It's been two days since I saw Prince at the London Hammersmith Appollo and I had a wild time!

He was dressed very smartly, with a beige coloured suit throughout the whole show and appeared very at ease and free. This was my first experience of seeing him live, so all I really had to go on was the video footage I'd seen from various past shows. In comparison, this show seemed very different. It was less of a fanfare, no hype or backing dancers. Just Prince, his instruments and a band with a passion.

He opened with the Rainbow Children, casually walking on. This was good live, although I thought he could've made a lot more of the 'rise' crescendo which concludes the track on the recorded version. Next came Muse 2 The Pharao, which was excellent live, very chilled with some funky rapping. The Work followed, which was the first of a handful of highlights from the show. He invited two members of the audience up onto the stage and they had a playoff for the best dancer. The two fans and Prince then did their Ozzy Osboarbe dance impressions in unison, which was amusing! This track was a real crowd pleaser.

Prince introduced us to his own NPG radio station, which consisted of 'real music from real musicians', which the crowd began chanting. He then accompanied the band on the piano and bursted into a crowd-pleasing version of Strange Relationship, which was another highlight of the night.

The best moment of the night - by a mile - was his accoustic set. He casually walked onto stage with his guitar and began with a personal favourite of mine 'Don't Play Me'. I know he doesn't play this track often, so I was in my element watching this. Following this, he gave an awesome accoustic rendition of '7' - another of my favourites. The crowd screamed very loudly at this one, and rightfully so, as this was Prince on top form. No backing singers, bands or dancers. Just Prince, alone and unplugged. He performed a new track, which had the words "I used to cuss, but then I used to use caller I-D". He actually stopped the song half way through to explain to us all what called caller I-D was. He was very witty and full of one liners. On the next accoustic track - Pink Cashmere, a guy from the crowd bellowed "We love you Prince", he then again, stopped half way through and replied "Not even my voice can reach that low. I'd appreciate if male members of the audience would stop hollering their love for me" and he then picked up where he left off. This gave the show a very intimate atmosphere.How many other acts would stop a track half way through to share a joke with the audience? Other artists I've seen, like Michael Jackson, perform very well, but live vocals are distorted and audience participation is minimal in a stadium of 70,000. A number of dates, at smaller venues is far better and probably more of a challenge for the artist.

One Nite Alone was no stage production. Although, clever lighting and backing screens were used well. However, the musicianship was more polished and slick than any other live act I've seen.

Joy In Repetition was one of the most atmospheric tracks of the night. I actually wasn't too familiar with the track as I'd paid little attention to the Graffitti Bridge album. But having seen this live, it has now become a firm favourite. The setlist on the whole catered for everyone. A few crowd pleasing hits (Raspberry Beret, 7), mixed with a few more obscure numbers for the hardcore fans. The only track which I didn't really feel worked well live was 'Peach', which seemed a little out of place with the rest of the setlist. I was slightly disheartened that he didn't perform 'I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore' or 'Anna Stesia' - two of my all time favourites, but I could hardly complain after that mindblowing accoustic set.

He ended with 'Alphabet Street'. He kept calling members of the audience up in tens. By the end of the track, Prince could hardly be seen, as there were about forty fans dancing with him on stage. This is what I liked about the show, the way it was so relaxed. I can't imagine many other acts doing this. But then again, Prince has never been just 'another act'.

Thank you for the great review!

You summed up the night perfectly. thanks!

Thanks for sharing your experience...makes me feel like I was there...I can just visualize the whole thing.