So the concert was fabulous. Prince was really loose and playful with the crowd. And he brought a ton of energy. By not playing a lot of guitar, he was able to really get into the singing and dancing. In a way, it was like he was having a party with us all there. A completely different stage atmosphere than the 2009 Last Jamm.
Personal highlights were Extralovable, Dark, Old Friends 4 Sale, and Something in the Water Does Not Compute. Never heard those longs live!!!
I drove over 10 hours from Michigan, and ended up being the 4th person in line to get in (not counting people who had special needs). I know some people enjoy hearing the fan element, so I'll try to give a short version.
We arrived in MPLS around 5p local time. Got our room, rested for a very short time, and hit up some fast food in Chanhassen. Drove past the Park at 7:15p, and saw that there were TONS of cars already lining up. We went on down to Lifetime Fitness and were told that the line was starting to form, and that the bus will not leave until 8:45p.
I was with my sister and daughter, and I was imagining a worst case scenario where everybody will already be in line, and the bus people would be the last to get in. So I drove back to the Park, dropped off my sister and daughter to get into line and I went looking for a parking space. NONE. I mean there were cars all down Audobon Rd and around the corner!!!
Pissed that none of us had cell phones so I could find my people, I went back to Lifetime, thinking that at the very least, I would be at the back and would find them one way or another once we were all inside. Also, I figured we could all take the shuttle back, saving us the walk to the car.
Waiting in line, there was a Mercedes shuttle, and a large Coach bus. I met some very very nice people. One was a beautiful woman named Janna who flew in a long distance just a couple of hours before. It was a treat keeping warm talking with her, and I know she was freezing beacuse she came in from a really warm climate to stand an hour and a half in the Great Lakes autumn! I also met these wonderful ladies Heather and Nicole from MPLS who also had their people in the long line back at Paisley Park.
Well, Janna, Heather, Nicole, and I were the last people squeezed onto the first Coach bus. It was almost 9, and I really thought that getting in was going to be bad. As we pulled up, I saw that the entire line was still on the OTHER side of the road, and not being let into the gate. Wow. As we got out, I ended up 4th in line to get in! How bittersweet, as I knew my sister and my daughter were somewhere out there in line and I had no way of getting a hold of them! We were let in, we all paid our fees, and walked right up to the front of the stage. And man it was an incredible show. I stayed up at the front stage until Prince came on. Then, after Old Friends 4 Sale, he started playing People Pleaser. Excited to hear 1999 and Diamonds and Pearls before that, I did the unfathomable: I shook Janna's hand, told her I thanked her for keeping me company and wished her a safe trip home . I then left the "front row" of a Paisley Park Prince Concert to go find my daughter and sister.
I found them right away. I was on the right side of the stage, and made my way towards the huge bay doors with the 
on it, and there they were. We watched the remainder of the show from there. That area had plenty of space to dance and sing, and still had a very good view of center stage! It really was a beautiful night. We stayed late and grooved to the music for a while, I would have danced a lot more, but my legs and back were shot from the 10 hour drive. I was able to tell most of the NPG how much I appreciated their music, and most importantly, I was able to share this experience with my daughter who had never been to a Prince concert before. She was amazed. And meeting most of the band as they interacted with the crowd was an extra special treat for her.
10/10 would do again.
P.S., I'm leaving out a lot of frustration with a very small number of people who have absolutely NO home training or respect for people's personal space just so they could get closer to the stage, used handicapped people or some other lame excuse to cut ahead of people in line (I'm not talking about people who drove their friends/family with special needs. I mean somebody straight up used somebody to get out of line and move up. If you're on here, you know who are. that move was bouge as hell. I can't believe somebody would do that. Especially considering they were already near the front of the line.), had foul hygiene, or thought it was smart to bring WEED into the Park. E-cigs, okay, I get that. But I know weed vapes, and you could smell that. And it wasn't just one person too.
I'm not getting too into that because a) that's a Prince concert I guess, and people are people, and b) I met way way WAY more people who were so cool and friendly and would help each other keep place in line or in front of the stage while people got water and went to the bathroom. It's always something special to be in a room where 80% or more know every word to every song, and in the cases of Extraloveable and Old Friends 4 Sale, know the words to the earlier demos. It's a true mix of people, and it's one of the perks of being a Prince fan is that no matter how different we are, we have a strong common interest and can relate to each other on at least that level.
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