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18 Nights in LondOn-"the summer when everything changed" 18 Nights in Funky LondOn
-"the summer when everything changed " Since this has been the most intense Prince live experience so far I thought it could be fun to share some of the experiences from these amazing shows... Also need to write something for myself in order not to mix everything up in just one big funky experience ... The initial plan was to go to just "a few" shows, the opening night, a concert in the middle of the 21 nights and then the final shows... however having missed Las Vegas (couldn't get tickets to both Friday & Saturday) and Roosevelt I decided to go to as many shows as I could , as long as I enjoyed it and Prince would change the set lists etc ... Suprisingly you can still, 15 shows down the line see changes beeing made in the shows, including set lists changes in the main shows, new guest artists ... and the aftershows...wow.. that's were the real magic happends..!!! Many songs that have made it to the set list at the mainshows have been tried out once or twice at the aftershows some nightrs earlier. THE MAIN SHOWS Wednesday Aug 1st - "Opening Night" A great opening night. Lots of encores... A funny episode was when the house lights were lit on and everybody were leaving the arena. So I went to the bathroom and then suddenly you hear some music is beeing played and everybody is like "Is he back on??" ... 'He's back on!!" "He's ack on!!!" Total panick ... as everybody was rushing back in to the arena and the O2 personell did not know what to do but still decided to check eveyones ticket... This was a very long show and probably the one with the most encores.. Friday Aug 3rd Saturday Aug 4th Tuesday Aug 7th Friday Aug 10th Saturday Aug 11th Tuesday Aug 14th - "The Twins goes blond" Some highlights from this show was: *"1999" as the first song!!! - Amazing!!! *Prince rap in "Musicology" (Prince and the Band?) *"7"!!! - o yes.. *"Forever in my life" *Prince doing a solo playing the base 
*The twins as blondes - they are soo synchronized in their dancing routing it is scary
*Different lightings from previous nights, including discoballs during "Somewhere here on earth" *Also first time I was behind the stage (section 116 second row) . Quite good vew actually and cool to see the band going to and from the stage. Including the magic box Friday Aug 17th Saturday Aug 18th The show started a bit late BUT I loved the 3121 as the first song. It's a such as great song live and has worked even better at the aftershows. 1999 DJ Prince This section with Prince playing songs like Sign 'O' The Times is I think one of the hightlights of the shows. But yes, I'd love to hear the full lenght versions of these songs... The show was short - but highly energetic.. and the auduence was amazing. Standing on their feet and dancing most of the time... Great energy! Friday August 24th - missed this one Saturday August 25th - missed this one Tuesday Aug 28th - missed this one Friday Aug 31st - "1000 Hugs & Kisses" This nights personal highlights were: [B]Pass the Peas (included a great solo by Reanto) 1000 Hugs & Kisses (first time this was played? - great to hear some "new" songs on the setlist) Littel Red Corvette - (diffferent version from previous nights) Sometimes it Snows in April - (longer vocal section than ususal) Purple Rain - (long intro) Nothing Compares 2 U - (Prince vocal vs. Maceo on Sax at the end - Cool ) And of course one of my favourite sections of the latter shows "DJ PRINCE " with "Sign 'O' The Times, Pop Life, DMSR , I wanna be your lover, Alphabet Street..." Non-highligts The drunk woman who was dancing on stage and decided to sing / talk in the microphone. etc. while on stage... Saturday Sept 1st - "Will.I.Am & VIP" THE VIP EXPERIENCE: - What a night!!! Finally did the VIP - thing which was pretty cool. Nice food and cool atmosphere and friendly people. Seats was ok, A1 row G (behind Renato). Maybe had expected slightly better seats.. ( especially at that price...) but.. floor tickets are always great anyway. The Main Show: 1999 was great as a start-up song on a Saturday night. Musicology - cool with Will.I.Am from Black Eyed peas adding on some rap. I first though it was an amazingly talented guy from the auduience Satisfied - including some of "the rules" "We fellas like the sport, you/women? like shopping. Shopping is not a Sport".... and "If the toilet seat is up - put it down.." etc. "PIANO PRINCE": How come you don't call me anymore, Strange Relationship, Little Red corvette, Sometimes it snows in April... CONTROVERSY - this is such a great song live. So tight, so SUPER Funky... LOVE IT! Also included parts of Housequake this night.. Sexy Dancer (only intro but still FUNKY) went into Freak Out "DJ PRINCE" : Sign the Times, EROTIC CITY, When Doves Cry, I wanna be.. DMSR ALSO: Let's go crazy as encore that was actually played AFTER 23:00 !!! This must be the first night he played anything after 23:00 (curfew) time... Thursday Sept 6th Sunday Sept 9th Here are a few highlights from yesterday from my perspective: * Renatos played a longer instrumental version of the Elton John song to which the audience responed very entusiastic. * The guy who did the funky dance on stage! * The "Piano Prince" set included a long and soulful version of " Adore " . Very beautiful! Also a full version of " Somewherer here on earth!" " "She's Always in my hair"" as part of the "DJ Prince" -set Great to hear him play this! ***** Wednesday Sept 12th - "The 1999 Experience" This was the night when so many great songs were played from 1999. The show started of with 1999. And during the piano set "How come U don't call me anymore", "Free", Little Red Corvette" "Delirious"and my absolute favourite "Something in the Water does not Compute" - WOW!!! Other highlights were "I would die for U" during piano set and also "Chelsea Rogers" played during the main show. The NPG and Prince used the stage very well this night. A good thing for me as I were at F3 row A this night aka "the backyard" by Prince at a previous show. This night he spent quite some time there which made me/us very happy. The Twins did some sword fighting a la Star Wars at one part of the show. Cool to see how the try out new things and do not get stuck in their routines. The encore was also pretty cool. At about a quarter to 23 the band and Prince had left the arena, the house lights went on and most people had left the arena... but... suddenly he came back and we had an amazing "DJ Prince" set. During this set he did a 5 sec sample of a song which he hadn't played before. i recognized it but still can't remember the title t. Anyone having an idea what this song was..?? Thursday Sept 13th - "The Elton John experience" An obvious highlight was the guest appearence by Sir Elton John. He was mentioned in "Musicology" and then came on stage to sing "The longand winding road" by the Beatles (of course). Before this Renato had played the "usual" Elton John song as part of the "A Wonderfull world". The audience has always responded very enthusiastic to this part as soon as people recognizes the song. During the "piano set" Prince also played a little of one of Eltons songs. Not sure if the intention was for him to join on this or if this was just a tribute. Anyway, this was the biggest guest artist ever!!! Other hightlights: The Piano Set: "I Would Die 4 U" and "Under The Cherry Moon" was played. UTCM for the first time? Prince then started playing and singing "Love Is A Losing Game" Shelby then came in and did the rest of the song. The "DJ Prince" set included a short version of Darling Nikki (no singing..  )
Final highlights were when the band came back on and we has "A love Bizarre" and "Chelsea Rogers' Great encore!!! ***** Sunday Sept 16th Thursday Sept 20th Friday Sept 21st THE AFTERSHOWS / AFTERPARTIES These have been some of the most amazing experiences I have had. I have been to a few aftershows before but never before has it been this simple to get info about the venue 
Wednesday Aug 1st - "Opening Night" Friday Aug 3rd Saturday Aug 4th Tuesday Aug 7th Amazing aftershow!!! This was one of these aftershows I had hoped for.. Great to see Prince in such a playful and happy mood! Friday Aug 10th Saturday Aug 11th Tuesday Aug 14th - "Girls & Boys" (SUPER FUNKY) STILL SMILING!! Yesterday was MAGIC! It was just magical to experience last night ... so much joy and excitment and playfulness and pure love for the music. Just to hear Maceo play every night, it's just so incredible to be able to experience this. The band are so extremely talented and funky and stars in their own right. To see them all play together is amazing... improvising and creatinging music there and then... and to "stretch out" musically after the show... this experience can not be described it must be experienced! Last night we had Prince on guitar (obviously) but also bas, keyboard and he was almost going for the drums at one time... Before the show even started we were treated to some serious funk from Parliament, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins etc. by the DJ. So waiting was great
Ms Knight did an amazing cover version of Raspberry Beret during her set. Then it all started!!: Hearing the first accords of Empty Room made you realize that tonigt was going to be more than the usual hits. As Beverly said during her opening set. "Tonight we'll make history" The long intro to the song and killer guitar ending... WOW The set list is probably listed in detail in some other thread.. but.. personal highligts were 3121 - with the super funky intro, including lots of other songs Girls & Boys When you were min (intro) PARTYMAN!! and I also believe I heard intro to Head at one time which isone of my favourite songs..
but to be honest I was way to much into enjoying the concert than focusing on the details of the songs... also lots of extended jams, solos etc.. This has sooo overcompensated the Dr. John and last Saturday when the DJ did not have a Prince or P-Funk record of their own (was apparently given a Planet Earth CD by someone in the audience) Friday Aug 17th Saturday Aug 18th - The coolest AFTERSHOW - so far... The Moment Prince entered the stage dressed in the supercool red outfit with a hat that reminded you about pictures taken from the late Purple Rain era was simply the coolest moment ever in my aftershow experience. And starting the show by playing keyboard doing Superstitious was just amazing to see and experience. "If the toilet seat is up - put it down" Cool moment number two: Satisfied with the incredible lyrics about man - women relationships made the place crack up in laughter. Hilarious! I was so surprised when I heard the first sentence....  This guy has a lot of humour. As the Twins once said , he could have been a brilliant comedian if he ever wanted to change career.
Cool moment number three: Prince laying down in the sofa at the stage with his guitar , playing some air guitar while the band continiued jamming. Cool moment number four: Prince humourously and kindly asking the band to leave the stage.. and than asking Mr Maceo Parker to enter the stage for some serious Saxophone playing.. Cool moment number five: "Freaks on this side" and two other choruses running at the same time... at the end of the show Also, Shelby did two or three amazing songs and Marva also did one covers. C.C. Dunham aka Cora She looked supercool in her sunglasses while playing the base drum at an incredible high tempo during her solo. Renato: An amazing solo.. once again... Also nice to meet and talk to so many nice and friendly people at the aftershow including the band. Thanks for an amazing night! C U next time
Friday August 24th - missed this one Saturday August 25th - missed this one Tuesday Aug 28th - missed this one Friday Aug 31st Highlights: Cora on the drums ... she is such an amazing drummer!!! Otherwise it is always great to meet so many friends and other cool people at the shows. Saturday Sept 1st - The Aftershow: What an aftershow. Prince and the band is truly doing two very different shows and I really love these aftershows as they are so different in style and setlist. A few Highlights: I loved the "the War" like lyrics /improvisation he did on one of the songs... How I'd love to hear the War at one of these aftershows... Also Will.I.Am did another guest appearence which was very cool during Get on the Boat . It's great to see other artists joining him onstage to improvise Cool] Shelby J. I think it becomes even more clear for every show why she is "one of Prince favourite singers" Her voice is amazing. Hearing her do songs like Love is a loosing game The One I Wanna C (First time this was played!!!) When You Were Mine What Have You Done For Me Lately - COOL! Partyman (I think he has done this before, but cool song to hear live!!!) Gotta Broken Heart Again (Just Beautiful) Alphabet Street The club was seriously packed with people that night Thursday Sept 6th Sunday Sept 9th What a night!!! This was another amazing and probably the longest aftershow in London so far.... maybe even the funkiest
It started of with Renato playing some cool piano while the curtains was still down. It then went into some jazz instrumental by the NPG. Shelby did an amazing cover of "Cherish the Day" by Sade! Highlights included.. (not necessarly in the right chronological order) "1999" "Alphabet Street" "Joy in Repetition" - LONG version!! "Never loved a man.." with Shelby J. - such passion adn beautiful voice "All the critics love you in London" - "Chelsea Rogers" - second time I hear him do this song live and it's soo funky.. Remeber how the band teased the audience about doing this but never did .. Miss the spoken intro from the album though. That intro is soo funky! "Joy in Repetition" - never thouhgt I would hear this again at an aftershow... This has always been one of my favourite Prince songs. Yesterday we had a 10 minute version of this.. with one of the twin (not sure which one) singing the "love me" part. I think Prince called for Shelby to join him for this ... but they were off stage somewhere. "The Power trio" - Prince, Cora and Josh did something incredibly funky jam while Prince laid some funky lyrics about "I never sold records in the first place" in response to people saying " You do not sell records like you used to". And that's he wanted to "put out a single" and that they said "they did not do that anymore" and that "people download songs now' but he's "to old for that" Also asked the audience if he should release "The one I wanna C" or "Chelsea Rogers" as the next single. Assume this was just for fun.. but cool. Also said he had a computer but that he couldn't find anything like this (continiued to play a sunper funky groove) on his guitarr... "The Power Trio" then went SUPERFUNKY!! "Girls & Boys" was played based a superfunky bassline by Josh... Hope to hear this again... Later a longer version of "3121" was played as an encore. Marva also did a great version of "Sweet Thing" and there were also some great solos by the whole band! It's amazing too experience these shows.. The band are all stars in their own right and to see/hear them play together is amazing. Cool to hear Mike Phillips and the horn section doing short snippets of various songs as part of the introduction to 3121 etc. Also great to see them signaling how they will play the horns etc. as they are improvising during the set. Wednesday Sept 12th Prince says no aftershow! While standing in the queue suddenly a car drove up and out came Prince standing just half a meter away telling us that he could not play tonight as he needed to rest hos voice for tomorrow. This was such a surprise to all of us standing at the back of the queue. He chatted for maybe 30 seconds and then drove off in the car. Hope he will be back"en pleine forme" tomorrow... The Aftershow: Mike Philly, Greg Boyer and Lee Hogans doing their thing together with some musicians and singers from London. It was funky and you can really tell they love what they do. These guys are really very cool. One bizzare episode was when a girl dressed like "little red riding hood" came up on stage. She was taken off stage by the security but managed to "give it up for the band" before doing her exit. A more cool part fo the show was when Mike went down and walked around the audience at the floor while playing. Pretty funky.. ***** Thursday Sept 13th - "The Psycadelic Party & VIP Experience" This night the floor tickets were sold out. So having to choose between Balcony and VIP/Kings Row I decided to go for Kings Row (I wasn't to happy with my previous two balcony tickets as I felt you were to far away from the stage). This turned out to be quite an experience. When I was at the bar enjoying a glas of wine suddenly Renato came up just besides me. The VIP area is pretty nice and more like a big chill out business/lounge. The seats/Kings Row were pretty good. The front row was "reserved" primarily for corporate clients but although they are beeing right at the front it seems like they are not allowed to stand up and dance... So beeing on second row means you got the whole overview of the stage AND you can dance! (and if you want to leave your seat to go to the bathroom you still can get back and have a good seat. Also no one is pushing you or making their way to meet their friends somewhere at the very front of the stage... ) So fun to do this once but overall I prefere floor seats as you meet up with friends there. The show started around 1 am with Renato playing "the Dance" which I enjoyed very much. Prince then came out on stage and they went into "Around the World in a Day" (YES!!!) followed by "Beautiful Strange" where Prince made a lot of pshycadelic noises with his guitarr... Also, first (or second) time people came up on stage at the aftershow. This was one of the few times when people did not dance around Prince or following him around like crazy... Nice to see some people on stage again. TO BE CONTINIUED..... Sunday Sept 16th Thursday Sept 20th Friday Sept 21st FAVOURITE ARRANGEMENTS *3121 (especially this Sunday and some of the earlier aftershows with the long intro and snippets of other songs added into the introduction as well as the tonebox with Mike Phillips) * Girls and Boys with the superfunky bass line by Josh.. and also the funky guitarr by Prince * Black Sweet (ever since I heard this arrangement at the Koko Club it is simply damn funky, the bas that he adds there is simply too funky and also you have some hard great drums) * Joy in Repetition both Sunday and previous aftershow. Sunday version was really long and very different from other live versions I've heard * Controversy This is one of the funkiest moments during the main show.. love the guitarr. He breaks it down and plays the funkiest guitarr ever .. The guitarr is soo... FUNKY! * Somewhere here on Earth - this came as a big surprise to myself but I really love some of the live versions he has done with this song.. It has not worked everytime but last time it was soo soo emotional and beautiful and soulful. I have had this song in the back of my head the whole day.. Didn't see that one coming But he does it differently han on the album and better live.
* The Beautiful ones - he did an incredible emotional versoin of this one of the nights. This is such a great song and is a great part of set "Piano Prince" set. * Little Red Corvette - he has done som e really long versions of this that have a different arrangement ( well it's mostly piano - but very beautiful) * Crazy - has to be mentioned. This version is far better than the original * Partyman / What have you done for me lately - somewhat similar to the 1990 live version but different vocalist this is such a great song..
* "Can't get you out of my head/Kylie Minogue" Great version by Shelby and very different from original. Also works great as an extension of the song There is a lot more ... but this is just from the top of my head.. THE SEATS: Have probaly seen this show from all possible angels and seats. Upper, Lower, Floor. 1m from stage to Way back... and from all angels (front sides, back). But not Purple Tables/Stage suites... at least not yet.
THE TICKET EXPERIENCE: Hmmm.. have to write some stuff about this. It's safe to say this could be handled better by AEG and TicketMaster etc. Unfortunately I did not understand this game until I already had bought tickets to all the shows.. so have ended up buying additional tickets because far better seats have been released after it was "sold out". However most of these tickets have been given away to friends or sold at/below face value. PHOTOS: It's is just to bad photos are not allowed as Prince and the band changes outfits at every show and several times during each show. I personally think Prince's current fashion sense is the best I have ever seen. These costumes etc should definitely be documented, ideally professionally as a 21 nights in London book or something. Similar to what was done after the LoveSexy tour. Or if they could show more pictures from the shows at 3121.com... **Later talked with one of the official photographers who were there who told me they were working for a project for Prince. Not sure that made things any clearer for me but at least they have done some proper documentation ... Is this for the "coffee table book" -project? THE TICKETS: 
TO BE CONTINIUED.. [b][Edited 9/16/07 9:53am] -----
People call me rude. I wish we all were nude. I wish there was no black and white. I wish there were no rules www.myspace.com/lovesexy_777 | |
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WOW! Thanks for the rundown
I agree with you about the 9th, How magical! "Sometimes being a cold hard bitch is all a woman has left." | |
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thegranddesign said:[quote]18 Nights in Funky LondOn
Since this has been the most intense Prince live experience so far I thought it could be fun to share some of the experiences from these amazing shows... Also need to write something for myself in order not to mix everything up in just one big funky experience ... Why 18 and not 21 nights? Had to go to the US for 2 weeks so missed 3 shows including the aftershow with "the New Power Trio" (Prince, Cora and Josh). So I just hope there will be more of this... Anyway here goes... THE MAIN SHOWS Wednesday Aug 1st - "Opening Night" A great opening night. Lots of encores... A funny episode was when the house lights were lit on and everybody were leaving the arena. So I went to the bathroom and then suddenly you hear some music is beeing played and everybody is like "Is he back on??" ... 'He's back on!!" "He's ack on!!!" Total panick ... as everybody was rushing back in to the arena and the O2 personell did not know what to do but still decided to check eveyones ticket... This was a very long show and probanly the one with the most encores.. Friday Aug 3rd Saturday Aug 4th Tuesday Aug 7th Friday Aug 10th Saturday Aug 11th Tuesday Aug 14th Some highlights from this show was: *"1999" as the first song!!! - Amazing!!! *Prince rap in "Musicology" (Prince and the Band?) *"7"!!! - o yes.. *"Forever in my life" *Prince doing a solo playing the base
*The twins as blondes - they are soo synchronized in their dancing routing it is scary
*Different lightings from previous nights, including discoballs during "Somewhere here on earth" *Also first time I was behind the stage (section 116 second row) . Quite good vew actually and cool to see the band going to and from the stage. Including the magic box Friday Aug 17th Saturday Aug 18th The show started a bit late BUT I loved the 3121 as the first song. It's a such as great song live and has worked even better at the aftershows. 1999 DJ Prince This section with Prince playing songs like Sign 'O' The Times is I think one of the hightlights of the shows. But yes, I'd love to hear the full lenght versions of these songs... The show was short - but highly energetic.. and the auduence was amazing. Standing on their feet and dancing most of the time... Great energy! Friday August 24th - missed this one Saturday August 25th - missed this one Tuesday Aug 28th - missed this one Friday Aug 31st This nights personal highlights were: Pass the Peas (included a great solo by Reanto) 1000 Hugs & Kisses (first time this was played? - great to hear some "new" songs on the setlist) Littel Red Corvette - (diffferent version from previous nights) Sometimes it Snows in April - (longer vocal section than ususal) Purple Rain - (long intro) Nothing Compares 2 U - (Prince vocal vs. Maceo on Sax at the end - Cool ) And of course one of my favourite sections of the latter shows "DJ PRINCE " with "Sign 'O' The Times, Pop Life, DMSR , I wanna be your lover, Alphabet Street..." Non-highligts The drunk woman who was dancing on stage and decided to sing / talk in the microphone. etc. while on stage... Saturday Sept 1st THE VIP EXPERIENCE: - What a night!!! Finally did the VIP - thing which was pretty cool. Nice food and cool atmosphere and friendly people. Seats was ok, A1 row G (behind Renato). Maybe had expected slightly better seats.. ( especially at that price...) but.. floor tickets are always great anyway. The Main Show: 1999 was great as a start-up song on a Saturday night. Musicology - cool with Will.I.Am from Black Eyed peas adding on some rap. I first though it was an amazingly talented guy from the auduience Satisfied - including some of "the rules" "We fellas like the sport, you/women? like shopping. Shopping is not a Sport".... and "If the toilet seat is up - put it down.." etc. "PIANO PRINCE" How come you don't call me anymore, Strange Relationship, Little Red corvette, Sometimes it snows in April... CONTROVERSY - this is such a great song live. So tight, so SUPER Funky... LOVE IT! Also included parts of Housequake this night.. Sexy Dancer (only intro but still FUNKY) went into Freak Out "DJ PRINCE" Sign the Times, EROTIC CITY, When Doves Cry, I wanna be.. DMSR ALSO: Let's go crazy as encore that was actually played AFTER 23:00 !!! This must be the first night he played anything after 23:00 (curfew) time... Thursday Sept 6th Sunday Sept 9th Here are a few highlights from yesterday from my perspective: * Renatos played a longer instrumental version of the Elton John song to which the audience responed very entusiastic. * The guy who did the funky dance on stage! * The "Piano Prince" set included a long and soulful version of " Adore " . Very beautiful! Also a full version of " Somewherer here on earth!" " "She's Always in my hair"" as part of the "DJ Prince" -set Great to hear him play this! ***** Wednesday Sept 12th - "The 1999 Experience" This was the night when so many great songs were played from 1999. The show started of with 1999. And during the piano set "How come U don't call me anymore", "Free", Little Red Corvette" "Delirious"and my absolute favourite "Something in the Water does not Compute" - WOW!!! Other highlights were "I would die for U" during piano set and also "Chelsea Rogers" played during the main show. The NPG and Prince used the stage very well this night. A good thing for me as I were at F3 row A this night aka "the backyard" by Prince at a previous show. This night he spent quite some time there which made me/us very happy. The Twins did some sword fighting a la Star Wars at one part of the show. Cool to see how the try out new things and do not get stuck in their routines. The encore was also pretty cool. At about a quarter to 23 the band and Prince had left the arena, the house lights went on and most people had left the arena... but... suddenly he came back and we had an amazing "DJ Prince" set. During this set he did a 5 sec sample of a song which he hadn't played before. i recognized it but still can't remember the title t. Anyone having an idea what this song was..?? Thursday Sept 13th Sunday Sept 16th Thursday Sept 20th Friday Sept 21st THE AFTERSHOWS / AFTERPARTIES These have been some of the most amazing experiences I have had. I have been to a few aftershows before but never before has it been this simple to get info about the venue
Wednesday Aug 1st - "Opening Night" Friday Aug 3rd Saturday Aug 4th Tuesday Aug 7th Amazing aftershow!!! This was one of these aftershows I had hoped for.. Great to see Prince in such a playful and happy mood! Friday Aug 10th Saturday Aug 11th Tuesday Aug 14th STILL SMILING!! Yesterday was MAGIC! It was just magical to experience last night ... so much joy and excitment and playfulness and pure love for the music. Just to hear Maceo play every night, it's just so incredible to be able to experience this. The band are so extremely talented and funky and stars in their own right. To see them all play together is amazing... improvising and creatinging music there and then... and to "stretch out" musically after the show... this experience can not be described it must be experienced! Last night we had Prince on guitar (obviously) but also bas, keyboard and he was almost going for the drums at one time... Before the show even started we were treated to some serious funk from Parliament, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins etc. by the DJ. So waiting was great
To start with Ms Knight did an amazing cover version of Raspberry Beret during her set. Then it all started!!: Hearing the first accords of Empty Room made you realize that tonigt was going to be more than the usual hits. As Beverly said during her opening set. "Tonight we'll make history" The long intro to the song and killer guitar ending... WOW The set list is probably listed in detail in some other thread.. but.. personal highligts were 3121 - with the super funky intro, including lots of other songs Girls & Boys When you were min (intro) PARTYMAN!! and I also believe I heard intro to Head at one time which isone of my favourite songs..
but to be honest I was way to much into enjoying the concert than focusing on the details of the songs... also lots of extended jams, solos etc.. This has sooo overcompensated the Dr. John and last Saturday when the DJ did not have a Prince or P-Funk record of their own (was apparently given a Planet Earth CD by someone in the audience) Friday Aug 17th Saturday Aug 18th The coolest AFTERSHOW - so far... The Moment Prince entered the stage dressed in the supercool red outfit with a hat that reminded you about pictures taken from the late Purple Rain era was simply the coolest moment ever in my aftershow experience. And starting the show by playing keyboard doing Superstitious was just amazing to see and experience. "If the toilet seat is up - put it down" Cool moment number two: Satisfied with the incredible lyrics about man - women relationships made the place crack up in laughter. Hilarious! I was so surprised when I heard the first sentence.... This guy has a lot of humour. As the Twins once said , he could have been a brilliant comedian if he ever wanted to change career.
Cool moment number three: Prince laying down in the sofa at the stage with his guitar , playing some air guitar while the band continiued jamming. Cool moment number four: Prince humourously and kindly asking the band to leave the stage.. and than asking Mr Maceo Parker to enter the stage for some serious Saxophone playing.. Cool moment number five: "Freaks on this side" and two other choruses running at the same time... at the end of the show Also, Shelby did two or three amazing songs and Marva also did one covers. C.C. Dunham? aka Cora Yesterday she looked supercool in her sunglasses while playing the base drum at an incredible high tempo during her solo. Renato: An amazing solo.. once again... Also nice to meet and talk to so many nice and friendly people at the aftershow including the band. Thanks for an amazing night! C U next time
Friday August 24th - missed this one Saturday August 25th - missed this one Tuesday Aug 28th - missed this one Friday Aug 31st AFTERSHOW: Highlights: Cora on the drums ... she is such an amazing drummer!!! Otherwise it is always great to meet so many friends and other cool people at the shows. Saturday Sept 1st The Aftershow: What an aftershow. Prince and the band is truly doing two very different shows and I really love these aftershows as they are so different in style and setlist. A few Highlights: I loved the "the War" like lyrics /improvisation he did on one of the songs... How I'd love to hear the War at one of these aftershows... Also Will.I.Am did another guest appearence which was very cool during Get on the Boat . It's great to see other artists joining him onstage to improvise Cool] Shelby J. I think it becomes even more clear for every show why she is "one of Prince favourite singers" Her voice is amazing. Hearing her do songs like Love is a loosing game The One I Wanna C (First time this was played!!!) When You Were Mine What Have You Done For Me Lately - COOL! Partyman (I think he has done this before, but cool song to hear live!!!) Gotta Broken Heart Again (Just Beautiful) Alphabet Street The club was seriously packed with people that night Thursday Sept 6th Sunday Sept 9th What a night!!! This was another amazing and probably the longest aftershow in London so far.... maybe even the funkiest
It started of with Renato playing some cool piano while the curtains was still down. It then went into some jazz instrumental by the NPG. Shelby did an amazing cover of "Cherish the Day" by Sade! Highlights included.. (not necessarly in the right chronological order) "1999" "Alphabet Street" "Joy in Repetition" - LONG version!! "Never loved a man.." with Shelby J. - such passion adn beautiful voice "All the critics love you in London" - "Chelsea Rogers" - second time I hear him do this song live and it's soo funky.. Remeber how the band teased the audience about doing this but never did .. Miss the spoken intro from the album though. That intro is soo funky! "Joy in Repetition" - never thouhgt I would hear this again at an aftershow... This has always been one of my favourite Prince songs. Yesterday we had a 10 minute version of this.. with one of the twin (not sure which one) singing the "love me" part. I think Prince called for Shelby to join him for this ... but they were off stage somewhere. "The Power trio" - Prince, Cora and Josh did something incredibly funky jam while Prince laid some funky lyrics about "I never sold records in the first place" in response to people saying " You do not sell records like you used to". And that's he wanted to "put out a single" and that they said "they did not do that anymore" and that "people download songs now' but he's "to old for that" Also asked the audience if he should release "The one I wanna C" or "Chelsea Rogers" as the next single. Assume this was just for fun.. but cool. Also said he had a computer but that he couldn't find anything like this (continiued to play a sunper funky groove) on his guitarr... "The Power Trio" then went SUPERFUNKY!! "Girls & Boys" was played based a superfunky bassline by Josh... Hope to hear this again... Later a longer version of "3121" was played as an encore. Marva also did a great version of "Sweet Thing" and there were also some great solos by the whole band! It's amazing too experience these shows.. The band are all stars in their own right and to see/hear them play together is amazing. Cool to hear Mike Phillips and the horn section doing short snippets of various songs as part of the introduction to 3121 etc. Also great to see them signaling how they will play the horns etc. as they are improvising during the set. Wednesday Sept 12th Prince says no aftershow! While standing in the queue suddenly a car drove up and out came Prince standing just half a meter away telling us that he could not play tonight as he needed to rest hos voice for tomorrow. This was such a surprise to all of us standing at the back of the queue. He chatted for maybe 30 seconds and then drove off in the car. Hope he will be back"en pleine forme" tomorrow... The Aftershow: Mike Philly, Greg Boyer and Lee Hogans doing their thing together with some musicians and singers from London. It was funky and you can really tell they love what they do. These guys are really very cool. One bizzare episode was when a girl dressed like "little red riding hood" came up on stage. She was taken off stage by the security but managed to "give it up for the band" before doing her exit. A more cool part fo the show was when Mike went down and walked around the audience at the floor while playing. Pretty funky.. ***** Thursday Sept 13th Sunday Sept 16th Thursday Sept 20th Friday Sept 21st FAVOURITE ARRANGEMENTS *3121 (especially this Sunday and some of the earlier aftershows with the long intro and snippets of other songs added into the introduction as well as the tonebox with Mike Phillips) * Girls and Boys with the superfunky bass line by Josh.. and also the funky guitarr by Prince * Black Sweet (ever since I heard this arrangement at the Koko Club it is simply damn funky, the bas that he adds there is simply too funky and also you have some hard great drums) * Joy in Repetition both Sunday and previous aftershow. Sunday version was really long and very different from other live versions I've heard * Controversy This is one of the funkiest moments during the main show.. love the guitarr. He breaks it down and plays the funkiest guitarr ever .. The guitarr is soo... FUNKY! * Somewhere here on Earth - this came as a big surprise to myself but I really love some of the live versions he has done with this song.. It has not worked everytime but last time it was soo soo emotional and beautiful and soulful. I have had this song in the back of my head the whole day.. Didn't see that one coming But he does it differently han on the album and better live.
* The Beautiful ones - he did an incredible emotional versoin of this one of the nights. This is such a great song and is a great part of set "Piano Prince" set. * Little Red Corvette - he has done som e really long versions of this that have a different arrangement ( well it's mostly piano - but very beautiful) * Crazy - has to be mentioned. This version is far better than the original * Partyman / What have you done for me lately - somewhat similar to the 1990 live version but different vocalist this is such a great song..
* "Can't get you out of my head/Kylie Minogue" Great version by Shelby and very different from original. Also works great as an extension of the song There is a lot more ... but this is just from the top of my head.. THE SEATS: Have probaly seen this show from all possible angels and seats. Upper, Lower, Floor. 1m from stage to Way back... and from all angels (front sides, back). But not Purple Tables... at least not yet.
THE TICKET EXPERIENCE: Hmmm.. have to wrote some stuff about this. It's safe to say this could be handled better by AEG and TicketMaster etc. Unfortunately I did not understand this game until I already had bought tickets to all the shows.. so have ended up buying additional tickets because far better seats have been released after it was "sold out". PHOTOS: It's is just to bad photos are not allowed as Prince and the band changes outfits at every show and several times during each show. I personally think Prince's current fashion sense is the best I have ever seen. These costumes etc should definitely be documented, ideally professionally as a 21 nights in London book or something. Similar to what was done after the LoveSexy tour. Or if they could show more pictures from the shows at 3121.com... **Later talked with one of the official photographers who were there who told me they were working for a project for Prince. Not sure that made things any clearer for me but at least they have done some proper documentation ... Is this for the "coffe table book" -project? Will add to this thread .... including pictures (but not from shows...)[/quote lol..well im going 2 a total of 18 shows as well...lol...but i couldnt be arsed doing reviews as they were all fantastic....anyone that was there has there own views on them. so far its been all good apart from 1 show that was wayyyy 2 short n i felt short changed was under 90 min!!! as 4 the aftershows....they were hit n miss 2 b honest,,,,some were fantastic,,,some were shite....anyone remember dr john??? heh heh. i can look back on that now and laugh as well as my VIP trips 2 the backstage bar and having fun looking at a black curtin and eating food fit 4 a prince...lol WOLFY  [Edited 9/14/07 13:51pm] Welcome 2 wolfys lair!! Make love not war!!!
3121 IRELAND...U CAN COME IF U WANT 2 BUT U CAN NEVER LEAVE!! OOOOOOH FUNKY IRELAND | |
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Thanks! Interesting read....Fred | |
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Wow! Great thread. | |
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You didnt go to the 9th sept what a night !!!the longest of the indigo aftershows (love bragging about that!!)so far,i went to the 7th aug and was blown away by Prince breaking into Stevie Wonder on the keybroads 'nah you don't want me to play that 'everybody went nuts!
But the 9th aftershow he played hard and long with big tracks like 1999,joy in repatition,chelsea rogers ,3121.....fantastic !!!I will never forget just like the Lovesexy show i went to back in 88 i can still remember the track list !!!!never forget! | |
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"this summer has changed everything, goodnight"
CR 6th Sept 2007, Prince at the 3121 in London Final words  If it were not for insanity, I would be sane.
"True to his status as the last enigma in music, Prince crashed into London this week in a ball of confusion" The Times 2014 | |
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He did go to that aftershow, Described in detail above...
Fred | |
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i've only been to 8 (and 7 aftershows) but from your run down/the ones you've chosen to talk about, it looks like i've been to some of the best!
just sunday(main and afty) and fridays aftershow left for me 'one condition - microchip in yo neck' | |
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