http://www.mercurynews.co...816529.htm


Posted on Wed, Jun. 02, 2004






Prince brings the funk to the Tank

By Brad Kava

Mercury News


Prince turned San Jose's Shark Tank into a giant funk factory Tuesday night, with people dancing on up into the rafters.

After being announced by a videotape of Alicia Keys inducting him to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this Minneapolis soul maestro's theater in the round at the H-P Pavilion made for great intimate visuals from almost every seat.

You could clearly see his pencil moustache, his cufflinks, his black tuxedo top and his slick, but restrained dance moves. (The floating bed and strip show are long in the past.)

But for a good chunk of the two-hour and 40 minute show, this ever trim, seemingly ever young performer, lost a battle with a tin-roofed shed better suited for hockey than music.

Which was a pity, because in previous appearances at San Jose's 7,000 seat Event Center and the 1,000-capacity Fillmore, his big band made funk that was as skillfully played as a Miles Davis jazz opus and as rich and deep as as a Mozart score.

All that may have been there in the Pavilion, but it was hard to tell, particularly in the first set, which included hits such as ``Let's Go Crazy,'' ``I Would Die 4 U,'' ``I Feel for You'' and the new song ``Musicology.'' The bass and drums trundled around the ceiling like an out of control hockey puck; the horns were shrill and the vocals were so overblown it was hard to make the words out.

It brought to mind a cartoon by Gary Larson about what dogs hear when we speak: ``Blah, blah, blah, blah, Fido, blah, blah, blah.'' Here it was: ``Thud, thud, thud, thud, on the one, thud, thud, thud.'' The one melted into the two, three and four, and the whole thing was a sad, overcooked stew instead of the crisp, tight sound you'd get in a place with better acoustics.

To his credit, the artist, who turns 46 Monday, broke it down after the first loud hour with a 40 minute, stunningly beautiful acoustic set. Dressed in white pants and a polka dot shirt, he sat in the middle of a stage shaped like a big cross, on a barstool that spun, and crooned with only an acoustic guitar.

It was funkman as folk singer, and it was as crafty as it was surprising. In every show this musician has done something to stretch his audience's expectations and show off a new aspect of his musical ability. This set was another new twist.

He ran through an almost Bob Dylan-like ``Little Red Corvette,'' which was a wonderful turnaround on one of his most played funk hits. He led a singalong during ``Cream'' and pulled out a masterful ``On the Couch'' from the new ``Musicology'' album that was included with every ticket and handed out as fans entered the arena.

He pulled out a song from his own high school years, Chaka Khan's ``Sweet Thing'' and added a taste of ``Raspberry Beret.''

He took a sidestep on a cover of Elvis Presley's ``Jail House Rock,'' throwing out three lines and stopping. ``We can be Prince, but we don't want to be no King,'' he joked.

He censored a few swear words here and there, cupping his microphone during a bluesy ``12:01,'' and when this now religious Jehovah's Witness sang about ``going down south'' and drew hoots from the audience, he laughed and added, ``down south to Mississippi.''

The band returned for ``Sign O' The Times,'' ``The Question of U/The One'' and Alicia Keys' ``Fallin''' and ``Take Me With You'' with either the sound a bit less muddled, or our ears so numb from the earlier blasts that it didn't matter anymore. You could make out the changed lyrics to the encore, ``Purple Rain,'' imploring listeners to ``Open up your Bible and thank your god one more time.''

The purple guitar, played Carlos Santana style, added to the spiritual moment shared by an audience that truly reflected the diversity of the Bay Area, mixing ages and races more than any other show in recent memory.

On their way out, they were ripping open CDs getting them ready for a play on the way home. It was nice that he gave everyone a free CD. I wish next time he'd give us all tickets to a smaller theater or a sound system that can make a hockey tank sound like a music hall.


-----
Contact Brad Kava at bkava@mercurynews.com (408) 920-5040. Fax (408) 271-3786.

OFF THE HOOK!!!! That's all I can say!! I was in the second row and the sound was fine, makes me feel sorry for the folks up top...
[This message was edited Wed Jun 2 8:19:09 2004 by Geritzla]

I agree

I was third row by the silver pole (PERFECT SEATS)

and the SOUND WAS GREAT!!!!!

Geritzla said:

don't know how my post got jacked up.

i was in the 2nd row as well. almost directly behind chance.

sound was cool from where we were, but the acoustics are lousy overall at the arena.

I was in the second row behind Mr. Blackwell (thanks to the NPGMC!) and I enjoyed the show a lot. The drums and bass keys were very, very loud and I often had to kind of half plug my ears to hear what was going on. My ears are still ringing ten hours afterwards. But it rocked so hard, it was pretty amazing the kind of energy that was there from the beginning. People standing most of the show on the upper deck -- wow. I was dancing my ass off. The woman in the pink dress P was pointing at a couple of times in the first set was right in front of me.

I haven't read reviews of previous shows so some of my thoughts might be a bit repetitive. I was kind of gratified that the crowd was able to stay with the band on "Shhh" which was one of the great numbers of the night. "Sign o' the Times" was great too. The medleying does get a little old after a while -- he again did a little tease on "Housequake" during "Controversy", I really wish he'd do the song justice again one of these days. As for the acoustic set, it was definitely a nice change from the piano set idea. "April" sounded pretty weak, but ICNTTPOYM was great. I realize a lot of his audience interaction bits are well-rehearsed by this time, but it's just amazing to watch. He can get a real reaction from a joke from a house that big. He got more mileage out of his hankie than I ever could have imagined.

Soundwise and maybe even musically, San Jose 2000 was better, but there was an excitement to this show which just couldn't be beat. The whole pumping his recent success with the Alicia speech I found to be a little much, but, hey, he's earned it.

Should I get earplugs just in case since I'll be up in the cuts? I can't wait, only less than 10 hours!!!!

We were in the second row too and the sound was great. The singalongs were a lot of fun and the crowd was very responsive and interactive. Prince looked beautiful. (Was he wearing tennis shoes?) The band was amazing...what else to say? Blackwell on drums were meant to be. We had such a great time at the show; everytime I bring someone with me to a Prince concert they are an immediate fan! My only gripe about last night, was that it took us 45 mins to get out of the parking lot! Arrrrggghhhh!

privetjoye said:

We were right behind the sound guy! The only time I didn't see him was when he was on the very far side.

45 minutes....Ouch!! We got there pretty early, about 6:00 and parked in the first row and took me about 10 minutes to get out of the parking lot and about 2 minutes to the freeway...

And YES, he had on some high "stacked" tennis shoes?!?!?! LOL!

Blackwell looked like an octopus on speed! That man is awesome!!

Geritzla said: Blackwell looked like an octopus on speed! That man is awesome!![/quote]

You know, I'm always impressed when I see Blackwell on the drums. I don't know, maybe I don't get out enough but...each time is more impressive than the last. Wow!
And can I just say that I love Prince for doing Controversy in its entirety? One of my favs from all time, and can I just really say that he 'kilt' it? (meaning it was off da hook!)

When is September gettin' here?

The show was off the hook. Thanx to NPGMC i got 1st row behind Blackwell. My friend got picked to go on stage. She even talked to Renato and he told the security to get her on stage. It was alot of fun.

Nothing like one up man ship eh
Who cares!

Anotherwontdare said:

what did you like best about the 2000 show in san jose? a lot of people complained it was too short and didn't do tons of songs. though i usually enjoy his shows anyway, i think this was much more well rounded for those that are heavily into prince and those that don't know much about him.

dealodelandron said:

i also was in the 2nd row behind chance. fantastic seats. yea the trebles were way too high, my ears are still muffled right now. i'ma get some earplugs for tonite's show. hopefully gets seats that are just as good.

dealodelandron said:

Well, I remember being able to hear the instruments better, and it was general admission so I was still pretty close. I loved Controversy/Mutiny. It wasn't so overwhelming -- the crispness of the playing was more apparent. And he was very emotional during his speech in the middle of "Purple Rain". He does a lot of sort-of faked emotion as part of the show but there was this moment in the middle of his quite religious speech where you could really see what he was feeling. I mean, PR was intense last night, but he kept hammering the stop-and-start thing instead of just soloing for another time or two around.

I loved last night, I'm not saying 2000 was better across the board. It seems to me that setlist-wise both had the similar philosophy of mentioning a lot of hits and having a fair number of deep cuts -- not necessarily recent deep cuts, but stuff like "Let's Work" and "Controversy."

I enjoyed the concert - there was something for just about every sort of fan. I can imagine thousands were stoked to get their Purple Rain medley fix - I dare say those thousands would have left feeling cheated without it. I got more Musicology than I expected - Musicology, Life O The Party, On The Couch (superb!), and Dear Mr.Man. And as we have read and heard, breathtaking versions of Shhh, DMSR, Question of U, and The One. This particular version of SignOTT was made for the arena.

Other Positives:
Essentially NO PREACHING until the final encore with PR
Candy

Negatives:
What happened to the air conditioner?
Prince's shoes - but I completely understand how badly his dogs need a break from the heels
Still too much brass for my tastes
Candy's microphone
Forgot my earplugs - getting too old for the hours of muffled ringing in the ears

Overall, impossible to beat my L.A. One Nite Alone or S.F. Fillmore experiences. I can't wait for the Oakland show in September.

I was there and that show kicked my ass!! I'm still trying to recover