As there may be people who the not have a subscription to The Times, this is an attempt at copy and post of the review in their music section.

Some readers comments:

"Gah, that is some gig!!! Those who went will dine off of this for years, lucky so and so's!"

"He's the one live act on the planet everyone should see. Like all the best bits of Sly Stone, James Brown and Santana in one fiercely funky purple pop package. Now, can we finally see him headline Glastonbury?" comment is by The Times.

Thanks for posting. It is a good review. No surprise there!

I do wish people would go on less about his age. He is only 55. But, aside from that silliness, nice to read and true.

With reference 2 Glastonbury as we know it keeps on coming up and up again and again, based on my own experience with trying 2 get tickets once u r registered, it is virtually impossible!! If he does headline one day which i would like him 2 do with television rights as well so everyone can see him on the TV, an agreement should be made so that we can purchase tickets as prince fans through his website so he knows he will have a few thousand there who want him there, know the songs lyrics etc. I know this is unlikely but just a thought so if prince/management read this they know what a nightmare Glasto is 2 get tickets!! + i would not want 2 be at Glasto all weekend unless they had George Clinton & P Funk allstars play Friday, Bootsy with Freekbass on Saturday and Larry with GCS just b4 our man!! Now that would be a great weekend!!

Another Times article.

Prince plays secret gig in sign o’ the times

The last time he was in town six years ago he sold out the vast O2 Arena - all 21 days of his residency - in a matter of hours.

For his return to the capital however Prince has chosen a far smaller venue, playing to a capacity audience of just 300.

Queues began forming outside the Electric Ballroom in Camden, North London, late at night following mounting speculation of a surprise performance.

Wearing a dark hooded sleeveless top, the US singer-songwriter appeared on stage shortly after 12.30am backed by his new band 3rdeyegirl.

He opened with a slowed-down version of I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man.

The gig, showcasing new material from his forthcoming Plectrum Electrum record, lasted for around half an hour.

He told the crowd of less than 300 people: “You sound like ten thousands. We love each and every one of you.”

Prince and his band left the stage briefly before returning to say: “We’ll be back tomorrow.”

He is expected to announce a number of UK tour dates today.

The enigmatic star flew into London yesterday to promote his new album recorded with the all-female trio.

Details of his tour still remain scarce but Prince said he hoped to play “iconic” venues along the lines of the music club the Bag o’ Nails, where Jimi Hendrix once performed, and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.

Before the start of the gig at Camden’s rock venue, he first stopped at the East London home of the British soul singer Lianne La Havas who met Prince last year while she was touring the United States.

In her cozy living room in front of a crackling fire, the band played two acoustic tracks of what Prince called their “funky rock ‘n’ roll,” including the newly released single PretzelBodyLogic.

“We’ll work our way up, if people like us, to bigger venues,” Prince said.

He added that he hoped to record the band live during their stay in London, as well as buying “some clothes - and some tea”.

Asked if as rumoured he would play the Glastonbury Festival in June, he said he was trying to “slow time down” and live in the moment. “I can’t think of the festival now.”

He spoke about his decision to launch a lawsuit, later dropped, against fans who posted links online to unauthorised footage of his performances.

“Nobody sues fans,” he said. “It’s just a poor way to phrase it. A bootlegger is a bootlegger, a scalper is a scalper. They know what time it is.

“Just sharing music with each other, that’s cool,” he said. “It’s the selling that becomes the problem.”

He claimed not to have noticed that 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of his groundbreaking album Purple Rain, regularly hailed as one of the best records of the 1980s.

“I don’t look back,” he said.

Everyone’s talking about: Lianne La Havas

The British singer invited Prince to stop by her house in East London while he was on tour in Britain on tour — so he did

Why?

It shouldn’t be a surprise, really — enigmatic geniuses are supposed to do this kind of thing. When Prince announced a string of UK gigs (which kicked off with a magical show in Lo... Wednesday), why do it from a humdrum conference room when he had access to, um, an 18ft x 9ft living room in Leyton, East London? It belonged to the British musician Lianne La Havas, whose wry songwriting and pristine vibrato have long been admired by the Purple One.

He has a history of adopting attractive female protégées: Sheena Easton, Wendy & Lisa, Taja Sevelle and that noted tunesmith Carmen Electra, plus his current band, 3rdeyegirl. His friendship with the 24-year-old La Havas appears to be solely based on music, even though the breathless tones in which she talks about him suggest that she is firmly under his spell. “He’s miraculous and crazy and amazing!” she says. Is there a gap between the star and the man? “He’s all those guys. He’s everything all at once.”

Prince first invited La Havas to jam (and eat hoummos) at his Minneapolis lair several years ago and they have been in regular touch ever since. She was wishing him a happy new year on the phone when he revealed his touring plans. “I said, ‘Oh you should stop by my house!’ Casual, like,” La Havas says.

“How’s February 4?” came the reply. So, on the appointed date, the 55-year-old and his entourage arrived — after the house had been swept by security and installed with a sound mixing desk and purple lights. La Havas’s study became a dressing room, to where Prince decamped for a cuppa (he favours PG Tips with copious honey) before facing the press — and her bemused flatmates — in huge purple-tinted shades, afro, flares and furry black gilet. He smelled fragrant, by all accounts. Prince and his band played songs from his forthcoming album, Plectrum Electrum, La Havas played two of hers and he beckoned her to join him for a duet but she was “too nervous”. She may get another chance on this tour — she’s not telling yet. If so, it will surely be claimed as a victory for British hospitality — and the tea industry.

Lianne La Havas’s album, Is Your Love Big Enough, is out now with another to follow. Prince’s Plectrum Electrum is out this year.

What they say

Lianne La Havas: “Was having Prince in my house the weirdest thing in the world? Yes! But it was still great: asking him, ‘Can I get you anything?’, telling him where the bathroom was.”

Prince: “[My band] have been together for over a year and it’s perfect. The more we play, the more fun it is, and addictive it is. We’re going to be here until people don’t want to hear us any more.”