'd play something they'd know, this should have been the time. He could have gone with I Would Die 4 U, When U Were Mine, or even, Delirious, but Black Sweat doesn't cut it for the masses. That said, those twins looked fine working it during this number. Damn)!
19. Kiss (As by now, you can imagine, this almost burnt the house down. He even said something along the lines of "And you thought I was going to play something you knew?" acknowledging his wayward ways on the previous two numbers. It worked. The crowd were back. My only point is that he didn't need to stray. Perhaps, if he had strayed with something like Joy In Repitition or something as bizarre as I Hate U, at least it would have been for the fans, but Lolita and Black Sweat seemed to miss the pulse of both the crowd and the fans. Again, just my opinion, but I think he relies on these two numbers when he's better than that. Wendy, please have a word).
20. Purple Rain (A fantastic closer to the night. Extended, as he seems to always do nowadays, thank God. The guitar was on fire. And the crowd were left in absolute awe.).

Encore 1 -

21. Little Red Corvette (Okay, now he was working it. Just by himself and his guitar. This worked an absolute treat. He must have played this song for what must have been around 8 or 9 minutes and the familiar refrain during the extended instrumental opening sent the crowd into orgasmic territory. I think he knew it, which is why he held back from singing for so long and just kept playing his guitar. He's such a little boy. The fact that he sang the song in its entirety was just iceing).
22. Raspberry Beret (Thank God. Another song for the crowd. And the fans. And it worked beautifully. Everyone singing in unison. Just Prince and his guitar. That's all he needed).
23. Sometimes It Snows In April (Okay, the crowd didn't know this song but we did and what's more, I think he won over almost every single audience member with his voice on this number. My God, he sang it so beautifully. I was incredibly impressed. "Love it isn't love until it's ... had". And the show ended....or so we thought!

Encore 2 -

24. Crazy (I know people are saying he should leave the cover versions out of this but sorry, I completely disagree. The crowd all know this song, it was one of the biggest dance tunes in the UK, and beyond that, I felt it's a very, very soulful way to close the night. Prince has done well to pick up on the public consciousness regarding this song and add it to his repertoire. I don't know if this is usually played as more of a slowed down funk jam but that's what he did tonight and it built into a real show stopper/crowd pleaser. Excellent, excellent, excellent).
25. Nothing Compares 2 U (Beautiful way to end the night. Everyone knew the song. By the end of the song, eveyone will have known Prince had written it. And by now, the end of the concert, Prince owned Saturday night and London).

Overall -

The setlist itself was sequenced close to perfection. Starting out with Let's Go Crazy and the pop/rock numbers, followed by the old school funk marathon, and then mixing between mid tempo fan favourites, crowd pleasers and new numbers. He didn't slow it down completely as he did on the opening night with Somewhere Here On Earth, which whilst I absolutely loved, the crowd did wonder what the hell was going on. On Saturday night, the momentum didn't dip except, in my opinion, during Lolita and Black Sweat. And in retrospect, I wonder whether I am perhaps being a little too harsh on the man even during those two numbers.

Still, I think it can be improved. And I dare say, he probably knows it. That said, the energy levels were incredible, especially during Kiss and following Purple Rain, where it was euphoric. The show definitely lasted well under two hours, unfortunately. As a non-biased concert go-er, I think Prince could (and perhaps, should) play for a little while longer...not for me, of course, just for the crowd. But at the end of the day, it's like someone said recently, I look at Prince nowadays almost as if I was willing my own child along to great things. Ultimately, I was very proud of him tonight.

On a side-note - it was great to hang out with you Giotto (you funky old Italian man), and THANK U for the ticket Sahar (awesome to hang out with you too, such an incredibly beautiful Norwegian sweetheart) - that was very generous of you to give it to me FREE! I had no concept that I would be seeing Prince on Saturday night, so it was an absolutely wonderful surprise! What a treat. Prince fans rock! Also, spotted you DreZone and Sammy on the Wednesday night, but didn't get a chance to say hello. Dre, dude, the 'fro still has it! Let me know when you're spinning next.


[Edited 8/5/07 6:35am]

You guys were sooo blessed and did I understand you correctly that Prince actually sang Little Red Corvette all the way through...I'm speaking original lyrics? cuz he hasn't done that in soooo long. We begged for that in Vegas, but didn't original lyrics. I love LRC...that is the original soundtrack.

I also remember another moment that worked brilliantly with the crowd during Little Red Corvette by the time he sang the lyrics. Being a Saturday night, each time he got to the part in the lyrics when he says, "But it was ...", he let the crowd roar "Saturday night!" much to our delight. Little things like that worked a treat.

It is the ONLY concert I've ever been to where most of the audience 'booed' when they realised it was over.

You guys were sooo blessed and did I understand you correctly that Prince actually sang Little Red Corvette all the way through...I'm speaking original lyrics? cuz he hasn't done that in soooo long. We begged for that in Vegas, but didn't original lyrics. I love LRC...that is the original soundtrack.

just to add my sister said LOLITA was her hilight !!

First off... nice to see you around these parts again, Anji. I hope all's well with you.

And Thank You for your comments - you bring back a LOT of memories.

What an incredible few days! Saturday's show - again - was superb. I'm not sure if I can add anything to what has already been written but the energy really was flowing and Prince played his pert little ass off. I enjoyed the opening gig but there were a few things I'd have ironed out - it didn't rank up there with my all-time favourite live experiences - but the Friday and Saturday shows were fantastic. Looking around the jam packed arena and seeing so many people, all moving away and having a great time... it brought tears to my eyes. Such great concerts.

I think Friday was slightly better than Saturday's show - plus, attending it with another hardcore fan really added 'something' - but only by a whisker. They were both phenomenal, in different ways. Saturday's gig was a very, very special show for me... I attended it with two friends of mine - one of whom I have known for a very long time; in fact, I met her at exactly the same time I got into Prince, at Uni. It was my roommate/her (ex)boyfriend that swapped his 0(+> cd for my 'Parklife' cd, which kickstarted all this madness. So for her and her husband to attend the show... it meant a lot to me. I can't tell you how happy I was to see them both dancing their asses off and getting into into it. Their verdict: 'Awesome'. I didn't travel up to London with them but they listened to a Best Of on the way up and my mate said she could hear my voice singing along to the tracks. So to have them there at the gig - and going away so amazed - it really was the icing on the cake. A great, great evening for me.

One funny moment: during Black Sweat, my mate said "What is he singing? 'Working off your body fat' I was, like, WTF?! So, stupid as it is, for the remainder of the song we sang 'Working.... working off your body fat'. I'll never hear it the same way again.


And, Anji, you are dead on it with your descriptions of the encore/s. The 'but it was Saturday Night, I guess that makes it alright' part during Little Red Corvette made my hair stand on end! And Sometimes It Snows In April'... Heartstoppingly beautiful. How one man, alone in the spotlight, with nothing except his guitar can capture the attention of 20,000 people in such a way beggars belief. It really was a special moment.


As for the Aftershow, I was a little disppointed that Prince didn't play a full set - after two amazing gigs, I thought he'd be raring to go. However, I did enjoy Nikka Costa's set - plus, her guitarist was HAWT - and, as it always is with P, you never know what's going to happen. So surprised? No. Pissed off? Definitely not. Disappointed? A little. But I had a great time all the same. If only every club night was as good as that.


Oh, and I briefly met minneapolisgenius! Absolutely stunning. And she was lovely, as expected.


All in all, a bloody brilliant night - next weekend can't come quick enough.

Back to opening songs again, I definitely think it would be great if Prince
opens with a different one each night. He could pretty much pick any track
to open with and it would probably work. So far we've had these opening
sequences...

Purple Rain / Girls & Boys / Satisfied
Down By The River / Satisfied / Cream
Let's Go Crazy / Take Me With U / Guitar

Other predictions and wishes I'd like to see are...

Controversy / Girls & Boys / If I Was Your Girlfriend
Guitar / Cream / U Got The Look
Spirituality / Johnny B Goode / Lolita
3121 / D.M.S.R. / Get On The Boat
Around The World In A Day / Take Me With U / Guitar
Peach / Cream / U Got The Look
Planet Earth / Take Me With U / Guitar

I'd also like to see him open with the following tracks (though as far as I
know he hasn't rehearsed any of these, so it's highly unlikely)...

My Name Is Prince (would still be a cool opener)
Thunder (was actually a hit single in the UK)
1999 (I know he retired it, but I can dream)
Endorphinmachine (I'd love to hear this live again)
Sign O' The Times (just like 1987 again)
.

What other form can the audience do/take/etc?
Leave?
Turn their backs? (less practical)
Sit and stare? (i.e.: no participation)

What would be effective yet not too bad in form?

Anji...perfect review, counldn'ta put it better. This was my first Prince concert after waiting 12 years as a diehard fan and it was truly amazing, words can't even express how it made me feel. I returnded home to Glasgow and as soon as I got in the door I was booking another trip down and securing tickets for Tuesday 14th August show (I was very satisfied with Saturday's show but it was so good that I felt I had to do anything I could to get back as soon as I can).

My seat on Saturday was amazing, lower tier, BK 116 row J - was anyone near me? I was wearing a Diamonds and Pearls skirt with a blue top n lace cardi - and although my seat for next tuesday isn't as good (up in the nosebleedingly terrifying upper tier), it IS true that every seat is a good seat as from this perspective I will be waching the whole show unfold and play out in front of/ below me.

For those of you who haven't been yet, it is definetly worth the wait, you'll have a ball

a GREAT report my dear Anjian
I'm glad some1 who really emjoyed the show would take my 2nd tix the 4th.

I'll gladly give it away 4 free 2 some1 that REALLY loves 2 B there, then haveing 2 look at the tix as spilt milk. It's payed 4 anyway right?

Cya around funky bortha