Here I sit at 6.30am on a Sunday morning, sun rising through a thick fog on a cold Sydney morning - welcome to the dawn...

My last week has been spent following Prince in Oz - Melbourne & Sydney. What can I say? After 3 soundchecks, 4 shows and 2 aftershows I'm a changed man.

With every performance in Australia Prince's energy has been snowballing finally exploding at tonights' aftershow at the well known Sydney venue The Basement.

I won't post setlists - they can be found elsewhere, but will reference highlights that will live with me forever;

Soundcheck - Melbourne 21st; Hearing Prince tear up Bambi with his guitar work and amazing falsetto and making it look so easy...always feeling John's kickdrum deep in my chest. This is gonna be one hell of a week!

Show - Melbourne 22nd; The first piano ballad of the tour. From Adore to Forever in my Life to the transitional funk of All the Critics...Prince was in fine form - nailing every note perfectly, teasing the crowd into a frenzy, and then knocking them off with a stomping Days of Wild. Melbourne does not know what has hit it. This 2nd show sells out from sheer word of mouth from the previous nights' show.

Aftershow - Melbourne Metro 23rd(am); One of Melbourne's finest live venues lit in deep purple awaiting the arrival of the funk - and did it come!!! Musicology gets its live debut and does not disappoint. This song live sounds so damn good it deserves to become a Prince staple in future setlists. Prince's songbook falls over, Takumi to the rescue - what would Prince do without him? Joshy was jumping so hard I thought the roof was gonna collapse! The funk exploded that night when Prince struts over to me stage right and pulls up his pant leg to show me and everyone else his bare foot in pump thongs - funk face included!

Soundcheck - Sydney 24th; He's so cool, relaxed and casual when he's with his fans. Talking to us like we're lost friends - amazing! The bass line of 17 Days pumps out and before we know it this incredible song is being sung in front of us. Mick Jagger sounds great - or is that Prince imitating while punching out Honky Tonk Woman? The Rainbow Children sounds tight live - this band was meant to jam on this song.

Show - Sydney 24th; Something has changed now. Prince is smiling from the first note. He is tooo happy, and it shows in his playing. He is playing more to the crowd, driving them into histerics a la Beatles arriving in America. Grown women are screaming and pulling their hair, Prince is lying on the floor screaming out the Beautiful Ones - flash back to Purple Rain...I must be dreaming, this is too good. Piano medly seems to be standard now. Good, because Prince and a piano equals total satisfaction. Adore into I Wanna Be Your Lover into Diamonds & Pearls. The crowd is in Prince's hands, and he knows it. I didn't know so many people knew the words, the whole stadium is singing! Purple Rain live is a moving experince, tonight he tears up the guitar solo and and the passion fills the Entertainment Centre and everybody remembers why they came to see Prince.

Show - Sydney 25th; Can this band get any tighter? Can Prince get anymore happier? I don't think so. Sometimes It Snows In April kicks off the piano medly...I can't believe I would ever get to here all these amazing songs live. Dreams come true. Strange Relationship, yeah yeah. Prince warns us he's gonna take no prisioners - we scream for more. He brings out Larry Graham and the place erupts, The Jam has everyone jumping and Larry's playing tears through the stadium. I will never say a negative thing about LG again - he is the funk. House lights go up and my watch says 11.58pm - surely that cannot be right. People are sitting in their seats in a daze...Prince just blew up Sydney, and it shows! John throws his drumsticks to the crowd - he loves us as much as Prince, always wanting to chat and say Hi. Too sexy.

Aftershow - The Basement Oct 26(am); My dream of Prince playing an aftershow in this great intimate venue have come true. Thousands line up outside - NPGMC members walk right on in - Prince & Trevor look after their NPG members! I position myself front right of stage. No barriers, stage slightly elavated about 1 foot and I think I am dreaming when Prince walks out in his aqua suit. Jamming with the horns, warming up the band. Prince sings 777-9311 - I'm already moved. On the one. The piano chords of Purple Rain ring out, the crowd is floored. The defintive version of Purple Rain is performed at this aftershow..the emotion overwhelming, the crowd sing in unison. I think I am at First Ave in 83 during that infamous August gig...too much to handle. Prince can't - he reaches out and grabs the crowd's hands in thanks, and takes a break to recover. Maceo takes the lead on return while Prince and Mani sit on an amp stage right and chill (Prince still playing of course). He is having so much fun. From guitar, to keys, to bass...he really can do it all. Larry comes on stage and again they tear it up - funk guitar and bass screaming together, the crowd sweating a frenzy - on the one. The audience cheer is defeaning.


My ears are still ringing and so they should be! My love for Prince all these years has finally paid off. He is the greatest performer alive. No doubt or question in my mind. I will never again question Prince's beliefs, religion, direction in music, business dealings and the like. If ever in doubt I will think back to this week and smile...remembering how Prince let me into his world and reminded me of why he is here - the music. 25 years on and it feels like the journey has just begun - incredible! Something tells me he won't wait another 11 years to return to Oz.

It was great meeting all my friends; Vince, John, Elizabeth, Rita, Dom, Josh, and everyone else. New friendships have begun.

Word of advice - Hold on to your soul, we got a long way to go...
[This message was edited Sat Oct 25 13:50:24 PDT 2003 by derek]
[This message was edited Sat Oct 25 13:58:19 PDT 2003 by derek]

Simply Fantastic , thank u 4 sharing this with us ...

Thanx 4 that Derek - im so glad u guys finally got what u have been waiting 4 for so long.

Nice one.

Great post - sounds AMAZING!

So jealous...

Great review derek. Speechless!

Derek's review:

I saw melbourne 1st show and sydney 1st show, and when i flew home to new zealand on sunday i got home played ONA live piano medley and burst into tears. I am stunned at hwat i saw. My dream of an aftershow was not fulfilled, but i got enough funk to last 3 lifetimes.

this tour is simply the best he has ever done...ever.
.
.

1 of the best reveiws from Oz.

Hi derek what about my cds?

cool review!

all i can say is ditto to it all
couldnt make the 2nd melb show or aftershow, but was there for the rest.. a changed man indeed.

That is an awesome review Derek!!!

Totally hit it right on the head. I am fair dinkum tearing up as I read this.

The whole week, culminating in that thunderous aftershow last night will be with me forever. I am deliriously happy.

You know, your remark about feeling like you were at First Avenue for Purple Rain was exactly what I thought. It was so moving. I've bottled that feeling deep within and I'll never let it go.

Prince and the band truly rule.

derek u pantsy...what new shit did he play that's a hit? ummm none!

Amazing review, Derek!

thechronic said:

Chronic - take a pill, chill and gtfoot.

He hasn't toured OZ 4 11 yrs. He clearly enjoyed himself, he tore up every venue he entered. The true fams were enthralled.

Criticism where its warranted but don't B putting threads pulling down a tour that has not had ONE HARSH WORD from any who attended.

are you trying to tell me i missed somwtimes it snows AND strange relationship??
damn!!!

glad you enjoyed the second show. i was totally blown away by that first sydney show. shall never forget it:)

thechronic said:

Hey D, just remember, no one can take this xperience away from u, not even these haters on the org.

All your reports sound so truely great... I guess I cannot really imagine how it REALLY felt, right?



...excuse me, I'm dreaming of an Aftershow...

Soundcheck - Melbourne 21st; Hearing Prince tear up Bambi with his guitar work and amazing falsetto and making it look so easy..

so he sung this song??? wow, its so odd people keep saying he cant play hardly any of his songs, then he plays a song about wooing a lesbian into bed. i suppose cos its not explicit though its ok?

.This 2nd show sells out from sheer word of mouth from the previous nights' show.


is that true??! thats so cool! shame he isnt playing more shows, its so much fun reading about it everyday when i wake up (being in the UK!)

The piano chords of Purple Rain ring out, the crowd is floored. The defintive version of Purple Rain is performed at this aftershow..the emotion overwhelming, the crowd sing in unison. I think I am at First Ave in 83 during that infamous August gig...too much to handle.


so did he play it all on the piano or was it just the intro? its my dream to see prince play it all on the piano like the bit on purple rain where he starts to write it on the piano, that would be so cool!

thechronic said:

NEXT!

lust said:

Awww Shane... Im really glad u had a blast though, and it was all u hoped and more...Im really happy 4 ya. Shame u didnt get 2 catch an aftershow (u will have 2 tell me why!!!)

All the same, Im glad it was an experience worth waiting 4, and u came away with good memories u can cherish.

bananacologne said:

Thanks Paddy, i went to both afterparties, but flew out of both melbourne and sydney the days after the first shows, and it was the second shows that he did aftershows.

Amazing, really well-written. I went to the Brisbane show last night and I can totally identify. It was like a dream come true finally seeing him live - I thought it would never happen, but it was well worth the eight years of fanship just waiting! I felt like when he sang "the beautiful ones" that I was appolonia and it was purple rain... *sigh*

lol

derek...After personally sharing most of that experience with you, i have to agree. Prince is simply the greatest. I can't wait for him to come back to Australia so we can do it all again.

Thanks for a great write up, mate.