A GettyImages pic from the show (thanks dothejump!)


Wooh, finally back in San Francisco after another awesome purple adventure!!! The show was great, though as always, Prince made us WORK for it! We pulled up to the Avalon at 11:30 on Sunday morning and nope, we were not the first in line. So I grabbed a few feet of cement and joined the party. During the day we had our usual purple party going on, meeting other fans (hello Alan, Cheryl, Cody!) and matching them up with their online identities, talking about what songs we wanted to hear, when we first saw Prince and when we last saw him, what were we going to wear, will it rain... you can imagine the myriad of topics and people you can cover in 12 hours together with a bunch of Prince fans. We had a few ooooh moments during the day - the band arriving for soundcheck (Prince must have pulled around the side and gotten out because we didn’t lay eyes on him until showtime), chatting with some of Prince’s security, watching Renato park in the lot across the street and walk over (we all waved), the website crew coming by and shooting some video footage of the fans and crowd, and chatting up Morris Hayes when he stopped by to say hi. The Avalon crew were all very nice and despite boxing us in with curtained barricades starting at noon, it was a pretty humane setup. LOL To see some pics of us waiting in line, go to http://www.flickr.com/pho...059/show/. Also here’s a short vid of the Lotusflow3r poster being mounted in the displays - another oooooh moment for us (hey, it’s the small things that get u through, right?). http://video.yahoo.com/wa...8/12165847

Finally, late in the night, Prince finished the sound check (we could only hear some slight bass thumping outside) and the sidewalk was really starting to fill up, L.A. types were mingling around the entrance, the buzz was really building. They let us into the venue around 11:30 if I remember correctly. When we got to the ticket window I was surprised to see one of Prince’s security taking the money and in my anxiety to get inside, was hoping he could count our twenties a wee bit faster! Once inside we darted for the front and ended up a little right of center. We knew we probably had a couple more hours ahead of us. DJ Rashida was there as well and I have to say, she played the BEST mix I’ve ever heard at a Prince show. I think she finally understands what Prince fans want to hear! Some Prince (lot of SOTT), MJ, 80s tunes, classic hip-hop. She kept my mind off my beginning-to-ache feet and stomach butterflies. Thank you Rashida!

And then it happened, that moment came that makes the 13 hours in line all worth it. First Morris walked on stage and took his stool, then Josh and Cora walked in together (Josh sort of escorted her, it was very sweet), new harmonica player Frederic Yonnet (http://www.fredyonnet.com/) came in and took his place to the left of Prince, and Shelby J. and a new singer, Liv Warfield, stood in front of their mics, tamborines in hand, heads looking down at the floor. Then the purple one himself came out, looking perfect as usual. He has on tight-ish black pants, his usual kind that flare a bit at the bottom, a matching black "tunic" style top that had buttons or shells? along the cuffs and the opening of the shirt. He was wearing his white "moon boots" that had a Lucite heel in them, and those adorable heels with red LED lights that blink as he walks around. He had a necklace on underneath that was not his symbol necklace; couldn’t tell if he had that one last night. He was wearing sunglasses and his ear wraps and...he was sporting a blinged out cane! It was more of a royal scepter I like to think but he strutted his way on stage as Morris cued up the opening chords of Purple Rain (the album track). Of course the crowd went a little giddy but Prince was having none of that - the band turned and launched into a funky brand new track which got us all moving and grooving - Dr. Funkenberry informs me that is was called "Oldskoolcompany". I cannot wait to hear these new albums. The song was a lot of fun and was the first chance for me to see the new harmonica player in action. Holy smokes he can play! He has Shelby-like energy x10 and is funky as hell. This is not your average harmonica player. He was more than just one guy up there - he was like a whole section! For me it was like he filled in the gaps that a horn section would have covered - he was fantastic.

From there my setlist recollection gets fuzzy so I’ll stick to the highlights I can remember. Prince did Stratus which was a lot of fun, everyone got to solo including Cora who just hit it out of the park. I love her energy as she pounds away one minute, then finesses the next. Prince also started a groove at one point and got our side chanting "Break it down" and then eventually, got the other side to chant "I don’t want nobody else to hear the sound". Hmm, sound familiar? I was praying he wouldn’t move on without fully playing the song and he did not disappoint - after schooling us on the lyrics, he launched into a great version of Shhh and we knew just when to come in on our parts. Great guitar solo and Cora’s drumming was, ugh, tight.

Prince broke into one of my favorite live tunes of late, Controversy. I can’t hear that song without jumping up and down like a wild woman when he comes out of the "Wish we all were nude" chant. He let the crowd take the chant (and gave a big smile when we knew every last word).

Shelby had some great moments last night too. They did a brief bit of Baby Love which just rocks and rocks - you can feel the energy coming off Shelby in waves. During one of her songs, Prince asked Shelby "What do you want, harmonica or piano?" [for the solo], Shelby hesitated and said "uhh...piano! I want piano!" but sort of like she was torn. So Fred and Morris had a bit of a duel for solo time, it was cute. Prince got a kick out of that. Prince, Shelby and Liv also did a really cool version of 'When Will We Be Paid' - just the three of them, very stripped down with great vocals.

Prince also crossed the pond and did some Rolling Stones and Beatles as well. He did the Beatles Come Together; his version is very cool. He amused us with an amusing Mick Jagger impersonation on "Miss You". He had us ooo-ooo-ooo’ing along while he tore it up on guitar. Then they went into Honky Tonk Woman later on and Shelby tore that one up with Prince popping in on the chorus. At one point Shelby bent down and stuck the mic in our faces to help her finish off the chorus "gimme gimme gimme the honky tonk blues". I think it was around that moment my vocal chords exploded and I got light-headed. LOL - all in a night’s work for a Prince fan!

I also experienced a first for me - Prince doing The Bird and Jungle Love in their entirety. It was a ton of fun to sing along and see everyone in the crowd doing the bird or their best chili sauce imitation. Shelby and her co-singer were having a ball too.

Prince did a small bit of Housequake, asking if anyone knew ‘bout the Quake, which we all yelled "We do!". He didn’t seem completely satisfied so he had us do it again. We didn’t mind one bit. Cream was another highlight - he always smiles wide at us knowing every single word and screaming the flattering ones at him - "You’re so cool!’ ‘Everything you do is success". “Ain’t nobody better!". Again, we didn’t mind one bit.

Later in the show he told Shelby to bring some dancers up on stage. Shelby disappeared stage right and a few moments later about 10 fans piled onto stage to do their purple duty. There was a woman in a purple skirt suit who had some funky moves (Prince made his funny face) and Cody, the infamous "Play that Funky Music" singer was grooving up there too. And yes, there was even a funky guy on crutches. Later on Prince looked over at him and said "Put down those crutches and DANCE!" (the guy had been waving his crutches all crazy in the air).

A little later, Prince asked the dancers "Who wants to sing "Glamorous Life"? Shelby walked around the dancers, but no one seemed to want to take the bait. So she turned toward the crowd and was standing right in front of me, asking who wants to sing? Meanwhile Prince is asking "Who’s living the glamorous life/ Who wants to sing?". My hand shot up and I jumped around like a giddy schoolkid (pick me! pick me!). Shelby saw me and made a face like "Yeah, you want to sing? You sure?" all the while I have a smile a mile wide like I’m about to be picked for the Price is Right. So she motions me up, I pull myself up on the speakers and with some push from my crowd-mates, find myself on stage standing next to Shelby and Prince. So Shelby moves me over closer to Prince at the mic and he looks me over and says "I don’t know, Shelby - She’s got a wifebeater on. Doesn’t look too glamorous to me". I don’t remember his exact words but you get the gist - Prince joked on me big time! Yes, I was about as un-glamorous as I could get - jeans and a white t-shirt which after a lot of jumping and dancing around, both were looking mighty tired. Don’t even ask me what my mop of hair looked like! Shelby had her arm around me and I said in her ear "Oh my god, Prince just dogged me out!" and we laughed. She gave me a squeeze and went back to her mic stand. I didn’t care one bit - I was happy to be up there and dance my ass off. So Prince did Glamorous Life, then went into Play that Funky Music (cue up Cody on the mic) and then went onto Hollywood Swingin’. After that, we all high-fived him, patted him on the back as he and band filed off stage.

As always after these small shows, I have very specific images in my head from moments of the show. Prince’s posture while he plays guitar, the faces he makes, his hands on the guitar, the smile that crosses his face when another band member does something funky. I don’t know what song it was on but it was a slower, sexy one. He sang a line and then thrust his hips and rubbed the shaft of his guitar on the mic stand - I thought my heart was gonna stop from over-sexiness. Oh...my...god.

Despite the mention of a DVD, we did not see any cameras at work so I don’t think this was filmed for release. There were no signs outside indicating that either. Also, Prince's show lyrics have gone digital! He had a flatscreen ~19" monitor below him, a few feet in front of the mic stand, displaying a document with the lyrics on it. Looked like a word doc in very large font, and someone was scrolling the document up as he performed the song.

It was a really fun show and it was great to lay eyes on him again in such an intimate show setting. We missed you in 2008 Prince! It wasn’t Prince’s best show ever - maybe it was the smallish crowd that put him off a bit? We didn’t get our usual two encores but I’ll take what I can get, it’s always a great party. I had a total blast and he and the band had a lot of fun. Thanks Prince and the band for another amazing night of great music!


P.S. - For those who are interested in how the club was set up. We were down on the main floor of the Avalong club where it was mostly open dancefloor with a VIP area in back that was above the main floor. Then above that was a very large balcony which when you exited the balcony, would go into Bardot, a very small, exclusive club that sits on top of the venue (but is part of Avalon). We got to see the club at the end of the night while we were seaching for a friend, and I can see why Prince would want to hang out there. Sort of dark, mysterious and very exclusive. If the celebs wanted to see his show, they would have left Bardot and come out onto the large balcony overlooking the main Avalon Club (which they did).
[Edited 2/24/09 17:52pm]

Great review! Thank u.

Sbacon, I was waiting for your report. You always give a very detailed one. Sounds like you all had a great time as usual. Thanks a bunch for sharing!
[Edited 2/25/09 7:38am]

Sweet review! YES you gave us Every detail.....I thank ya!!! Wish I coulda seen the funky guy on crutches LOL.....Who were the celebs in the balcony?? The concert wasnt filmed? No Photos of Prince?

From the article on Rolling Stone website:

"Oscar winner Penélope Cruz and giving a nod to celebrities viewing from the VIP area. Among them: Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Angie Harmon, Tyler Perry, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson."

http://www.rollingstone.c...car-party/

I didn't actually see any celebs myself - they were all upstairs in the balcony or in Bardot which was separate from the main floor where we were.

Great review Sbacon
Glad you had a great time

Thank you for sharing! Sounds like he delivered...as only the "Purple one" can!

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[Edited 3/21/10 12:21pm]

how fun! you got up on stage!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Great review!!!I too am from the Bay Area and almost went. But I didnt want to take a chance of staying in line a long time and not get in.Looks like I could have showed up at 1130pm with no problem.If tickets were online, the show may had more people there like myself who for sure would had gone.Once again THANX for the great review and hopefully we get a Bay Area show soon.

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[Edited 7/7/09 3:23am]

sbacon why didn't u sing lol?

good job on this review


she told it exactly as it happened from beginning to end

Thanks Sarah!

This the best review. I appreciate

Great review. Thank you.

your review is really appreciated!!!

thanks for sharing your experience with us... awesome report!

peace and bwild!

funksoldier said:

Second that....! great work!!!

Great review!! It's soo nice to hear from one who was there and who tells just the right things. So cool u went up there with Prince and Shelby. In my dreams I did it 2...

From http://www.blender.com/Pr...55490.aspx


Unveiling of his new site? Again? Did i miss something?

awesome review! thanks!

I did want to sing, believe me! That was the reason Shelby pulled me on stage because no one else up there seemed to want to do it. I think I would have crushed "Glamorous Life" (esp. since the lyrics would have been at my feet!). But Prince denied me! LOL Maybe next time. Either way, I had a blast grooving with the rest of the backup dancers on stage.
[Edited 2/24/09 9:54am]

Did he play any new stuff other than "Ol' Skool Company"?

TwiliteKid said:

http://prince.org/msg/7/298799

PEJ said:

Thanks! Missed that thread.

That was a great review! Glad you had a ball!!!

FAB FAB FAB!!!!!

Thanks so much!!!!

Good to hear Ya'll had a blast. Thanx for sharing!