My my, where on earth (no pun intended!) to start...

Myself and four friends did the weekend - so please bear with me if I go off on one.

Cutting straight to the chase, Friday night was quite possibly the greatest musical experience of my life.

It was, from start to finish a ball, and the climax of seeing my first aftershow/impromptu Prince gig was something more special than can be described.

Some observations:

1. The O2 is a far better venue than any 'arena' I've been to - not only is there ample to do before and after (while it was ridiculous getting out on Saturday, it's something you should expect at big shows, so you just ride that blip) - with the many restaurants and bars. The contrast in seating for our two shows couldn't have been more different; Friday - lower tier behind the band - thankfully Prince worked the stage satisfyingly, Saturday we were the very back row of the upper tier (fourth level) facing the 'v' of the symbol which was still decent as we were able to fully appreciate the stage set-up and lights etc. Though Friday was of course the better view of the two - plus the sound was far more suited.

2. Despite it being my fourth and fifth time seeing him, this was the first I've caught him play a 'hits' set - so for those of you who are huge Prince fans, I too consider myself in that bracket but having missed out on his mid-80s live pinnacle (when I was a little 'un!) I think you have to consider those not as lucky as yourselves - so this was a real joy.

3. The aftershow on Friday was simply stunning. Having chilled out in Ink bar, watching some cats dance to P songs, we sauntered down still buzzing from the main set, but with no illusions that he would certainly show, and after an hour plus of Beverley Knight (who too deserves great credit for a powerful set of pipes and working the crowd - something greatly missed from Saturday's no-support show), we really were fearing the worse.

However, our fears were allayed when she began singing something to the effect of 'I know who you're hear to see... P.R.I.N.C.E...' and when he entered the stage white hat, white & black combo suit-adorned the feeling was unbridled happiness. The atmosphere down the front was electric, everyone was dancing, smiling and the two-hour jam with a sprinkling of covers and hits was an unforgettable experience.

4. The downside of this double edged sword was that inevitably Saturday's show couldn't help but be somewhat of an anti-climax. How can you beat that? Try as I might I couldn't raise my levels for Saturday, which was a good show, but not on a par with Friday.

Predominently because the set was so similar - with the rare, and somewhat incredible second encore of Prince on keys playing samples of SoTT, D&P, ECity, PopLife & incredibly WDCry - the feeling was something I've never felt at a gig, you felt utterly teased, satisfied to have at least had a whiff, confused, elated, aroused - so many mixed, contrasting emotions...

But ultimately, I suppose this is the genuine joy of Prince - no other star could bring out a new record and play ZERO songs from it for two consecutive nights, and leave a crowd (for the vast majority) ecstatic. No other star could pack about nine of their biggest hits into five minutes of samples/two liner snippets and have an arena full of people bellow/boo and hiss mockingly and see their hero smile coyly and knowingly, clearly in raptures at their own magnificence.

The whole weekend was a blast, I'm left somewhat astounded by the dissatisfaction of the few, and I just hope this aint the last we see of the big little man on these shores.

Cool, thanks!

Cool Funkster
I am completely after seeing Saturday's show, wow it was amazing
Glad I didn't go to Friday's as well, I would probably be
I could for not buying any Friday aftershow tickets and being at the Express Holiday Inn at the time of the show

The aftershow on the 10th was one of the best moments of my life..
I've been dreaming of seeing a Prince aftershow since I was 15...

I went apeshit when he played Sexy Dancer & Controversy wit the strobe light
& the funky motherfuckers on the floor jumping up & down..I can die now..

Just got back from London..btw..

my only dissapointment was the merchandise..T-shirt wise it was
almost exclusively 'fitted tops'4 women & iwas dying for the
'21 dates in London' to take back home & show off at work..

So i went over quite a few times (Fri+Sat) trying 2 pick out some 'interesting'
souveneir..so then the lovely sales girl took me aside & said Prince had forbidden them to sell the other T-shirt..cuz they have 2 get rid of the crap that isn't selling 1st.. .

I agree, the tenth aftershow was one of the best experiences of my life, Ive been to a few concerts and an aftershow but this was the most fantastic, everyone was very friendly and I got in the front row. I even got to touch prince when he fell in the crowd. He played Sweet Thing and love bizarre which is some of my faves. He was really funny and in a great mood with the crowd. When he high fived the front rows hands, I said a massive thank you..which is what ive been wanting to do for the last eighteen years.!

Ive lived my dream.

zaara said:

yes people were sooooo great..almost hippie like

even the indigo staff r very sweet..If u can imagine what they must go
through like on SAT. Is he playing??? Is he playing??? Is he playing???? WHY IS HE NOT PLAYING! They said he would b here! blablabla I WANT A REFUND! etc.. .
[Edited 8/13/07 14:41pm]

Hey Funkster,

I agree with a lot of what you say - thanks for the post. I saw the opening night arena show - which was such an exciting night to be a part of and the aftershow, which I thought was amazing musically (was surprised to hear criticism of it on this website to be honest)...but Friday night'll take some beating. Btw before I bore you with my own observations on Friday Aug 10th - for the record I think the opening night had the most packed and varied set list IMHO. You had all of the material played so far i.e. Purple Rain, Cream, Let's Go Crazy, Lolita etc but also Guitar, Planet Earth and Come Together by the Beatles, plus no-one knew what to expect so I think Aug 1st was very special...at the aftershow it was just a horn-fest, some of the harmonies and the jamming were amazing, plus the hard rock version of Another Lover, 3121 and Down By The Riverside...it's all so hazy, and my Dad who was there had never seen anything like it, but that said, here goes:

Friday 10th main show - what a blast...Prince was in the mood and really brought it, I was gutted to miss Beverley Knight's support slot but where was the announcement to take your seats from the o2? The venue really should sort that out really. Friday was just a party in the VIP area, and it was as close as I've ever been to Prince...and to see him enjoying from that vantage point is a real buzz undoubtedly. I didn't take any pictures or video as I feel you kind of lose the moment fiddling about with recording devices, and I think you should just be in the moment (I find the whole YouTube obsession a bit of a drag after a while)...again just my opinion.
The aftershow, well firstly I am a fan of Beverley Knight and having met her on a couple of occasions can report here that she's one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, she loves her music and she loves to sing. I feared the worst when the curtain went back at 1.30am and the hard core Prince fans began to growl!! The good news is that Bev being Bev brought a high energy show and really worked hard to make sure everyone was having a good time, a lot of credit to her for that...
I still believe having watched her reaction throughout at the Indigo2 that she was never truly sure what the set up was, or whether Prince would actually play. She was asked to perform for sure, but the rest seemed to catch her off guard even when she could see the band in the wings...maybe Prince likes her and knowing he's her musical hero did it as a genuine surprise - we'll never know I guess (unless Beverley spills it). When Prince's band began to emerge it was like a changing of the guard, British forces, humble and proud as they were being replaced by a confident marching US Cavalry band...! Which was something to see, led by the horns. Beverley just couldn't hide how star struck she was, am sure she covered her eyes on a few occasions, and kept saying 'oh my God!'. Prince was being the general onstage as always with various hand signals...when he first appeared Beverley Knight was speechless as they jammed on her tune, I forget which one...but it ended up in a long jam and finished with everyone playing Miss You by The Rolling Stones!!
I forget the exact order of things here people and it is a little hazy so forgive me if it goes astray...but will tell you in the order I think it happened....or at which point I do remember it!
Prince then came back on having requested she sing: Another Piece of my Heart by Erma Franklin (for the 3rd time that night!!) The only problem was that during it he was playing a blistering solo that no-one could hear, and the guitar tech no doubt feared for his job at that point because Prince was fuming...so I thought that this would be the last we'd see him. But it felt like Prince was inspired by the whole Tina Turner / Aretha Franlkin style old soul sound of Beverley and wanted a piece of the action for himself. I did feel a little sorry for Beverley's band though being slowly but surely shoved off the stage...but sometime you have to bow to greatness and eventually they began to stand down one by one (but during the music, there were no pauses and at one point we had two full bands all attempting to play at once on the Indigo2 stage!). And greatness it was, with Beverley now acting as backing singer/dancer (I think personally Prince was hoping she'd grab the mic more and give it some, but she didn't want to tread on his toes...or was maybe more star struck than the audience realised), with Shelby, Marva and the Twinz now onstage for a party! We had Chaka Khan's Sweet Thing feat. Bev, Shelby and Marva for a verse each, One Nation Under a Groove, Suga Mama - a cover from Beyonce's new CD sung by Shelby (this was my favourite part by the way...) Prince just started playing an amazing guitar lick which he must have picked up from the track, which is all samples!! And the band somehow joined in...there were bits of Tupac/Dre, No Diggity, I heard the horns play excerpts from Miles Davis' legendary Tutu album at one point...I could go on but what's the point.
Much as the aftershow on Aug 1st was, this was just pure music at time, jams, solos, great vocals, a spontaneous party vibe...both me and my friend were really really tired due to a day at work on my part and a day travelling on his, but I just leaned against a pillar and enjoyed the ride. Sometimes you just grab the moment, tell yourself what a privilege (and it really is a privilege) to see this great artist one more time, and who knows maybe for the last time, and to feel truly glad that you took a chance on being there....

That's how I feel...

Ps for the record I was at the main show on Saturday too Funkster...I thought the noise level from the crowd at the start was amazing, Purple Rain took on a new energy because of it...the hairs on the back of my neck stood up (and I've heard many versions of that track!). Somehow though - and I'd prefer to be honest about it - amazing as Saturday was (The Play That Funky Music White boy jam was a highlight), I felt lost the momentum, and in part, the crowd when he came back on midway through to sing Lolita and Black Sweat. Again it's just an opinion but perhaps the Friday took more out of him that people realise, his voice seemed to tire ever so slightly and the odd sound problem on tracks like Let's Go Crazy didn't help either. Still it was an amazing show and when the keyboard came out onto the stage I was in 7th heaven...how could it get better? It was a false dawn in some ways though as two songs, The Beautiful Ones and Do Me Baby were played for about a minute and a half each with Prince spending the rest of the time mucking about - albeit playing snippets - with a sampler which had a lot of his most famous tracks programmed into it. It just made me realise how powerful it would have been to have played tracks like Sign O The Times or Erotic City, When Doves Cry etc. It felt like he didn't know how to end it, or was merely trying to prove how wonderful his back catalogue was (there are better ways of doing that than playing with your toys!). I still loved that show but he had people booing because of that (I know it was in a jokey way but nonetheless next time he might want the play the keyboard a bit more, rather than fiddle with the buttons...that would prove so much more).
At the aftershow as soon as I walked in I knew he wouldn't play because there was a DJ on the stage! People were upset, some asked for refunds and some wanted to exchange their tickets. My friend and I did neither, we just walked back to the car and laughed a lot at how lucky we were...
In the end it's only Prince's talent and the myth of his performances (most of it justified) that creates the expectations. There's no point in getting mad with him because musicians and the music industry have always been unpredictable, and you're basically seeing someone play in a major arena who's as good as anybody from the annals of popular music. Hendrix, Sly Stone, Little Richard, James Brown, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder...the list is endless but Prince is as good as anyone and frequently better because of his versatility and sense of entertainment and showmanship.
And as my friend said at the end of Saturday night / Sunday morning...'you know there were a lot of aftershow elements in the main show tonight.' He was right of course but maybe a lot of people missed it...
With Prince in general and in the days that are left, leave your expectations at the door, take your chances, pay the money if you have to and just appreciate the moment when it's there. He's one of the last greats of popular music, let's not spoil it when it's such a privilege to be at the party.
T

I agree seeing prince is a priviledge and who knows when u can get to see him again, I feel so lucky and remember at one point i just looked up at the ceiling and said Thank you GoD!

Tokyo said:

You're so right on every point you made! Is your brother keeping well?
[Edited 8/13/07 15:45pm]

Roverlo - I never wrote that...although I did write many other things!! LOL

Ps I don't have a brother...well not by blood - that I'm aware of!

At least Prince is keeping well...but not for much longer if he keeps doing aftershows at the age of 50!

T

Tokyo said:

But no 2 aftershows in a row. While I was promised an aftershow on Saturday! The looser!

ps: rainbow children: I am just joking (to avoid a mayhem of posts of what has already been posted millions of times on other threads)

What no flash again!

don't all aftershows sound the same? they don't? oh what a shame!