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Nice review of Hop Farm show in Telegraph (UK) http://www.telegraph.co.u...eview.html
A tangibly happier 53-year-old Prince entertained a crowd of 30,000 at Hop Farm for more than two and a half hours.
There’s always a lovely incongruity to a big international star pitching up somewhere quaintly and quintessentially English. I couldn’t help wondering how Prince had spent the afternoon before his headline performance at this cosy festival outside Tunbridge Wells. A cream tea and a potter around the Pantiles? A tour of some of the local oast-houses? But any concerns that he might consider the booking beneath him evaporated from the opening number of this mesmerising show. The rumour was that he would play for two and half hours. In the end it was more, but the depth of his back catalogue and the muscular virtuosity of his mostly female band seemed to render the passing of time irrelevant. He delivered the hits from his 1980s heyday in a raw cascade of reminiscence: 1999; Let’s Go Crazy; Kiss; Little Red Corvette. The vocal gymnastics, the nonchalant feats of guitar, the elastic dance moves — he could do so many things so well that you couldn’t stop looking at him. For a man associated for so many years with obsessive privacy and a kind of neurotic bloodymindedness, it was striking how warm and open his stage persona has become. Although the explosive quality that marked his breakthrough with 1984’s Purple Rain has waned, he seems tangibly happier now. His twenties and thirties may have brought him fame and money, but the smiling demeanour of his modern-day self suggests that perhaps being 53 is not so bad after all. It’s easy to forget that some triggers will literally make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. I was amazed when it happened to me as he played the opening chords of Nothing Compares 2U, written by Prince and made famous around the world by Sinead O’Connor. As one, the 30,000 Hop Farm crowd gave out a sound that was somewhere between an ‘Oh’ an ‘Ah’ and an ‘Aww’. They sang every word, as crowds must do everywhere he plays it. “I bought a house with that song,” he noted. In a marathon encore that lasted nearly an hour, Prince threw in the Beatles’ Come Together, Sly Stone’s Everyday People and his own matchless If I Was Your Girlfriend. Embodied in one man we had had soul, funk, rock, gospel, rap, the blues and more, all rendered with a breath-taking generosity of spirit. “We’re in this together,” he said. “Come on! Everyone!” | |
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5 stars in the Evening Standard: http://www.thisislondon.c...-review.do [Edited 7/4/11 14:36pm] | |
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I've seen him 11 times now, and that was up there as one of the best I've personally seen!
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Agreed - that was my 5th show and it was by far the best - great mood and atmosphere and he was so playful and fun! | |
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I like this review going over pretty much everyone thta playd the main stage over the weekend, but totally misses out Larry Graham: http://www.beehivecity.co...val-21561/ | |
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Nice review. But, a rare performance of Nothing Compares 2 U? RIP  | |
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I rather liked this one, from the illustrious Worksop Guardian:
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JellyJam said: I rather liked this one, from the illustrious Worksop Guardian:
Agreed! i wasn't there, but this is just exactly how I feel about Prince and his recent live performances. His stage performance, showmanship and his command of a crowd are second to none. He is a true treasure and probably the last of his kind... RIP Prince: thank U 4 a funky Time... |
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Shame you weren't there funkaholic, you would have loved it, but you're absolutely right: a true treasure indeed. I'm still buzzing! | |
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