UmustB said:

XxAxX said:

^ heard that song tonight. sounded GREAT!!! the show was wonderful.

*

the event opened with DJ tunes, moved on to shelby J and the NPG, moved on to prince and everyone else onstage for a fabulous extravaganza of jazzy funk.

*

i've never seen the park that crowded before, we were basically packed in there, sway dancing because there was no room to move. people were having a great time.

*

prince was gorgeous and sexy as usual, looking really good and full of energy, dancing around the stage and joking with us. he's the best entertainer i've ever seen, really. engaging, charismatic and shiny. dude simply shines up there.

*

sorry i have no set list. the music blows my mind to the point where it's all just a big groovy blur

*

thank you prince and prince's people!!! you're kind and generous for letting us visit. you rock !!!!!

[Edited 10/6/13 0:20am]

THANK U SO MUCH - PERHAPS NEXT TIME I WILL HAVE TO GET THERE AT 7 P.M

i ended up taking the shuttle bus from Lifetime Fitness on century boulevard. got there early, around 7:00 pm, and waited. it was actually pretty fun, there were some neat folks there and we had a lot of fun joking around in line. nice group! (hi there andrew, alison and deirdre!!!).

*

the shuttle bus was actually a tour bus and we were all sort of hoping prince would be our driver and lead us in a chorus of songs as we made our way down the road... we saw someone who looked like prince walk down the line, checking us out before boarding. the dude was kind of raggedly dressed though, and prince is way shinier than that. i really couldn't tell if that was him? does anyone know?

*

none of us standing in the shuttle line actually dared to think we would make it inside PP, because it looked like there were thousands of people already lined up outside Paisley Park.

*

miracle of miracles, the shuttle drove us right past the waiting people in line to the front door and dropped us off. talk about a guilty pleasure. i felt awful for the folks who had to watch us go in. i know exactly how that feels.

*

i've never seen PP so crowded. it was electric in there, crowd energy was off the charts and folks were having a blast. there were a lot of people who did not know about the ORG, nor about prince. they had just heard about the show on the local news and decided to take it in.

*

i was not feeling so well by about 1:00, i'm taking an antibiotic which makes me feel like crap. so a nice lady and i took the shuttle out right after prince stopped playing and i crawled back home to bed and sleep.

*

hopefully someone will post and tell us how the party ended... did it go until dawn???? i should have toughed it out. stuck around to the end... i hate missing even a little bit of a PP party.

*

prince rocks!! love that man

[Edited 10/6/13 6:43am]

I saw bits 'n pieces through the livestream (that was not too stable) and the energy felt great and prince looked good! But standing in the cold for three hours...that sucks. maybe they didn't expect so much people to turn up and didn't know how to handle it.

maybe prince will give more shows this month to make it up to everybody

Every notice I saw said Lifetime Fitness parking lot is where the shuttle will pick you up. I'm not trying to ridicule you but after about the first half hour of seeing the buses go right to the front I would've said to myself 'Hey maybe I should get back in my car and drive in the direction those buses are coming from so then I will no longer be cold and not moving anywhere.'

CarrieMpls said:

TRUTH69 said:

Actually what's not cool (but pretty damn funny) is people completely ignoring the directions Paisley posted from the time it was announced: Park in the designated lot and take the shuttle . This is a perfect example of 'herd mentality' because it only took one person who decided they were gonna start a line wherever they thought one should be and HUNDREDS of people decided they would do what that person was doing then following the directions Paisley gave. The sad part is you know they didn't learn a lesson they just think it was somehow unfair to them.

How did you know where the designated lot was? We knew we'd need to line up early since there was lots of promotion. The only thing I'd seen in advance was that there would be limited parking and you'd be directed to an overflow lot. When we got there, there was no direction. Nothing. Only a bunch of other people already lined up. I can tell you after standing in the cold for 3 hours watching them run the shuttles right up to the front made me want to leave.

And frankly, I should have. It was pretty close to the same set list as the July show. We showed up at 7pm and finally got in at 11pm, having missed 30-40 minutes (according to a security guy I asked) of the first NPG set.

If there was any direction out there whatsover I'd agree with you. But none. Very disappointing.

A couple of songs he played last night not liseted in the setist above: Extraloveable, Breakfast Can Wait

Musicology went into Love Rollercoaster and Play That Funky Music. It was the only time Prince played guitar all night. He took Donna's guitar from her and played for a couple songs. It was great, really made me want more Prince guitar. Show was wonderful but I really really crave some stripped down 3Rd Eye Girl garage rocking now. Horns are great but time for another guitar heavy gig!!!

when i first drove past the park, there were cars parked on every side street and hundreds and hundreds of folks lined up waiting outside the parking lot at the park. it looked like the second coming!! (of funk, that is)

*

i drove to the last side street farthest down that looked like it might have parking, and when the parking spaces ended i asked a uniformed security personnel where there was parking and she directed me to lifetime fitness.

*

the notice also said Lifetime Fitness so i figured that was the place to go.

TRUTH69 said:

Every notice I saw said Lifetime Fitness parking lot is where the shuttle will pick you up. I'm not trying to ridicule you but after about the first half hour of seeing the buses go right to the front I would've said to myself 'Hey maybe I should get back in my car and drive in the direction those buses are coming from so then I will no longer be cold and not moving anywhere.'

CarrieMpls said:

How did you know where the designated lot was? We knew we'd need to line up early since there was lots of promotion. The only thing I'd seen in advance was that there would be limited parking and you'd be directed to an overflow lot. When we got there, there was no direction. Nothing. Only a bunch of other people already lined up. I can tell you after standing in the cold for 3 hours watching them run the shuttles right up to the front made me want to leave.

And frankly, I should have. It was pretty close to the same set list as the July show. We showed up at 7pm and finally got in at 11pm, having missed 30-40 minutes (according to a security guy I asked) of the first NPG set.

If there was any direction out there whatsover I'd agree with you. But none. Very disappointing.

sonicfreak said:

A couple of songs he played last night not liseted in the setist above: Extraloveable, Breakfast Can Wait

Musicology went into Love Rollercoaster and Play That Funky Music. It was the only time Prince played guitar all night. He took Donna's guitar from her and played for a couple songs. It was great, really made me want more Prince guitar. Show was wonderful but I really really crave some stripped down 3Rd Eye Girl garage rocking now. Horns are great but time for another guitar heavy gig!!!

I hear ya!! More guitar please

Leoni said:

I saw bits 'n pieces through the livestream (that was not too stable) and the energy felt great and prince looked good! But standing in the cold for three hours...that sucks. maybe they didn't expect so much people to turn up and didn't know how to handle it.

maybe prince will give more shows this month to make it up to everybody

They knew a lot of people were going to show up thats why they said park at the Lifetime Fitness lot. If people chose to completely ignore that, thats their own ignorant fault... AND if for 3 hours they stood in the cold rain while watching the shuttles coming and going right to the door while they went nowhere, and it never once occured to them to get in their car and go towards where the buses are coming from, then they probably shouldn't be in close proxcimity to electrical instruments to begin with.

At 7:15 or 7:30 we took a left onto Audubon road to see what was up. Got to the street by where the daycare is and rolled down the window. , asked what to do. A woman very clearly dircted us: "Go to the Lifetime Fitness parking lot and take the shuttle back to Paisley at 8:30." So we did and were among the first 100 or so people in the door at PP. Guess we lucked out. Agreed it might have been more clearly stated that this was what to do. You never quite know what is up out there.

TRUTH69 said:

Leoni said:

I saw bits 'n pieces through the livestream (that was not too stable) and the energy felt great and prince looked good! But standing in the cold for three hours...that sucks. maybe they didn't expect so much people to turn up and didn't know how to handle it.

maybe prince will give more shows this month to make it up to everybody

They knew a lot of people were going to show up thats why they said park at the Lifetime Fitness lot. If people chose to completely ignore that, thats their own ignorant fault... AND if for 3 hours they stood in the cold rain while watching the shuttles coming and going right to the door while they went nowhere, and it never once occured to them to get in their car and go towards where the buses are coming from, then they probably shouldn't be in close proxcimity to electrical instruments to begin with.

Nice.

I had read the city pages & star tribune write ups and watched the fox news coverage. Nothing said where to park other than there would be overflow parking you'd be directed to. So I guess I missed whatever posting there was saying where to go that must have been released late yesterday.

The early reports DID say there would be overflow and you would be directed. Which is not what happened.

Once in line we did not see shuttles going back and forth because of where we were in line - way down the side street. I think we saw the first one around 10 or so and we were rather incredulous that it went right up front. By that time we had moved in line considerably, so it would have made little sense to walk back to our car which was over a mile away and drive away to get in the back of another line.

Wow, I sure am a dummy. I'm glad you can feel so superior. You must be so proud of yourself.

XxAxX said:

UmustB said:

Dreams are meant for dreamers and therefore they never lose. A dreamer can always count on their dreams and imagining them coming true. If one wanted to really be there but still there would be no way - that one can still dream of hearing the magical sounds all around them no matter where they might STAY. I live thru your eyes for those who are there - PLS GIVE A REPORT ON HOW U FELT HEARING HIS MUSIC - THANK U IN ADVANCE!

AM

YES & HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME - I KNOW U WILL - TRY NOT TO CRY WHEN IT'S OVER!

[Edited 10/5/13 16:14p

^ heard that song tonight. sounded GREAT!!! the show was wonderful.

*

the event opened with DJ tunes, moved on to shelby J and the NPG, moved on to prince and everyone else onstage for a fabulous extravaganza of jazzy funk.

*

i've never seen the park that crowded before, we were basically packed in there, sway dancing because there was no room to move. people were having a great time.

*

prince was gorgeous and sexy as usual, looking really good and full of energy, dancing around the stage and joking with us. he's the best entertainer i've ever seen, really. engaging, charismatic and shiny. dude simply shines up there.

*

sorry i have no set list. the music blows my mind to the point where it's all just a big groovy blur

*

thank you prince and prince's people!!! you're kind and generous for letting us visit. you rock !!!!!

[Edited 10/6/13 0:20am]

Love the report ...thanks for your sharing

chookalana said:

I was there. Third time seeing him at Paisley. I'm pretty sure we're the last group they let in. There were a ton of people still behind us that didn't get in. Prince was incredible. The NPG was great. They played old, new, and a couple songs he hadn't played in a while like "Old Friends For Sale". Well worth the three hours standing in line and $50. Awesome night.

Congradulations!!!

XxAxX said:

UmustB said:

i ended up taking the shuttle bus from Lifetime Fitness on century boulevard. got there early, around 7:00 pm, and waited. it was actually pretty fun, there were some neat folks there and we had a lot of fun joking around in line. nice group! (hi there andrew, alison and deirdre!!!).

*

the shuttle bus was actually a tour bus and we were all sort of hoping prince would be our driver and lead us in a chorus of songs as we made our way down the road... we saw someone who looked like prince walk down the line, checking us out before boarding. the dude was kind of raggedly dressed though, and prince is way shinier than that. i really couldn't tell if that was him? does anyone know?

*

none of us standing in the shuttle line actually dared to think we would make it inside PP, because it looked like there were thousands of people already lined up outside Paisley Park.

*

miracle of miracles, the shuttle drove us right past the waiting people in line to the front door and dropped us off. talk about a guilty pleasure. i felt awful for the folks who had to watch us go in. i know exactly how that feels.

*

i've never seen PP so crowded. it was electric in there, crowd energy was off the charts and folks were having a blast. there were a lot of people who did not know about the ORG, nor about prince. they had just heard about the show on the local news and decided to take it in.

*

i was not feeling so well by about 1:00, i'm taking an antibiotic which makes me feel like crap. so a nice lady and i took the shuttle out right after prince stopped playing and i crawled back home to bed and sleep.

*

hopefully someone will post and tell us how the party ended... did it go until dawn???? i should have toughed it out. stuck around to the end... i hate missing even a little bit of a PP party.

*

prince rocks!! love that man

[Edited 10/6/13 6:43am]

I'm so glad U enjoyed the concert and I hope U feel better

Leoni said:

I saw bits 'n pieces through the livestream (that was not too stable) and the energy felt great and prince looked good! But standing in the cold for three hours...that sucks. maybe they didn't expect so much people to turn up and didn't know how to handle it.

maybe prince will give more shows this month to make it up to everybody

Then we can actually utilize that special fund U suggested earlier in your post to me and really actually makes sense and I'll name it my Prince escapes

@kok: thank you, that's sweet. i'm ok. the med just has some nasty side effects. truth is, i'm still buzzing from last night/morning. no alcohol, no drugs, just a straight up shot of that incredible funky beat.

*

there has been a lot in the news lately about something called 'the hum' that has been adversely affecting people around planet earth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum the hum is a vibration that makes people physically ill.

*

i figure, if that's out there, then surely what i feel after a paisley park party is the opposite of the hum. it's sound medicine. a vibration calculated to affect folks for the better

*

i saw your earlier post and i really hope you have a chance to get to paisley park sometime soon. it's worth the effort.

[Edited 10/6/13 9:35am]

XxAxX said:

@kok: thank you, that's sweet. i'm ok. the med just has some nasty side effects. truth is, i'm still buzzing from last night/morning. no alcohol, no drugs, just a straight up shot of that incredible funky beat.

*

there has been a lot in the news lately about something called 'the hum' that has been adversely affecting people around planet earth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum the hum is a vibration that makes people physically ill.

*

i figure, if that's out there, then surely what i feel after a paisley park party is the opposite of the hum. it's sound medicine. a vibration calculated to affect folks for the better

*

i saw your earlier post and i really hope you have a chance to get to paisley park sometime soon. it's worth the effort.

[Edited 10/6/13 9:35am]

Thanks so much for your well wishes...that was very considerate. I'm glad you feel betterands will look up the information you stated. I look forward to the very anticipated opportunity to visit the purple mother land. The adventure would be...sensational

kok said:

Leoni said:

I saw bits 'n pieces through the livestream (that was not too stable) and the energy felt great and prince looked good! But standing in the cold for three hours...that sucks. maybe they didn't expect so much people to turn up and didn't know how to handle it.

maybe prince will give more shows this month to make it up to everybody

Then we can actually utilize that special fund U suggested earlier in your post to me and really actually makes sense and I'll name it my Prince escapes

yeah haha we need to start saving soon! 'My Prince escapes' love it!

TRUTH69 said:

Leoni said:

I saw bits 'n pieces through the livestream (that was not too stable) and the energy felt great and prince looked good! But standing in the cold for three hours...that sucks. maybe they didn't expect so much people to turn up and didn't know how to handle it.

maybe prince will give more shows this month to make it up to everybody

They knew a lot of people were going to show up thats why they said park at the Lifetime Fitness lot. If people chose to completely ignore that, thats their own ignorant fault... AND if for 3 hours they stood in the cold rain while watching the shuttles coming and going right to the door while they went nowhere, and it never once occured to them to get in their car and go towards where the buses are coming from, then they probably shouldn't be in close proxcimity to electrical instruments to begin with.

ok, if I ever get to PP, I will take the shuttle bus

CarrieMpls said:

TRUTH69 said:

Actually what's not cool (but pretty damn funny) is people completely ignoring the directions Paisley posted from the time it was announced: Park in the designated lot and take the shuttle . This is a perfect example of 'herd mentality' because it only took one person who decided they were gonna start a line wherever they thought one should be and HUNDREDS of people decided they would do what that person was doing then following the directions Paisley gave. The sad part is you know they didn't learn a lesson they just think it was somehow unfair to them.

How did you know where the designated lot was? We knew we'd need to line up early since there was lots of promotion. The only thing I'd seen in advance was that there would be limited parking and you'd be directed to an overflow lot. When we got there, there was no direction. Nothing. Only a bunch of other people already lined up. I can tell you after standing in the cold for 3 hours watching them run the shuttles right up to the front made me want to leave.

And frankly, I should have. It was pretty close to the same set list as the July show. We showed up at 7pm and finally got in at 11pm, having missed 30-40 minutes (according to a security guy I asked) of the first NPG set.

If there was any direction out there whatsover I'd agree with you. But none. Very disappointing.

Carrie, DrFunk updated his original post on Friday. The NPG announced it on the radio to go to Lifetime Fitness for the shuttles. No one updated about the shuttles except funk.

In his reminder post yesterday, he listed shuttle info again: http://wp.me/pldTn-a9f

Since everyone was crediting City Pages site and since they never updated, no one got the shuttle info except those that go to funkenberry. Might have been smarter to give him the story first if he will actually update and post the info for people. Sucks to spend all that time waiting in line to get bypassed but the info was out there. City Pages failed you it seems.

banishedones666 said:

CarrieMpls said:

How did you know where the designated lot was? We knew we'd need to line up early since there was lots of promotion. The only thing I'd seen in advance was that there would be limited parking and you'd be directed to an overflow lot. When we got there, there was no direction. Nothing. Only a bunch of other people already lined up. I can tell you after standing in the cold for 3 hours watching them run the shuttles right up to the front made me want to leave.

And frankly, I should have. It was pretty close to the same set list as the July show. We showed up at 7pm and finally got in at 11pm, having missed 30-40 minutes (according to a security guy I asked) of the first NPG set.

If there was any direction out there whatsover I'd agree with you. But none. Very disappointing.

Carrie, DrFunk updated his original post on Friday. The NPG announced it on the radio to go to Lifetime Fitness for the shuttles. No one updated about the shuttles except funk.

In his reminder post yesterday, he listed shuttle info again: http://wp.me/pldTn-a9f

Since everyone was crediting City Pages site and since they never updated, no one got the shuttle info except those that go to funkenberry. Might have been smarter to give him the story first if he will actually update and post the info for people. Sucks to spend all that time waiting in line to get bypassed but the info was out there. City Pages failed you it seems.

Looks like hundreds and hundreds of people only knew about this concert through City Pages then. Had this been an exclusive DrF story they probably would have missed out on the whole event as it seems none of them check his blog. Paisley Park should have given City Pages the right info right away...that would have been the smarter thing to do here!

I still think it's bad that Paisley Park left this many people in line waiting in vain in the rain and only depended on what their shuttle service brought to the door. They could have placed signs that access to the concert is only possible through the shuttle service. As it was clear that many people didn't know the right procedure...imho

Tempest said:Thank you for the info. * Motherfunka, why was it one of your least favorite PP shows? I'm curious. * [Edited 10/6/13 2:10am]

You're welcome! Well I saw the City Pages article announcing the show, and it said Prince, 3rd Eye Girl, and New Power Generation. So I was hoping for a part of the show to be something like the shows at Myth, which it wasn't. Hannah said they wanted to show the audience what they had been working on, but a lot of repeats from the show in July at Paisley Park. I guess that's what they've been working on, incorporating all these horns into the songs. For me, all the horns and backup singers just muddle the songs. When they started playing Diamonds and Pearls, I was like cool, but it sounded like a poor karaoke version with the backup singers ruining it. They don't hold a candle to Rosie. Still a few highlights though, Dark, Something In the Water, and Old Friends for Sale. Prince still has the voice and the energy, but I guess I just prefer a stripped down sound.

I was totally expecting the entry process to be a mess, as it usally is these days. So no surprises there. They would have made it a whole lot easier if they would have sold tickets, so people would know if they could get in or not without having to stand around for hours. You almost had to go early, just to be sure you were able to get in. I've been right up front enough, so that I don't have to do that anymore. As far as the shuttle bus goes, they didn't say you couldn't park around the streets of Paisley Park. And who would they be to say that anyway? Nobody, except for people who were invited, were allowed to park at Paisley Park. So people were lined up outside of Paisley Park. If you did take the shuttle bus, how would you have known that they wouldn't make you get at the end of the line that was already there? So yeah, typical.

[Edited 10/6/13 15:09pm]

motherfunka said:

This is what I can recall...They started around 10:30.

Elisa sang On The Way Up

Liv sang like 3 songs

Shelby sang a couple

Days of Wild (no Prince)

A little girl belted out a song

Prince took the stage around 11:30 (these are somewhat in order, probably missing a few too)

1999

Diamonds and Pearls

Old Friends For Sale

Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone

F.U.N.K

Dark

Something In The Water

Musicology

People Pleaser

Nothing Compares 2 U

Purple Rain

Don't Stop Til You Get Enough (Prince decicated this to AEG)

Cool

What Have You Done For Me Lately

Partyman

It's Alright

Ended at about 2:30

Probably one of my least favorite Paisley Park shows.

For one thing, How in the heck are they going to do Days of Wild and no Prince!!! And then his Set seems like a strange Set, I know you always have to do some oldies but look like he could have better mixture old and new or maybe he just has too many good songs to chose from???

[Edited 10/9/13 21:49pm]

Can't wait to hear Jester's report!!! Then Eye can know the REAL DEAL!!!

7roses said:

banishedones666 said:

Carrie, DrFunk updated his original post on Friday. The NPG announced it on the radio to go to Lifetime Fitness for the shuttles. No one updated about the shuttles except funk.

In his reminder post yesterday, he listed shuttle info again: http://wp.me/pldTn-a9f

Since everyone was crediting City Pages site and since they never updated, no one got the shuttle info except those that go to funkenberry. Might have been smarter to give him the story first if he will actually update and post the info for people. Sucks to spend all that time waiting in line to get bypassed but the info was out there. City Pages failed you it seems.

Looks like hundreds and hundreds of people only knew about this concert through City Pages then. Had this been an exclusive DrF story they probably would have missed out on the whole event as it seems none of them check his blog. Paisley Park should have given City Pages the right info right away...that would have been the smarter thing to do here!

I still think it's bad that Paisley Park left this many people in line waiting in vain in the rain and only depended on what their shuttle service brought to the door. They could have placed signs that access to the concert is only possible through the shuttle service. As it was clear that many people didn't know the right procedure...imho

Don't think they would have missed it. Point being, the story originated from City Pages and they should have updated shuttle info. Every story on the Internet was pointing to City Pages for info. If pointing to drf, and since he was updating the info, they would have found the shuttle info. So..if City Pages got the info from the start it would have been better. If they would have updated with the info after, which they said they would update but didn't, all would be good. You are correct tho, regardless of who got it first if info was provided, wouldn't have been an issue. He updated, they didn't, and since the story did not originate from his site with everyone from Rolling Stone to NME linking in, it was missed. So...we are both right.

FUN POLL TIME....Let's say you dropped your friends off to get in line, go park at Lifetime and get on the shuttle to be let in ahead of all others in line. Would you go in knowing you may never get in because of the long line and leave your friends hangin' or go find your friends in line??

motherfunka said:

This is what I can recall...They started around 10:30.

Elisa sang On The Way Up

Liv sang like 3 songs

Shelby sang a couple

Days of Wild (no Prince)

A little girl belted out a song

Prince took the stage around 11:30 (these are somewhat in order, probably missing a few too)

1999

Diamonds and Pearls

Old Friends For Sale

Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone

F.U.N.K

Dark

Something In The Water

Musicology

People Pleaser

Nothing Compares 2 U

Purple Rain

Don't Stop Til You Get Enough (Prince decicated this to AEG)

Cool

What Have You Done For Me Lately

Partyman

It's Alright

Ended at about 2:30

Probably one of my least favorite Paisley Park shows.

This looks like a great set list. Old Friends for Sale, Cool, FUNK, and Something in the Water -- very cool. What made it not a good show?

Probably you have all seen this....

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/prince-delivers-funk-blowout-at-paisley-park-studio-concert-20131006

1

Comment

5

Prince

Stuart Wilson/Getty Images

By THOMAS KINTNER

October 6, 2013 3:31 PM ET

Even after all these years, when Prince calls, people come running. Saturday night, responding to an announcement made just two days earlier, nearly two thousand people lined up around an out-of-the-way block in suburban Chanhassen, Minnesota to catch the Minneapolis icon in a home game at his Paisley Park studio. They were treated to a career-spanning funk blowout.

Entry ran 50 dollars – cash only – for the chance to visit the long-reclusive star’s $10 million home studio. Cameras and cell phones were forbidden, but no one was stopping you from touching the Purple Rain motorcycle in the lobby if you were so inclined. The process of getting past the facility’s outer gate and into the building was glacial (as was the evening temperature after a couple of hours in line), but the excitement of the occasion kept spirits up even as people fretted over whether they would get in. As it turned out, there was room enough for everyone in a space that listed its capacity at 1,850 and packed in pretty close to that number.

See Where Prince Ranks Among the 100 Greatest Guitarists

Backed by the combined heft of his 3rdEyeGirl and New Power Generation support groups, Prince muscled his way through an opener of "1999" just before midnight, throwing down a full-bore party gauntlet that carried through the night. The 18-piece band’s stout horn section powered the infectious funk of "Musicology" and the robust "Mutiny," an insistent extract from Prince’s long-ago side project the Family.

Prince at 55 didn’t exhibit the breadth of skills he flaunted so boldly in younger days, rarely strapping an electric guitar over his puffy afro as he left it to Donna Grantis to handle most of the evening’s licks. He also refrained from testing his hips by sticking to cool stepping rather than flamboyant dance moves, but he could entertain tied to a chair (and probably has). His voice was warm, limber and full of character as he oozed over the silky "Breakfast Can Wait," and barked authoritatively at "Something in the Water (Does not Compute)," right up to unleashing his well-preserved falsetto wail.

The song selection was all over the place, in a good way: the quirky 1990s sway of "Dark," the swelled drama of onetime bootleg favorite "Old Friends 4 Sale," and a dip into Prince’s 1989 Batman work for the buoyant "Partyman." The vault-track-turned-recent-release "Extraloveable" was an irresistible reimagining of old work, while his take on "Purple Rain" offered his powerful shriek that times they are a-changin’, followed by a saxophone solo in place of the tune’s classic guitar crescendo as a reminder that they don’t always change for the better.

After a little more than an hour, Prince was escorted out of the room by bodyguards, which led many to head for the door even as the band rolled through "Act of God." Prince rewarded those who stuck around by returning to his cavernous soundstage with a hearty duet of "Nothing Compares 2 U," and he polished off the party with a fired-up offering of the Time nugget "Cool," a quality that hasn’t faded in him even slightly in the 30-plus years since he wrote the song.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.c...z2h008mbcf
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