Cincinnati Post
By Rick Bird
Post staff reporter

Lesson No. 1: Good music is good music no matter when or where it's made.

Lesson No. 2: Forget the genre. Rock, funk blues, soul, R&B -- it can all be with the one.

Those were the musical lessons learned from professor Prince who staged the ultimate music lecture at a nearly sold-out U.S. Bank Arena Tuesday night bringing his "Musicology" tour to town.

Prince showed his genius at melding pop music genres while flashing his incredible guitar virtuosity in the two-hour set heavy on his '80s anthems.

"I always look forward to coming to Cincinnati," Prince said midway through the show as he was grooving on some almost improv blues tunes during his acoustic set.

"I always had a good time here. I don't know why."

In the early '80s Prince did some recording here at the old Fifth Floor studio and played some gigs at Bogart's before he broke big. There were no doubt a few in the crowd who remembered those Prince days.

His concert was both nostalgic and contemporary as his classic '80s material sounded as fresh as ever.

Prince's Cincinnati sentiment came midway through his show after he had done a rare acoustic version of perhaps his biggest hit, "Little Red Corvette," that turned into a sing-along for the arena crowd.

Before that quieter interlude, the 45-year-old Prince had managed to almost wear out the crowd in the first hour hitting the stage with a vengeance in what was absolutely the best-searing rock, soul and funk set one will ever hear.

He opened with the danceable "Musicology." the title cut of his new album, then he was relentless on the guitar with such tunes as "Let's Go Crazy," "Controversy," "When Doves Cry," ?Baby I'm a Star," "Shhh" and "Nothing Compares 2 U."

In his unique, effortless style, Prince hardly seemed to work up a sweat as he laid down guitar licks that rival Hendrix, sang some of the sweetest soul this side of Curtis Mayfield and grooved with his eight-piece horn and funk band (who cleverly used the in-the-round stage to intimately play to the crowd).

After the first hour one wondered how he could keep the intensity up. In a sense, he didn't, but that's OK. Prince was off on his acoustic set with a bit of free-form blues melding back into the jazz/funk beat as the full band returned with songs like "7" with Prince teasing the crowd saying, "Ya' all remember that back in high school."

And he played up the nostalgia, appearing almost alone with his guitar on stage for the obligatory finale of "Purple Rain."

Prince has said this is the last time he will tour playing his hits. So be it. Prince showed no animosity toward his anthems, at home cranking out the songs, and was every bit comfortable again as the arena rock star after a decade of shunning the corporate rock limelight.

At times he seemed a bit disengaged from it all, such as when pre-arranged audience members came on stage to dance. He hardly acknowledged their presence wailing on his purple guitar as one wondered if he really played that incredible lick.

It was indeed a show where we all got a little schooling in the power of music.

It was a diverse crowd of whites and blacks, young and old, listening to a teacher who has managed to merge rock and soul so magically.


Publication Date: 04-14-2004

...played guitar on "nothing compares 2 u?"