Saginaw Afterthoughts

Hey !!! I'm awake and have read the first 50 or so comments to my concert report. Here's an attempt to bring some more info to you and answer some of the questions I saw.

My Prince history: I think this was the 29th time I have seen him. I saw Prince for the first time at the 1999 tour at Masonic Temple in Detroit which blew me away !!! I have seen European shows, aftershows, Paisley Parkshows, and the 1994 shows in New York and at Glam Slam. I was looking for a show that would match the energy of those Glam Slam shows, in which he played the non-hit material. And this was it !!!

I'll be honest with you. I am not a big fan of TRC. I was at the 1st listening session of the LP at the Celebration last year, when Prince had the discussion done by a totally overwhelmed employee who kept reading standard answers from a written script. Unless you were there for that particular session, there is no way you will ever understand the negative feelings that some people were left with. My wife has tried to forget her experience there last year, but still can't. So she went to the show last night with an open mind and came away thinking that parts of it were brilliant but it just didn't do it totally for her.

I myself have let the Celebration listening session go even though it was my most disturbing moment as a Prince fan, and I knew that even though the LP is not one of my favorites, the show was going to be very unique and a special night.

So you can see that I am not here to drool all over Prince's funky ass and say I love him so much that everything he does is cool with me, but let me tell you….that show was phenomenal !!! It's everything a hardcore fan could want. New material and a taste of the old !!! My favorites were the guitar playing on Xenophobia, and Anna Stesia.

Here's a few comments I saw and I will try to answer:

serpan99 wrote: This is the tour I wanted...new songs 4 me ears. I can't understand people complaining that they heard songs they didn't know yet....we had plenty of old songs in previous tours. I rather have the new goodies on stage!!

My thoughts exactly !!! The new goodies make the show a night to remember !!! We might not get something this awesome again !!!

christophertracy1986 wrote: Can't wait 2 c this tour!!! aftershow 2nite??

There was an afterparty right across the street. It was $20 to get in. I have been to multiple parties and we were with 2 people who had to work the next morning. So given Prince's aftershow history, we opted to skip the party. Still haven't seen that we missed a show !!!

jseven wrote: Full versions of songs. Cool

Yeah !!! Raspberry Beret was awesome !!! The guitar playing seemed a little bit different and his facial expressions reminded me of the video !!! When You Were Mine was a guitar players dream with Prince wailing on that Hohner Telecaster…. Oh My God !!!.
He tore it up with that song !!! The first three songs had to have lasted about 20 minutes or longer !!! I was so blown away by the band playing that I didn't keep track of the time.

jseven also wrote:Seems like you are a hardcore fan to know all these songs n take time to get the list from the critic.

I actually wrote all the songs down myself and then we recognized the critic and started talking to him after the show. He pulled out the written set list and I checked my list out with his. Xenophobia and Avalance were listed where I just put a description of the song. So I was excited to see an official listing of those songs. I think that was great because anyone reading this report and going to a show in the next few days will know that when he is wailing on Cream/white acoustic ??? on the 3rd song with the movie playing in the background, it's Xenophobia !!!

NuPwrSoul wrote: Where's "One Nite Alone" -- that's one of my favorites from NPGMC year 1... oh well, leave it up to Prince to name his tour after a song he doesn't perform

Yeah ….I wanted to hear that also but I'm hoping that the set list will change as has been mentioned and we will all get a taste of unique material. That is why I am asking anyone attending the shows to take that piece of paper and two pens in case you drop one and write down the songs. It only takes a second !!!

Hey…I looked at your profile and saw one of your favorie songs is Mellow. Wait 'til you see that performed… Hope you see it, sure was smooth !!!!

comeon wrote: how was maceo? did he play on most of the songs? was the crowd into it? were they sitting/standing? no encore?

Maceo was fantastic. Greg Boyer on trumpet was excellent also !!! They played thru Rollercoaster and then made appearances thru the rest of the night. The crowd stood for the whole show. Some woman in jeans and a black leather coat got onstage and danced next to Prince during Rollercoaster. Seemed like she wasn't supposed to be up there. They escorted her off stae after Prince made some sort of joke about her dancing. Then he pointed out two women on my side(right) of the stage and had them come up along with a little girl wearing an "I love music" shirt. They all danced while Prince jammed to to song and after it was over, he spoke to each of them privately before the next song started. The girl and the one woman stayed onstage behind the band and danced on a platform for the whole show !!! And there was no encore….some venues might get the last two songs on the set list. I can't say !!!!

xenophobia wrote: It's gotta suck to be chained to your hits like that.

This is why the shows will alienate some casual fans !!! But that's alright, we'll enjoy the show for what it is, and IT IS !!!!!

wellbeyond wrote: I wanna hear Xenophobia baaaaad now....

I just about fell out listening to him play guitar on this !!!! It's a fuckin' jam !!!

calldapplwondery83 wrote: How long was the concert? Which guitars did he use? Did he play anything else than guitar and piano?
What is the tour book like?

About two and a half hours or so !!! He used the Hohner Telecaster, the Symbol Guitar, and that acoustic ???? I don’t know what it's called. Just guitar and piano…and played the crowd into a frenzy !!! The tourrbook is 36 pages, the smallest I have ever seen at 8.5" x 8.5", and has the tour photo of him on the all black cover . I like it !!! I also like my penis, which is not the smallest I have ever seen but is not quite 8.5"….Hey, where did that come from ?????

TonyC wrote:I don't get it completely...how many different CDs are there and how much did they each cost?

They were not selling any of these. They were mentioned in the tourbook as being the ones that will be sent out to 2002 NPGMC members. So we'll just have to see if these are indeed the titles !!!

aquaregia wrote: I couldn't be happier to hear a set list like this. How was the majority of the crowd reacting to the show? Did prince seem to enjoy

The set list was fantastic, and I hope that it even though it may change it continues to make everybody feel as good about it as I did !!!
The crowd was very into it. The NPGMC members were in the front and you could tell who they were since they knew all the lyrics and were having a great time. Prince seemed very tentative during the first 15 minutes and then loosened up during Xenophobia. He then became more animated as the show wore on, even getting into the crowd on the left side of the stage and appeared to be flipping thru a guys torbook and maybe signing it !!! Did anyone see this ???

funkaholic1972 wrote: - Are the old songs revamped in a jazzy way or do they stick to the original?
- Are there a lot of solo's and is the bandwork tight already?
- Is the show interesting for people that are not so much into Prince, but are into tight, funky and jazzy performances?

The songs are revamped a bit but not enough to take away from the sound you love. He stayed mostly true to Strange Relationship and added some Saginaw lyrics in there. I think the band is very tight. Prince looked pleased with the band !!! Blackwell has a plexiglass wall in front of him and kicks the fuck out of the drums from behind there !!! Rhonda was in a real groove. She seemed to enjoy playing the 1st 20 minutes from her expressions. I believe that anyone with an open mind for music would realize they are seeing a brilliant performance by a classic musician !!!

Vashti wrote: hmmmm..sounds interesting, but WHY O' WHY did he have to include that damn SANTANA MEDLEY!?!??! lawd.

But it kicked ass dude!!! He handed out those percussion instruments to the first two rows and we banged along with the song. And it is still grooving, 8 years after hearing it at Glam Slam in 1994.

And I did not want to hear TMWU/RaspBeret but RB actually sounded great !!!

Neversin bitched about most of what he saw !!!

Oh well !!! As I said, I've done my fair share of bitching about the man for years. Let's face it, as fans, we all want more and more at times !!! But after hearing the greatest hits for so many years, it's awesome to see Prince do fresh material. Hey…. Even my wife was not thrilled with the whole show, but you can't please everyone !!!

SlayerNPG wrote: This set list really doesn't impress me. It's different, but nothing special. He plays the worst songs off of TRC. Muse & Mellow? Those songs must kill the crowd. He should play Everlasting Now, Last December, She Loves Me 4 Me, and the Sensual Everafter. And I know this show is supposed to be a non "hits" show, but he should do some "hits," that aren't really too popular, like Anotherlover or Thieves in the Temple. Maybe even a song off Batman.

Well Muse wasn't the highlight for me either and maybe the show will eventually include more obscure songs, but overall it's a breath of fresh air from the Hits tours !!! And I loved the last show he did in Detroit last June !!!!

Okay, I'll shut up !!! Hope everyone has a great time at the shows and looking forward to having Nicki from Chicago in the house for the Detroit shows !!! See Ya !!! Dennis

i am SERIOUSLY lookin' 4ward 2 Prince & The NPG when he comes 2 Florida

dendmmr wrote, "There was an afterparty right across the street. It was $20 to get in. I have been to multiple parties and we were with 2 people who had to work the next morning. So given Prince's aftershow history, we opted to skip the party. Still haven't seen that we missed a show !!!"


You didn't miss anything. Prince was there, but only showed his face for about 2 or 3 minutes.

The $20 cover went to his charity, so no complaints.

Thoughts on the concert: I, personally, thought that it was a great show. But most people there probably didn't like it. There were people in the crowd and in the line for drinks (very slooooow service, by the way) saying "Purple Rain.. Purple Rain.. I hope he plays Purple Rain."

That should give you a good idea of what I'm talking about.

Anna Stesia was a highlight- but he sings, "Save me Father, I've been a fool.." (instead of Save me Jesus).

I don't know what's up with that?

Out

Thanks man some of US really do appreciate your INSIGHTS and personal thoughts on the shows... hit us again after the next show U'll attend