By Liam Houlihan
23oct03

Thousands of pop fans braving the ill weather to doorknock a Jehovah's Witness is not something you see every day. But, then, the artist known-once-more-and-with-a-slight-feeling-of-deja-vu-as-Prince is one of the more compelling Jehovah's with whom to spend an evening.

In a white pinstriped suit complete with red cravat, Prince, in his early 40s and bearing an increasing resemblance to Little Richard, struck up his first Australian show in a decade with Let's Go Crazy, which the mixed-ages crowd took as an invitation, giving the Purple One a messianic welcome.
This tour has been billed as the last time Prince will perform his greatest hits and although some were missing in action (Raspberry Beret, Little Red Corvette, When U Were Mine, 1999) fans from across the decades were treated to Prince's signature tunes Sign o' the Times, a cut-short When Doves Cry and, for the finale, Purple Rain. As well, there were Prince tracks made famous by others such as Kiss (Tom Jones) and Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinead O'Connor). One minute on his knees and shrieking like James Brown, the next wringing out Jimi Hendrix-like distortion histrionics from his guitar, Prince once more proved himself the master of fusion, sliding effortlessly between soul, funk, pop, dance and R&B.

Hardcore Prince fanatics (such as those who paid $1000 to dance on stage with their idol) will tell you Prince has a dark side called Spooky Electric and a good side called Camille. Although it's fair to say Prince's muse has traditionally been his own randiness, in Melbourne the famously toey troubadour eschewed his old schtick of groaning and rubbing against things, making it apparent Spooky Electric had been grounded and Camille was running the show.

The performance was brimming with enjoyable moments such as Prince's barely suppressed ebullience at performing his much-loved hits, the New Power Generation saxophonist playing from among the crowd and the undeniable highlight of The ? of U. If there were any twinges, it was that the show was generally more comfortable whacking in a sax solo where a recognisable chorus would have been more satisfying, and that it largely omitted hits from the Diamonds & Pearls and Lovesymbol albums that the younger fans would have found more familiar.

A costume change later and Prince emerged looking stylish in a white lacy shirt, tight white leggings and white feathery boots. It left you thinking if his funk and chutzpah could make something that wrong seem so right, surely nitpicking was out of the question.

after over a hundred views, I guess everyone else thought this was a pretty uninteresting review, too.

Well, yeah:

PLEASE!

"As well, there were Prince tracks made famous by others such as Kiss (Tom Jones)"

Don't think Tom Jones made "Kiss" famous...

This dude obviously has no idea what he is talking about.

Whistler said:

Camille the good side???

Somebody please hold me Camille the good side... Any hardcorde fanatic telling me Camille is the good side of Prince, will be slapped their ass till the middle of next week - that's the rule down here baby...

journalists with no idea or not checking their info, what a moron, and obviously the editor is a bigger wanker letting that go to press...

the New Power Generation saxophonist playing from among the crowd .[/quote]

and isn't Maceo on this show- don't most people jump at a chance to mention that usually?, I think this guy has missed a whole lot... glad someone mentioned Tom Jones before I did!!! What an ignorant reviewer...