Prince revives old passions

Sunday, March 3, 2002

SUE WHITE
THE SAGINAW NEWS

If "Purple Rain" was your reason for shelling out $75.50 Friday to catch Prince at the Saginaw County Event Center's Heritage Theater, you might have left disappointed.


But beyond a few overheard grumblings in the lobby about the absent song, most in the standing-room-only audience realized a simple truth about the night's performance.

Prince is an artist in the truest sense of the word, and Saginaw fans, on their feet through most of the nearly three-hour show, recognized they were in the presence of genius.

"He's constantly reinventing himself," said Aimee Gargus, who drove from Flint to catch Prince's jazz musings. "This opens him to a whole new audience, and creates new respect for him as a musician."

Or, as a Saginaw woman told promoter Sheldon "Snap" Matthews, "no matter what he sang, he made me happy to be here tonight."

The doors opened Friday on muted jazz instrumentals, and a stage draped in purple. The lights dimmed, and a diverse audience found its seats, young, old, black, white, sporting everything from jeans and leather fringe to fur and sequins.

Blue lights bathed the stage, the musicians in silhouette as "Rainbow Children" opened with a sax, a trombone, keys and a standing bass.

Then a waif-like shadow stepped out of the wings, and the house went wild. The voice came low -- think Barry White -- and then soared into a falsetto.

Prince, regal in black with flashes of red, strapped on a guitar, and gave it up only to sit at the piano. He pulled fans from the crowd to dance with him, and then jumped into the front row to join them on their own turf.

The set, never fully lit, was as expressive as the music, projecting a heartbeat and an open rail during an instrumental interlude that indeed pulsed with wild abandon.

"I'll dance for you, or maybe I'll just play guitar," Prince said, warming to the night. "Whatever you desire."

It was a nice segue into the funk, a give-and-take that found Prince telling Saginaw, "I wish I could put you in a cup and drink you all up."

He tossed in a few old favorites -- "Raspberry Beret" had everyone dancing -- and left out many more.

He revisited old passions, flashing a quote from President Abraham Lincoln while singing of the need to be free against a free-flowing jazz jam.

Gone from Friday's show, say Prince veterans, are the sexual overtones and frequent medleys of earlier shows, including a 1982 date in Saginaw.

Instead, Prince flew all over the map, closing his visit with a responsive chorus of "Love is God; God is love." And as he introduced his band, he paused at the end and added, "Yours truly. My name is Prince."

A prince indeed.

Before the show, Matthews and Event Center Director Allan Vella were in the lobby, accepting much deserved praise for the number of quality acts coming to Saginaw.

"We've got some more in the wings," Matthews promised. "I prayed and prayed about this one, and look at this crowd. It showed what we can do."t

Sue White covers entertainment for The Saginaw News. You may reach her at 776-9601.

Here's hoping that most, if not all, of the reviews of this tour are along these lines....nice to read and see...

And from the description of the stage, I take it he's attempting to somewhat recreate the CD cover of TRC??...

I'm tending to think they may not be along these lines. I remember the Gold Experience tour in Europe - many reviews were negative because he didn't play the hits. Hopefully people will appreciate the musicianship this time around...

Though I haven't seen the show (and will not unless he takes it over to Europe), I'm somehow glad about this concert. Just jam!

THIS IS PRINCE!

I think I'm gonna write that on my fore-head!

Fair review. It was an awesome, awesome night! It is Monday and I am still smiling!