Prince proves he's for real
Artist puts on show full of funk, fervor

By WAYNE BLEDSOE, bledsoe@knews.com
April 23, 2004

Somewhere in the midst of Prince's funky two-hour set Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena he stopped to ask the audience if they watched MTV. When the crowd applauded, he gave a sneer.

"Better not let no lip-synching on this stage," said the Artist Once Again Known As Prince, "because I do NOT believe in lip-synching."

There's no doubt about it, Prince's music is real. Prince Nelson Rodgers spent the first half of his life soaking up the funk of James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Parliament/Funkadelic and the psychedelia of Jimi Hendrix, along with healthy doses of blues, classic 1970s singer-songwriters and Motown.

Onstage, it all comes out. Prince dances, struts and shrieks with more aplomb than Brown in his prime (although certainly not with Brown's passion). And his band, which features Maceo Parker (an alumnus of Brown's classic band), is tight, versatile and entertaining on its own.

The tour both highlights songs from the artist's new album, "Musicology," and recaps why Prince was the most important pop musician of the 1980s and then some.

Thursday's show opened with the title track from the new album and quickly moved into a string of songs from "Purple Rain," the album that turned Prince into an international star.

An early highlight was an extra-funky version of "DMSR" from the album "1999" that had the audience dancing and shouting the lyrics. When much modern R&B is about sampling, it was wonderful to hear some real, live musicians kick out some organic grooves. It was also fine to hear Prince cut loose on the electric guitar. He's long been one of the most underappreciated players in popular music.

The show did present some of Prince's most popular songs in a different, and often, truncated form. "Little Red Corvette" was performed on acoustic guitar with Prince sitting in the center of the in-the-round stage. "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" (performed solo on electric guitar) was reduced to a mere snippet. However, it was also an opportunity to hear familiar songs in a new context. And, Thompson-Boling's acoustics are always a problem for a loud show.

The most heartening thing about Thursday's concert was the fact that it felt like a spectacle, when, in fact, the special effects were limited to little more than one blizzard of confetti.

In this case, the spectacle was great music and an artist with true charisma.

I Can't believe that the writter didn't even get his name right! Who the Hell is Prince Nelson Rodgers? I was there and it was A GREAT SHOW! Anyone here go to the after party at Liquid?

I went to the Liquid afterparty. The sign out front said he would perform at 11:00.
He showed up at I guess around 12:30 or 1:00. He was our DJ for maybe 15 minutes and then disappeared into the VIP room without saying bye or anything. Most of the band was walking around talking to everyone. Then I watched him get into the limo at 1:30 while the band went into Wendy's for a minute. There was a $10 charge for some charity. Plus the $90 tow bill I had to pay for parking at Wendy's (but I'm not complaining).

I too went to the After Party. Prince actually came out twice and DJ'd for us. It was awesome!! But I too paid a $90 tow bill, that was not cool!