I posted this earlire, but now im trying a different forum, so please xcuse if u have alreasy read this.

i have seen the set list for the 1st concert and am currently making up a cd of all the songs that Prince played, just a lil momento for me to listen to in the car
on the set list for the soundcheck it says there is another song played from xpectation, but i cant find the song that fits from what i remember of the soundcheck.
i was listening to some more of my music, and came across nagoya from c-note, and that sounded like what was played, can any1 verify this??? as i want to get it as close to the concert as possiable.

thanks in advance .
Harlequin

Mind if I hijack your thread?

I'm a little late in submitting a review for the 21st Melbourne show but its been an incredible couple of weeks. I've barely had time to breath, let alone eat, sleep, catch flights come back to reality or write a review but here goes.

My first time in Melbourne, less than a month after hearing that Prince was really/actually/for-real coming to Australia. I knew there was no way that he would make it to New Zealand, so without blinking I immediately started hunting for the best flights, thinking about getting time off work, renewing the passport etc Figuring out what shows to go to would be easy...'all of them' was the best answer I could think of. My cousin who got me started on Prince in 1983 listening to b-sides and screaming along to Something in The Water now lives in Melbourne and I knew she'd be so perfect to go along to the show with. We went to the Phoenix and I met up with Gooner (Mr Lust!) and Jono who also had come over and Bkw, Tocatta, Joshy and Soulvana (sp? Thanx for the ride!) and alot of other cool people who's faces would become familiar over the next week.

Collecting tix from the venue ended up being a breeze, with a window for NPGMC collection and a longer queue for VIP collection. It started pouring with rain but luckily we had brought our umbrellas, some people waiting in the queue weren't so fortunate. The venue let us inside after a quick security on time about 3:30 but we continued waiting inside the building but outside the arena. We'd been out the night before at the Prince of Wales and with the time change I got hardly any sleep so I was not feeling as fresh as I would have liked for my first Prince concert experience. I was surprised by my lack of anticipation at seeing my first Prince musical experience, something I'd dreamed about and prayed for...perfectly mundane thoughts were going through my head like "when are they opening the doors?"..."I need to sit down"..."Why did she bring a giant plastic flower?"..."I need more sleep" came to mind..."I NEED TO SLEEP?!?" right before a Prince concert?!??...sheesh maybe I was wasting my time and money coming all this way

That would be the absolutely last time that thought would enter my mind...as soon as the the doors opened and the line got moving and I was walking inside the theatre I got a rush like I haven't had for the longest time...IT'S HAPPENING...I'M REALLY SEEING PRINCE!!!

As we were making our way down towards the stage area Prince starts up the intro of Xemplify and I find myself running down towards the front and centre to be as close as possible. I quickly jump up on a chair but am just as quickly told to step down by the security. Fair enough...I'm slightly right of stage and Prince is directly infront of me about 10 feet away. He's wearing a cool white pinstripe suit with a purple shirt and purple tinted shades. He couldn't possibly have looked cooler if he tried and he's playing his 1999 guitar 8) . The Xpectation instrumental sounds fantastic and it takes about 30 seconds to realise that Prince has come to PLAY, and play he does. After Xemplify, he begins a beautiful slow guitar jam that sounds like the beginning to Gotta Broken Heart Again and turns into an instrumental version of Oooh Baby Baby. Woman around me are gasping, a guy in front of me says only-half-joking "I'm going to cry" I can feel myself welling up and feel stupid for even beginning to doubt how worthwhile this journey was going to be.
Prince plays around a little during the song, sitting down and mock smoking while Maceo plays a smooth jazz solo. Prince feigns talking to a neighbour at his table which gets a laugh out of the crowd. I notice during the soundcheck the slightly strange phenomenon of the music happening on the other side of the stage while the entire attention of the audience is centered on Prince. Hope the band didn't mind, we loved you too!
Prince begins the intro to When U Were Mine, which the crowd roars with approval and then quickly cuts it off Psyche! He then starts playing Elephants and Flowers but when Rhondas bass kicks it theres a power overload as she threatens to shake the building to pieces. The sound problem is quickly fixed and a great version of the song begins with Prince tearing it up on guitar...it's about this point I begin to shake my head at disbelief with a huge grin on my face, something I would barely stop doing for the next week and am still having difficulty wiping off my face
After Elephants and Flowers comes a coool slow blues where he said "don't mind us we're just jamming"...of course I don't know Prince but from what I know about people he looked so happy to be there and the music reflected that. They played like a band that was absolutely at the top of their game and ready to THROW DOWN.
I love Princes guitar playing more than anybody elses in the entire world so the way he was playing during the soundcheck had me practically levitating and that was before he played an INCREDIBLE instrumental jam that sounded like a Santana track (I wish I knew it, it wasn't from the Santana medley that P sometimes plays but it was fast and it was AWESOME) John Blackwell let go on an incredible solo during this that had Prince standing back watching and nodding his head while pulling a funky face. I'm now thinking this is better than I could have hoped, I just can't believe what I'm witnessing. :shock:
After a quick intro of the band where Prince introduced himself as "My name is 'the use of cameras and recording equipment is strictly prohibited" he begins a version of Bambi thats got Maceo smiling and shaking his head like "whooo look at him go!" . Bambi segues into Whole Lotta Love that has my cousin open-mouthed and goes for at least 10 minutes. Horns come in during the end of the trqack which gives it a cool funky flavor. Prince begins the next song by yelling out 'DA da da da' and the band follows repeating the line as they play the title track from Xpectation. John Blackwell was having fun during this track pretending to play a drum solo without making any sound It then segued into When the Saints go Marching In which finished the soundcheck. My cousin was probably a little apprehensive at the prospect of attending a soundcheck, I think she had visions of a tech guy going "check 1-2" for an hour, but she was completely blown away, and was amazed at the way Prince was really going out of his way to give his fans an unforgettable experience. She has moved on from Prince although she has his music tattoed in her memory. She has found other things that turn her on, but for that afternoon she was definitely feeling him again, and remembering what an ageless talented man he is.

We were then told to collect our wristbands for the aftershow (!) which was going to be held at the Prince of Wales where we'd been the night before. As I'm putting on my wristband while raving to everyone around me how incredible the soundcheck was my cousin says to me "Look at you, you're shaking!" If I wasn't ready for the main concert before the soundcheck I was practically bouncing off the walls afterwards. I'll try to submit more memories about the rest of the day but I'll never ever forget the first time I saw Prince play live. It was an absolute dream come true that'll make me smile forever

mynameisnotsusan said:

yes i kinda do , cause i havnt written my Melboing/Prince xperience yet

but thank you 4 sharing it sounds like u had an awsome time