Apologies in advance for the length of this review. There was a lot happening!

Whew, back from another purple adventure in Hollywood! This weekend, Tavis Smiley held his annual State of the Black Union conference in Los Angeles. Part of the event included a fundraiser for his youth foundation (http://www.youthtoleaders.org/; mission: empowering today's youth for tomorrow) where Prince performed. The concert was at the Conga Room in Los Angeles and tickets were $150 for standing room, $300 for VIP seating.

We got to the Conga Room at about 10am and found Cody holding down the fort. We plunked down our gear and settled in for the wait. Unlike last weekend, this show's scheduled start time was 8pm (vs. midnight) so we considered it a walk in the park! The area around the Conga Room was nice - Staples Center and Nokia Center are a stone's throw away and on a Saturday, there were people strolling by, attending events in the complex (which includes some restaurants), and going in and out of the ESPN building which was across from us. And throughout the day, State of the Black Union attendees would wander by to check out things for that night's event. The conference was just a few blocks down. It was warm - about 82 degrees all day but we were shaded between two buildings and away from the street traffic which was great. During the day, I experimented with a webcast from the line which some tuned in for. Wifi was spotty but hey, always fun to experiment, right?



Around 2pm the band arrived at the venue. Shelby flashed us a big smile on her way in and the few of us that were there shouted our hellos and waved. The line picked up in numbers around 4pm but never got to be much longer than 10-20 people. I have to say the people running the logistics for the line and tickets were pretty disorganized and didn't seem to know which way was up. One woman had us get up, marched us in a big circle and then had us re-line up 5 feet away from where our original line had started.

As the show time got closer, more and more people arrived and the confusion continued. They gave us little raffle tickets to join our venue tickets, then were getting all kinds of wristbands ready. Then they took our big tickets (waaah, no souvenir ticket!) and left us just with the raffle tickets. Will call was a mess but thankfully we had gotten our tickets earlier so we were fine. Finally, we were let in and headed up the staircase to the floor level of the club. As we sped by I saw they were demo'ing lotusflow3r.com on a couple of macs so I made a mental note to check back there after the show.



The club was gorgeous and intimate. We had heard that there might be some tables for VIPs in front of the stage which was typical for a Conga Room show, but not this time. The floor was clear so we got right up to the front. Aside from some speakers on the floor there was a really minimal gap between us and the stage. The stage was lower than the Avalon and smaller; Prince's mic and pedals were just to our left, Shelby and Liv's mics were in front of us, Morris behind them, Josh and Cora in the back left corner, and Fred to Prince's right down front.

Before the show started, they were showing video footage of Prince on the walls. They were short videos that included EXCELLENT footage from Coachella. They also played some Musicology concert footage (Houston maybe?) and some of his videos like Te Amo Corazon, Somewhere Here on Earth, The One U Wanna C. Setlists were also posted on the stage and we could see them clearly from the front row. However one of his crew came out a bit later with a new expanded setlist and taped that over the original one. We were relieved since the first setlist was pretty short (12 songs I think). I actually don?t like seeing the setlist before the show so I tried not to look (but it was tough!).

About an hour later, Tavis came on stage to talk a bit about the event. He talked about his foundation and wanted us to know that every cent of our ticket price was going to the foundation as Prince and the band had donated their time for the event tonight; that was cool. And Sheila E. is part owner of the Conga Room so I am sure they got the venue for free that night as well. More on Sheila later...

Tavis then brought out about 10 students that were part of his youth program, some in high school, others in college. He had each one of them come to the mic and say their name and where they were in school. Morehouse, Yale, Spelman, Hampton College...it was impressive. The kids were great - very excited and so confident! They looked like they were having a blast. Hopefully they got to meet Prince before the show too. It was funny - Tavis kept having to shush us because when he'd mention Prince's name, we'd all start screaming. Tavis said a few words about what a good friend Prince is and how supportive he is, and how much "I love this cat".

Then it was time to get down to it! About 8:45pm, the band filed on stage and Morris kicked off some thunder and lightning sounds. Prince came on from the right of the stage wearing black pants, black boots and a black or really dark blue collared shirt that was open about midway, with sequins/sparklies along the opening. Underneath he was wearing a blingtastic necklace with all kinds of shapes and curls on it. He didn't come out with sunglasses on, but slipped them on after he got his guitar on. They were oversized, wraparound shades with diamond encrusted sides.

The band went right into Old Skool Company and the place went wild. Everyone was thrilled to be seeing Prince and he soaked it in. We heard the song last weekend at the Avalon, and it sounded great again this time. I am too spastic during a show to keep a setlist so I'll just fill in with some of the things I remember from the show. Prince definitely took some time to talk to us last night,

mentioning the State of the Black Union, implying that he had watched much of it on CSPAN that day. He made shout-outs to several of the conference panel members - Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson to name a couple. He did mention that as a Jehovah's Witness he doesn't really get into the politics and though I can't remember his exact words, the gist was that all of the issues are still important and thought-provoking to him. Earlier in the day, Tavis said at the conference that after SOBU ends every year, he always gets a call from Prince and conversation ensues - sometimes for hours and over many days.

They played a new song as well ? Dreamer. It was a good song live, sorry I can?t remember more about it to pass it on. I think the gist of the lyrics was that he wants good things in the world and if that makes him a dreamer, then so be it. But as I said, I get amnesia after these shows so I could be totally off. But it was great to hear another new track!

The band did a fun version of Everyday People and before he kicked into it, Prince pointed down to someone in the front row and said "This one's for you". Who was it? None other than Jesse Jackson who looked like he was having a blast. When Prince left the stage for the last time that night, he slapped hands with Jesse on his way out.

As usual, Prince brought up people from the crowd to dance. I think this time it was during Musicology (which was great to hear again), and Prince made a special point of calling for Tavis to come up and dance. He did and a few moments after Prince said to the crowd "You know what we have to do!" and then stopped on the one and went into the guitar riff for Play that Funky Music White Boy. He motioned to Tavis to sing and uh, well, Tavis didn't look too thrilled about that. LOL. But he stepped to the mic, or more like a foot away from it, and gave it his best shot, cajoling the crowd to help him out on the chorus. As Tavis was singing, more of the SOBU panelists came up. Michael
Eric Dyson jumped up and oh my, that brother was loving the limelight! He was on the mic with Shelby, shimmying all over the stage. It was very funny. But that was just a warmup. About a minute later, none other than Cornel West in a snappy black suit, white shirt, black tie and scarf joined them on stage. He was going crazy, dancing all over the stage and bobbing his head. It was awesome! Prince was really getting a kick out of it and all I could do was think ?I will never, ever forget this moment!?. Cornel West is admired by so many and very well-respected ? it was awesome to see him cutting loose and having a great time. But we already know Prince has that effect on everybody! I
have to think Prince was really enjoying that moment. Then they segued into Hollywood Swingin? and continued the party.

During this time, Shelby and Liv were working hard, singing with the panelists, getting in on the dancing. After the commotion subsided and the stage was theirs again, Shelby came back out and said "Y'all got me glowing up here. We ladies don't sweat, we glow".

We had some funny moments with Prince?s guitar spray at the show. I am not quite sure what that spray is - dry air? Lubricant? Coolant? Anyway, he occasionally sprays it on his strings when he picks up a new guitar, it's a little aerosol can that sits at his feet or back by the rack of guitars. He was using it at one point by his mic and then turned and made like he was going to spray a few of us in the front row. Then later in the night, he used it back by the rack and it had the effect of bathing him in this cool mist. It was a cool, unintentional effect.

Prince did a few Michael Jackson 'noises' at one point. I honestly can't remember what part of the show, but it was one of the times he was about to walk off stage. It may have been after the group dance party on stage but I really can't say for sure. But he walked back to the mic and made a MJ noise, I also can't remember which MJ noise it was, and then next he turned back to it again and said, 'heee heeee' like MJ. He laughed and walked off. It was pretty funny. [thanks Mrs.NELSON for the reminder on this one!]

They did Housequake again this weekend, asking us if we knew about the quake. "We do!" we shouted several times. Prince then rolled into Controversy and the funk got serious! Once we hit the ?People call me rude?? chant, folks were really moving and instead of ending with ?I wish there were no rules? he says "I want to see you jump up and down" which of course we did. The whole room was bobbing up and down. Even Shelby in her high high heels was going nuts. I absolutely love Controversy live and the way he breaks it down.

Prince did change outfits during the show. The second outfit was black pants, the wedgie white moon boots and a black and white silk shirt. The pattern was sort of zebra like but not uniform stripes. And of course he had a matching scarf/handkerchief with it that he had in his mouth when he came out on stage. I was hoping he?d launch it into the crowd but no such luck. I did giggle when I watched Prince pull his pants up a couple of times during the show. Maybe he does need to pack on a few pounds!

Oh and Josh has a new guitar. He had it at the Avalon but forgot to mention it. It?s white and looks very similar to the cloud guitar but a little different. I also saw what I thought might be a new guitar for Prince. It looks like the Hohner with the same coloring and design but newer and the leopard spots are not as large.

They did a great version of Shhh, with Cora excelling as usual. And he made a point of saying "Ladies, am I getting u hot"? during the song. And of course treated us to a couple of searing guitar solos.

Speaking of guitars, we had a little incident. After one of the encores, Prince handed his Hohner guitar out to the crowd right over my head (yes, I touched the strings!). Normally the crowd surfs his guitar and then eventually it makes its way back to the stage or the tech intercepts it in the crowd. Keep in mind that Prince's guitar was wired in as it was at the Avalon. So as the guitar is moving over my head the wire is stringing along behind it. All of a sudden, the wire goes taut and there is this surge in the crowd as the guitar gets engulfed and pulled down into the crowd about half way back. By this time, the tech is standing on the speaker above me and looking concerned. Next thing I know, the poor tech is diving into the crowd and there's a wrestling match. It looked like a woman and man were wrestling the guitar back and forth between them. The tech got it back and made it onstage. What is wrong with these people? Did they really think they would be able to take home one of the most famous guitars in rock n' roll? As Christopher Tracy would have said "They ain't got no home trainin'!".

Shelby and Liv had some really nice moments during the show. Liv had another strong performance on When Will Be Paid, and Shelby led vocals on Aretha Franklin's version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water", teaching us some of the lyrics and asking the crowd to lend a hand. She also did ?Long Train Running? (Doobie Brothers) which was a lot of fun, with the crowd singing along to the "without looooove" part.

And Sheila E. was in the house! After the band left the stage for the first time, Sheila came out looking incredible in a blue silk, short dress. I have never seen her look so good! Everyone in the crowd was like ?Oh my god!?. So Sheila, whatever you?re doing, keep it up! She told us Prince wouldn?t come back out if we didn?t scream his name so the crowd picked it up a notch. A couple of minutes later, the band took the stage again and Prince launched into The Bird which people went nuts for! It really is a fun song and Prince seems to enjoy playing it and watching us all flap our arms. Shelby and Liv were again doing their best Morris and Jerome (high heel version of the Chili Sauce included). Then Prince changed over to Jungle Love and the party continued. After that, he started the opening chords of Glamorous Life and sang "La la la la" into to summon Sheila back onstage. She came out with a tambourine and sang for us. Prince just stood off to her right, playing guitar and grinning. I love his and Sheila's energy on stage. It always seems to relax him.

Prince did Cream for us again tonight but instead of his common quip "You know I wrote this while I was looking in the mirror" he turned it around on us and said "You all should sing this when you're looking in the mirror". I would say that exemplified the difference between this show and the one the weekend before. Prince seemed more outward - much more about the crowd and the party vibe than about himself. A very generous spirit overall which went well with the benefit theme of the night.

Prince also played 1999 which was fun since we don?t hear that very often. It was fun to see Shelby and Liv take the lady parts, Prince taking Dez's line. We even got all the way into the "Mommy, why does everybody have a bomb" chant. And in one of the encores, Prince went into I Feel For You with Shelby and Liv helping out on vocals.

And yes, he did pull out Purple Rain for the crowd which they went nuts for. As soon as he hits that "I never meant 2 cause 2 any sorrow" opening line, the screaming starts. I met a woman later in the night who had not seen him since 1984. She said "And like then, I cried!". I asked her what point the tears came and she said "Purple Rain. Always Purple Rain".

The show ended and the crowd kept up the cheering for several minutes. The tech came out and put Shelby and Liv?s tambourines back down which got us all excited again. But alas, it was over. A few minutes later, the band was out on the floor meeting and greeting people. That was around 10:45pm.

After the show ended, Cora walked over and threw her drumsticks into the crowd. One of them took a good bounce right past me and into the hands of my friend who was out from D.C. for the show. Score! During one of Cora?s solos during the show, maybe during Glamorous Life?, Prince was bending over looking at her through the drum set, and then looking at us with a "What the...? funk face. Sheila was cheering Cora on too.

Later on, I went over to check out the new website. Scott and another young guy (Richard?) were there demo'ing it and they could not have been nicer. They had a large monitor running a screencast of the site and then a Mac laptop that you could actually use to surf around the site. I asked them a ton of questions. They said it should be launching in March. No, nothing went wrong on launch nite last month. What launched was intentional - Prince just wanted to play with us a little and build some buzz around the site. Prince took a lot of the pictures on the site himself, esp. the ones of Bria. There are three "pods" or worlds, one for each album. The site is expandable, so if Sheila wanted to have an area, she could, or Anita Baker or whomever. The site will be about a 9MB download initially - it's a big ol' flash file. The illustrations and animations were gorgeous (kudos to the team). It's very fantastical with floating jellyfish, a swan that has a microphone plug for a head and neck, lots of brilliant colors and landscapes. There are listening stations and lyrics for every album and yes, we could listen to any new track we wanted to on the demo machine. Of course the club was loud so heasrnig was nearly impossible, but I stuck my ear right next to the speaker to hear a bit of "Boom". Prince composed all the ambient music on the site - any sounds you hear on there are original from Prince. I told him I was very familiar with the current ambient track on the homepage, LOL. And while I was tempted to find some paper and write down the track list for every new album, I held off. I do like a little surprise. Oh and there was a photo and video area. It was a round sphere with small thumbnails floating around it. You move your mouse to zoom in on the thumbnails. There were hundreds floating around so there will be plenty to look at on the site. The tough part will be knowing when something is new - guess we'll have to wade through everything all the time to figure out what's new. So Prince, he loves the games!

A few other random notes on the show? Michael Steele, the new chairman of the Republican Party, came up to will call while we were waiting outside. He was asking for his ticket but they had no record of one for him. It was pretty funny actually. Of course he got into the show as we saw him later. And the ticket prices seemed to change later in the day. What were originally $150 and $300 went up to $200 and $400 by the afternoon. Then there was also a $500 Conga Room ticket that some people had. As I said earlier, things were not running very smoothly but I didn't think the higher ticket prices the day of was very cool.

All in all, another great purple adventure! Thanks to Prince and the band for a terrific show for a good cause. And thanks to my concert partners, especially Mrs.Nelson, for making it even more fun. We're crazy but at least we're crazy together!!
[Edited 3/3/09 9:23am]

the spray he uses is called teen spirit

Cool review, thanks!

Thanks 4 the great review. I was standing next 2 Jesse Jackson and could hear him yelling 4 Purple Rain just b4 Prince went into it.CRAZY

As usual, nice, detailed report. Thanks.

Wow, thanks for your review, I liked the last one you wrote as well.

thanks! x

I saw Steve Vai there. Nice to see him at the show. I was hoping Prince would invite him up to jam.

No-one wanted him there. Cool kids only.


Thanks for the review, btw.