Controversy said:

callimnate said:

And without sounding terribly gay, Prince bringing that little girl up on stage was simply gorgeous.

I have one of my own, so it adds to the feeling.

He held her hand, mimicked and danced with her which was very heart warming.

How is that gay? Poor choice of word.It was sensational and shows his human side.

You know what I mean.

daddmacs Prince Concert Review.

HEY YO!

Well what can I say...Amazing.

After spending two days glued to the computer refreshing Ticketek and prince.org and various Facebook pages I said Fuck It im over this poorly organized Aftershow thing.

Left home early and got a good run along the West Gate into the city had Norah Jones Happy Pills on in the car (Dayam Norah is looking fine)

Got a good parking spot on the river just 5 mins walk from Rod Laver. It was about 6.20 so had to put 20 cents in the parking meter until it clicked over to 6.30. Didnt have too but I recently got a parking ticket and was paranoid. Anyways had to wait in the car because was waiting for my cuz to finish work. I was happy that there was a female aerobics/fitness class going on right infront of my car so I was happy to see some great bending and stretching happening. Good to see some nice healthy lungs.

Cuzin was near Rod Laver so got a walking. Got through the gates and noticed that it seemed like there was less people here than last night. Got some wine and we got some seats near door 12 and we waited at the same time checking out the other Prince fans (females) There were some real hotties there last night...infact both nights has some amazingly pretty females.

Got in and we were in section 23 row OO which was basically second last row. In the first show we were in S4 which was close.

The view was still pretty good from OO.

The concert began with some amazing tracks from Andy McKee Im a big Spanish guitar fan of Armik and Andy was great.

On to Prince and he opened with Controversy OMG I lost it. That was the track that he didnt play in the first concert and I was a bit pissed off after that but he made up for it with opening.

Full on funky amazing first part of the concert. Le Freak, Play that funky music...amazing you can just tell that Prince was going to do something special cos he was in that kinda mood.

I wont go into the details of each track as all of you were there so its pointless.

Ill give you my highlights of both nights

Number 1 is Prince playing his Bass...how awesome was that

-Sometimes it snows in April

-Shes Always In My Hair - Fantastic Guitar

-Dreamer - Awesome

-If I was your Girlfriend

-The whole first bit of the second concert...still cant believe I saw Flavor Flav on stage with P

-The Twins who are just sexyyy

-Medleys on both nights

-When Doves Cry sounded great

-Everywhere Prince played guitar just an honor to be in the company of such a great guitarist

-Ida on her bass

-Blackwell great as usual

many many more highlights but thats all i can think of now

Lowlights

-Jam of the year....it was still good but not sure about why this was included in the setlist

-His band on the first concert...wasnt too impressive they stepped it up in concert 2 thou

-He did keep us waiting a bit too long especially last night why keep us there for what seemed like 20 minutes and then turn the house lights on seemed weird i know he likes to keep us waiting but it was a bit too much last night

-Merchendise pricing. Way too expensive im pretty sure the prices went up from the first concert...im pretty sure the guitar picks were $20 and then they became $30. I just got a tour book

-Shelby...sorry im not a fan although she was better in the second concert

-His encores should have been better....2003 he was on fire with his keys this time around his encores were not as impressive

If I have to sum up my Prince experiences from 2012 and 2003 id say Prince was better in 2012 but his band was better in 2003 if that makes sense. That said I would put Prince 15th May 2012 as the best Prince concert I have seen Live

Cheers

feffles said:

Does anyone have footage of the audience members dancing on stage??!!! ID LOVE TO HAVE A COPY.. I was fortunate enough to go up there...TWICE last night.. Not bragging, just happy.. any footage would be appreciated! Let me know xxx

Deleted upload of youtube link

langebleu - moderator

Controversy said:

Controversy said:

Did anyone see the female fan who was dancing at the end and fell off the stage?

Yes, that was quite bad and I felt very sorry for her. I was standing maybe a meter away. She fell down to where the person sits who operates the teleprompter.

Overall I've been pretty pleased with the two Melbourne shows but a couple of disappointments were the lack of material from SOTT and Lovesexy, apart from the slow bluesy version of ICNTTPOYM which I was happy to hear a second time last night, the snippets in the medley of Hot Thing and SOTT just don't do it for me, in fact I don't think the medley works at all and I would rather hear any one of these tracks in full.

The total lack of anything from Lovesexy on both nights was a real shame, I put this album up there with SOTT, it's solid from beginning to end and you could almost pick any track from it. I would rather have seen the show lean more towards these two albums than Purple Rain & Parade but I guess he is playing for the wider audience who want to hear the massive hits.

I know everyone has their dream setlist but for two albums that were, for me, Prince at his absolute best, I'm surprised we don't hear more from these.

On the plus side, the band was on fire last night and the audience participation (which includes Flavor Flav & Chuck D) was wild, the opening 20 minutes was fantastically funky and worth the ticket price alone, but the show then turned into pretty much a repeat of the previous night for the next hour. The closing Days of Wild was amazing and Prince certainly seemed to be enjoying himself.

The position of the speakers is definitely an issue, I was in the last row of the lower section on Monday and fifth row on the side of the symbol last night and there was absolutely more reverb & distortion the closer you got to the stage.

The ending was strange, after Days Of Wild, house lights stay off, guitar tech comes out and sets up a guitar, the guitar sits on the stage for 15 minutes and then the lights come on. Time to go !

[Edited 5/20/12 12:17pm]

14th time i ve seen him

that was THE best.....1st night in melbourne was good....but this was un fucking belieavble

the atmosphere...i knew once he got purple rain out of the way midway thru it was on!!

fucking amazing!

the dj electric piano mix of last night is ready, i thought the night before it was better but here is lasts nights version

Deleted Youtube upload link

langebleu - moderator

Awesome

jonylawson said:

14th time i ve seen him

that was THE best.....1st night in melbourne was good....but this was un fucking belieavble

the atmosphere...i knew once he got purple rain out of the way midway thru it was on!!

fucking amazing!

Awesome mate. I really wanted to go to Melbourne but being midweek I had to opt for Sydney which was great but last night's show shound like the one so far.

PurpleVIP said:

The Twins ARE SEXY!!!

ALSO...I really want to hear this 'Days Of Wild'

PLEASE! Is there any footage of it at all? LOL

I wish I could add more-

The second night was certainly more funky with Prince playing alot more solos during a range of songs. I loved both nights for different reasons.

Didnt see the woman fall off the stage but friend did. Everyone on stage seemed oblivious. Hope she is ok.

What got me on the 2nd night was the Controversy opener - which I longed for the night before. - and then the next 4 songs were again different

I dont care that I got to hear LRC and others twice - I never thought I would ever hear them performed live given the 1992 and 2003 tours.

I just hope he does an aftershow on the 30th so I get to hear him up close - just like the Palace in 1992.

Normally in writing up a report of this kind I would want to stick to stating facts, but here Prince defeated me with a concert that was so emotionally and sensorally overwhelming as to defeat any full factual account. It would be impossible for me to give a set list for example.

That said, I’ll state the facts as best I can. (And no apologies for stating the obvious or duplicating facts already reported, though I do apologise for not knowing more names of personnel and tracks.)

The concert was scheduled for 8.00 pm (on 15/5/2012) at Rod Laver Arena. I went into the auditorium a little before 7.40, which was shortly after the doors opened. There were no support acts advertised. Before the show, the projection screens featured a continuous succession of Paisley Park label artists’ music videos; I hadn’t heard of most of them, and you couldn’t really hear the music tracks very well. I recognised Morris Day, of course.

There were still people filing in at 8.00 pm, with the houselights still up; the lights dimmed at about 8.17, to cheers, and an acoustic guitarist played two or three unidentified numbers.

Then at 8.30, the ‘Symbol’ appeared on the projection screens, accompanied (onscreen) by lightning bolts, with lighting effects in the stadium and thunder sound effects. All to announce, of course, the arrival of Prince on stage. From memory, he said ‘I am Prince. I am here.’

The first number was Controversy, but this turned into a medley of so many pieces of music that (as noted above) I couldn’t state what they all were. I’m pretty sure that ‘Le Freak’ was there; but no one else has said this, so maybe my memory is playing tricks on me. Certainly ‘Play that Funky Music’ was there, I know that. This first ‘number’ went for 15 or 20 minutes and I had to take my jumper off I was sweating that much. There was enough energy and music in these 20 minutes for an entire concert.

I was sitting in one of the cheapish Gold Reserve seats, four rows from the back, on the side, way up high, and slightly ‘south’ of the entire Symbol stage (not the pointy end, that is). What this taught me is that there are no bad seats to a Prince concert. Prince ran around that entire stage throughout; it was a genuine concert in the round. And from 150 feet away (estimate) he seemed a lot closer.

I saw him in 2003 and that was great, but this was greater. The 2003 arrangements were more show-band style, more brassy; here and now in 2012 he seemed to play the guitar a lot more, and played it more intensely. Purple Rain sounded better this time, and there were songs I don’t remember hearing him play last time, such as Controversy – and of course, 1999, which I know he didn’t play then. 2003 wasn’t in the round and felt (in hindsight) more like a concert in a hall; this was more like a party – that’s really what it feels like to me thinking about it now.

He didn’t play Sign O The Times in full; he was at the piano at that stage, and played and sang the first two lines or so, and then broke off with the words ‘Too many hits!’

He didn’t play anything from Musicology or The Rainbow Children, the two more recent albums that I know best.

He was on stage for most of the concert, except for about five minutes when he obviously left for a breather while two of the women did a number by themselves. (Wish I could give you more details, sorry!) The three women vocalists were practically lead singers in themselves; they certainly added a lot to the party.

During the number about ‘I couldn’t take the place of your man’, he added some humour with asides about ‘he doesn’t look like me’ and ‘his orchestra isn’t like mine’. All joking aside, you sensed the pride he takes in the musicians he’s put together. Early on, he was saying aloud that this was ‘real music’.

Purple Rain (‘this is my song and this is your song’) wasn’t the final number.

Other songs I can definitely recall being performed: Nothing Compares 2 U (he said ‘some people call this a cover; see what you think’), Raspberry Beret, Kiss, Cream, Let’s Go Crazy, Little Red Corvette – as you’d expect.

‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’ featured in one of the medleys.

He chanted (as only he could) ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie’ and got the traditional response ‘Oi Oi Oi’ from the crowd.

He called Australia a ‘beautiful land’ with ‘beautiful people’ and said ‘you look after each other’ and that he was thinking about buying a house here. And then added ‘Seriously.’

He also said at some point late in the evening, ‘We’ll be back.’

At the end of the first encore he gathered everyone around himself and they descended together on the trapdoor as he called out ‘Thank you Australia!’ This was at about 10.38 pm. The house lights stayed off for 10 or 12 minutes and then they came on – to groans from the crowd. It was very hard to tell if there was going to be a further encore, and a number of people (maybe 10 per cent at a rough guess) had left during the darkness, it went on so long.

After the house lights went up I decided to leave myself. It took so long for us to make our way out that I hadn’t even left the auditorium when the musicians came back on stage (without Prince) and two of the women did a cover of Love, and then Prince himself came back on stage wearing a Trilby hat and a full length grey cape. One or two numbers followed, one of them being ‘Ain’t Nobody Does It Better, Makes Me Feel This Way’ etc. Finally Prince said ‘We have to go’. This second encore lasted about 20 minutes and ended around 11.15.

The house lights then stayed off for a further 12 to 15 minutes and we were still sitting there wondering what else we might miss if we went home (well, that’s what I was doing). The lights then came on, and after a minute or two the general feeling became apparent that, no, that was it, and we all got up and left.

The greatest concert I can even imagine.

super report, thanks!

serpan99 said:

Now that is cute! Super pic!

Poor princey had such a bad head cold last night I just wanted to rub his lil' chest with vix and tuck him in

scrubdadishes said:

This lil girl is in awe of a genius!

Bohemian67 said:

serpan99 said:

Now that is cute! Super pic!

Adorable!

flyorra said:

the dj electric piano mix of last night is ready, i thought the night before it was better but here is lasts nights version

Deleted Youtube upload link

langebleu - moderator

Thanks for posting anyway. Saw the vids, and they were awesome! I also liked your purple makeup and earrings in the other thread on PMM. Cool.

Thanks to everyone for your reviews, and pics as well. It's great to come into the concert forum and read about everyone's experiences.

serpan99 said:

Oh my, sooooo precious! Look at the way she's looking at Prince and he's returning the same. Was the dance captured on video?

^ How can anyone not be touched by this tender moment

Speaks volumes

I love this picture!

^ Very cute indeed

80spfantwp said:

^ How can anyone not be touched by this tender moment

Speaks volumes

I love this picture!

this is such a beautiful picture...

Adorecream said:

Wow just got back from the show and it must be the best yet on the tour. The playing was beyond great. Prince funked it up big time. There was Shelby as guest vocalist and Public enemy came in. Flavor Flav rapped with Prince between Play that funky music, and Chuck D rapped during Days of wild.

My seats were great only 3 rows from the front and I was nearly eye level with Prince. The set up was excellent. I have never danced so hard in my life. This concert was totally worth all the hype. Even better I got 2 t shorts for the price of one.

The set list I recorded in the show on the back of my Programme

Arrived 7.30 videos on screen, Taja Sevelle, Time (777 -9311 I think), The Family - Screams of Passion, I think a Brown Mark/Mazarati one/ Jessie Johnson (They were mute so not sure what songs)

8.10Andy McKee - 3 acoustic guitar numbers - okay

8.25

Enter NPG to opening sounds of controversy

Controversy (Prince comes in "U have chosen the right night to come and c me")

Sexy Dancer (By this stage I was shaking my ass (I swear I have lost 5 pounds tonite)

Happy Feet (Short but funky)

Play that funky music

Fight the power with Flavor Flav and Aussie Aussie chants

Lets Go Crazy/ Delirious medley (He really got teh audience involved)

1999 (Great)

I could never take the place of yo man (Absolutely mind blowing, funky, soloing, blistering guitar work, Prince 80 feet from me watching me shake my ass)

Quiet bit, show moves down tempo to

"This song is a cover but heres Shelby J"

Nothing Compares 2 U

Raspberry Beret and then

Cream!!!

Dont stop til you get enuff/Cool medley, segues of both songs in with bass and drum lines for got to be real by Cheryl Lynn in parts 2.

Shelby J, Damaris, Liv, Elisa vocal of 2 make u feeling love (not familiar with this song, but great, shelby's voice was on fire)

Purple Rain (Long but great, again Prince was just smoking tonight, audience participation and all)

End of main show

First encore Sampler

Lets Go Crazy/Nasty Girl/Sign o the Times/ Hot thing/Dance 4 me/ Love Bizarre (all well done and funky at least 60 seconds of each)

Pop Life

Second Encore - Kiss (Prince Frolicing about)

Third Encore - Mountains

Eye like funky music (Sample)

Dance electric (Really good)

Fourth Encore (After 10 minutes)

Love Thy will be done

Rapping with Chuck D and bass looping - Wave yo hands in the air, Aussie Aussie Rap

Fifth Encore (After 10 more minutes)

Days of Wild (Again fxxking mind blowing.

Overall nearly 3 hours, Prince was in a great mood and great form. He jammed like you wouldn't believe and his dancing in Dance electric was beyond belief. This show was excellent. I have no more to say, but it will be a cold day in hell before he tops it in my eyes.

I went back to my hotel exhausted, hands padded flat, lost my voice and sore feet.

fight the power??

wasnt it was 911 is a joke..!

lust said:

Awesome

jonylawson said:

14th time i ve seen him

that was THE best.....1st night in melbourne was good....but this was un fucking belieavble

the atmosphere...i knew once he got purple rain out of the way midway thru it was on!!

fucking amazing!

Awesome mate. I really wanted to go to Melbourne but being midweek I had to opt for Sydney which was great but last night's show shound like the one so far.

yeah cheers mate

it was killer..the perfect mix of out and out crowdpleasing for mr and mrs crowd and some obscure hard core funk

days of wild was just........mindblowing

ScissorsRockPaper said:

serpan99 said:

Oh my, sooooo precious! Look at the way she's looking at Prince and he's returning the same. Was the dance captured on video?

I have some video of it. Just got to find time to sort all my photos and video out.

Flew back home yesterday, flying to Brisbane tomorrow - need sleep