I posted this on the review thread for 16/07 but it's broader than that so here we go:

Our trip to Montreux started with a massive dose of Murphy's Law. A cancelled flight meant we ended up traveling 8 hours on train to Montreux via Paris. One Paris bomb scare later, we were desperately wishing that Prince would take the stage late on the first night. For the first night at least, it was not meant to be.

We got to Montreux in time to see the GCS after show with Prince sitting in for 10 minutes on guitar and keys. It was cool-but not the show we’d planned on seeing.

Sundays show was big-band. The band is huge. The horns are tight and I think Prince really enjoys being the big band leader. It was a good introductory show for one of my friends who has never seen Prince before, but a little Vegas-y for my taste. My highlight was the opening; 'Act of God' and also a beautiful version of ‘Something in the Water’. It was cool but nothing I hadn’t really seen before. It’s a party on stage. It’s fun.

The European debut of 3rd Eye Girl was for me, the main event. I have seen Prince maybe 40 times since '93 and the 3rd Eye Girl show is on par (if not better) than 'One Night Alone'. There was a stark difference between this show and the previous night. I enjoyed the NPG show but watching 3rd Eye Girl just highlights how Prince was coasting the night before, in my opinion.

With 3rd Eye Girl, Prince's attention to the structure of the show and details clothing are reminiscent of previous album-related tours. This is not the 'review' type show that so many of us have seen since 1996. There is fire in this show and Prince really works.

I’ll leave the set list to others but the guitar work is intense and unrelenting. Prince sang for the whole show and his falsetto and screaming were both impassioned and precise throughout. It was like watching an artist on a mission to prove something. The front of the stage was like a mosh pit. The show has real texture-from all out hard rock on 'Screwdriver' and 'Endorphinemachine' to spaced out psychedelic on 'The Breakdown' and 'Plectrum Electrum'.

It feels that this band were/are really involved in making the new material like 'Fix Ur Life Up' and that really shows. Donna wriths and jumps around on stage like she’s posessed. The previous night-she looked board.

Being so close to the front meant we could really see Princes facial expressions. He seemed genuinely moved at the crowd response and even shed a tear at the end of 'The Love we Make'.

He also seemed pretty angry with the hot teleprompter woman who sat to the extreme stage right. I think she messed up a few times. For example; the intro to Bambi was especially long and I think it's because the lyrics weren't on screen in time. Prince turned his back to the crowd and looked over to her. He was angry as he mouthed ‘Bambi!' Similarly, we missed the 'hold up, wait a minute' verse of 'Endorphinemachine' and Prince looked over to teleprompt woman and shook his head. He handled it like a pro though and his ad libs added to the truly creative spirit of the show.

I've often seen Prince signal to band members but tonight I actually saw Ida ask 'what shall we play?' Before Prince mouthed 'The Breakdown'. It was amazing to witness such detail. ‘The Breakdown’ is sick. The lyrics are very personal and raw.

All in all, it added up to one of the best shows I've ever seen. It could have stopped there but as Prince sat down for the encore sample set, we heard the intro to 'When Doves Cry', Damaris appeared for the first time that night. She walked across the stage and came straight to me. I was kind of recognizable as I had a Mohawk and a pink heart painted on the side if my head. For the next few minutes I was dancing with Damaris in front of Prince's key board. I was dancing hard but I did have time to tell Prince 'I love you'. He nodded and smiled. It was pretty nuts being on stage with just Damaris and Prince. I maintained eye contact with him for a fair amount of time but I was really feeling the music and putting on a bit if a performance for the crowd too. It was crazy.

As doves morphed into 'Sign O the Times' Damaris bought up a whole bunch of people from the crowd, including my friends. I stayed centre stage, dancing hard for about 30 minutes. It was a beautiful experience for me and one that will always stay with me.

A few other things specific points to note:

We stayed at the same hotel as Prince and the band so over the w/e I met Larry (who was actually lovely).

Donna, Hannah, Ida and Josh were sweet and asked my name and spoke to me for a few minutes. They thought I was a little crazy as I approached them near the hotel lifts after Sundays show and said 'I'm so excited I might be sick'. They were all sweet though and thought I was funny. They got into the lift together and the doors shut. My friend and I started screaming and jumping because we couldn't believe what had just happened and at that point the lift doors reopened! The whole of 3rd Eye Girl were staring at us-but they could see the funny side of it (I hope).

Ten minutes later I met Shelby, Liv and Elisa. They were all very nice. Liv said my style was 'crazy' and asked where I got my necklace from.

Cassandra and Adrian (one of the horn players) were also really sweet and said they wanted my shoes!

I spoke to Nick (the trumpeter) after the first show just outside my hotel room and he made some interesting observations. I asked him if he'd grown up listening to Prince and he said 'Not really. I'm a jazz musician'. He told me he'd been working with Prince for almost a year and when I asked if he'd recorded a lot he said 'a whole bunch of stuff'. He also said he had ‘no idea’ when I asked if any of it would ever be released.

For those questioning 3rd Eye Girl’s musical ability, I'd suggest you get some perspective. The girls play like they are on a mission and that really comes through the very core of this show. I really hope Prince sticks to his guns, releases the album and tours smaller venues with the new material. Prince is really stretching again. It's a beautiful thing.

PS: If anyone has any images/video of me on stage – please org note me. It will mean the world to me.

x

For those questioning 3rd Eye Girl’s musical ability, I'd suggest you get some perspective. The girls play like they are on a mission and that really comes through the very core of this show.

....absolutely!

Technical brilliance has never interested me and, although I've not witnessed any of the 3rdEyeGirl shows first hand (come to Scotland Prince - you don't seem to have anything planned for the next couple of weeks!!!!!), what I've heard has been the best run of performances since the One Nite Alone tour and, before that, the early era...

What a great story, MobeenAzhar! Thanks for sharing.

I can confirm MobeenAzhar story, I met him and his crew while waiting in line for the GCS Concert (NPG afterparty) and considering they had just missed the first concert they were quite calm and relaxed, I guess the bottles of Rose helped

One thing that he has neglected to add is that he was the first on stage, so Damaris was trying to dance with him just in front of where Prince was on his keyboard. He was not going to have any of it as this was his time. He got her out the way waving his finger in her face with some serious attitude and proceeded to bust out some serious dance moves in front of Prince. Prince saw the whole scene and was smiling, poor Damaris had a look of "what". probably hasn't been rejected for too many dances like that. I was in stitches, too funny.

Great to meet you mate and glad you got your experience up on stage.

[Edited 7/17/13 8:50am]

Lovely, lovely story, MobeenAzhar! Glad you had such a great time.

Is this you?

[img:$uid]http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l579/SirLancelots/Montreux_zpsa0152b6a.jpg[/img:$uid]

Yup that's me! Please send me any other jpegs! x

[Edited 7/17/13 16:49pm]

MobeenAzhar said:

Yup that's me! Please send me any other jpegs! x

[Edited 7/17/13 16:49pm]

Sorry, I don't have any. I didn't take this. Came across it on this Swiss website:

http://www.rts.ch/dossier...st=5053586

That's helpful! Thank you. x

LOVE your story, MobeenAzhar!

teiemka said:

One thing that he has neglected to add is that he was the first on stage, so Damaris was trying to dance with him just in front of where Prince was on his keyboard. He was not going to have any of it as this was his time. He got her out the way waving his finger in her face with some serious attitude and proceeded to bust out some serious dance moves in front of Prince. Prince saw the whole scene and was smiling, poor Damaris had a look of "what".

That's brilliant