i had a nice, long, detailed account of my trip to mpls. of course prince.org, with all of its minor bugs, errored and my 30 minute typing spree was lost. that was at about midnite last night/this morning. oh well, i suppose simple will have to suffice.

theblueangel, my boyfriend, and myself all headed out to minneapolis at about 8am friday morning. we woke at about 6:30am (which comes mighty early when you onlywent to bed at 3am) and got our bags and music together. our ETA was 3pm. this was important since ronnie (my boyfriend) and theblueangel had never had the opportunity to tour the park before. accoridng to the npgmc, the tours were from noon 'til 4. on the road, i got a call from theorgerformerlyknownas asking me if we would be able to secure 3 aftershow tickets for her. i checked with bluey and assured tofka that all was well and she just needed to hop on that flight...that later than last minute flight, by the way! by this time i am so psyched. i'm on my way to mpls...just 120 miles away...and i'm going to my first aftershow...and its at the park! after breaking several state speeding laws we made it to the park at 3:30pm. i went to the line for ticket pick ups/purchases while theblueangel went to wait in line for the tour. while i'm in line for the tickets i'm told that the tours have "sold out". sold out?!?! how can a tour sell out? well, ronnie goes to break the news to theblueangel and, surprise surprise, they've alredy told him something different. theblueangel was told they just didn't want to do anymore. obviously angry and diappointed, the blueangel and ronnie resign to the fact that they will not get to tour the studios. bummer. its all good though because just then i get to meet endorphin74 and carriempls. we chat for a short bit and then ronnie and i decide we need a nap. bluey stays with endo and carrie since his only other option is watch two fags sleep...

a few hours later we all meet up at endorphin's place. endo's boyfriend is now in the mix and the five of us head out to xcel. what a show! what a great fucking show! i have to say, quite easily, prince's performance on friday night was better than the two shows i've seen already...including the opening night in LA. he was cocky, smooth, sexy, excited, happy...just loving the audience. not to mention his awesome performance of "whole lotta love"...oh man, that guitar... prince's stellar performance and attitude was so encouraging in regards to the aftershow. he was really enjoying himself up there.

after about 2 hours and 20 minutes the opening chords of purple rain were played. the three fo us decided before we got to the show that we would split at the final song in order to beat the traffic. endo and his man would meet us at the aftershow since they were going to watch the whole concert. we race to the lot and jam out to the park. find a spot and race to the line. we actually weren't kept waiting outside too long and the line moved rather swiftly (at least for paisley park line, lol). once inside we were subjected to the opening act...kip blackshire and his bar band all stars. oh man were they awful. they performed some song and announced that prince had written it for them...well, let's hope they were exaggerating. i know prince COULDN'T write that bad of a song! it only got worse. inevitably, larry graham was invited on stage to perform one of the only four songs he ever performs. oh well, we all knew or it would pay off in the end with a great prince show...or would it?

after far too long of a performance by the bar band extraordinaires, prince got on stage and jumped right into call my name. joy in repetition was next! even with the bad idea of letting a crowd member sing, the performance was awesome. unfortunately, that was the highlight of the night. in fact, after paying 50 bucks for a prince aftershow and driving 6 1/2 hours from chicago (not too mention bluey adding an additional 6 hours from ohio!), the crowd was wowed with a total of five prince songs. 5. in 5 hours. actually, prince was rarely on stage...or, at the very best, rarely visible on stage. basically we paid the money to watch the npg and, of course, larry graham. just a side note...when will larry get his own band? when will he play his own shows? doesn't he feel pathetic that prince forces him on his fans? i mean, really, how many of you would go to a larry g show if you knew there was no chance in hell that prince would show up? anyhow...

i'll let bluey give a better detail of the aftershow...lord knows he's earned it. the best part of the aftershow was tofka showing up and hanging out with us. oh, and seeing her face light up when joy in repetition was played...that was worth the price of admission! i'm so glad you made it out there, baby!!

whatever. we left when it was over. we went to sleep and tried to feel better in the morning. but honestly, after hearing other classic aftershows, its hard to not feel cheated. i guess i should know better by now. we eventually went back to endo's place and hung out for a while and, somewhere along the way, took a tax free shopping break. at about 9pm we headed out...i guess we forgot it was a 6 1/2 hour drive!

its all good, though. we had a great drive back. talking about EVERYTHING...three fags in a car after a weekend together...we had lots to talk about! after 7 hours of glaring lights, breaking speed laws, blasting music and some scary texas chainsaw massacre moments in wisconsin, we were finally back in chicago. bluey decided to get right out and drive home rather than crash for a few hours (hey bluey, email me and let me know you're home and not in a ditch on the side of the road!).

regardless of the lame prince aftershow...the show that has me wondering if he's out of touch...i got to see a great prince concert at the xcel center and i got to hang out with the best orgers in the world! even knowing how that aftershow would turn out, i would do it again in a second! way too much fun!! thanks, guys, for a great 48 hours. we need to it again sometime...hey, madonna is just around the corner, endo!!!

oh, and...um...i guess...thanks to prince. while he often lets me down, his fans rarely have!

heheheh...did i say "simple" wold suffice?

.
[This message was edited Mon Jun 21 10:59:04 2004 by SassyBritches]

It was nice meeting you, brief though it was. Maybe next time I'll be able to hang out more. I was just tooooo dead tired on Saturday.

hey kitty! It was great to finally meet you this weekend. I was in the merchandise tent when you got to Paisley and you got right in line for the aftershow passes. I seriously stared at you for like 5 minutes thinking "Look kitty look-it's me, Endo!" well you finally looked and knew who I was. By the time we "introduced" ourselves it seemed kinda silly!

It was great hanging and chatting on our porch Staurday before y'all hit the road. Even if I was mostly brain dead, it was kewl. I can't wait for Madonna, we's gonna have some FUN that weekend!



Give yo man a squeeze from us and thanks for sharing your report

I'm sure that more details from me will be forthcoming...but for now, all I have to say is that last weekend is a memory that I will cherish forever...and I'm not talking about the amazing concert at the Xcel or the ridiculously frustrating (and way-too-briefly mindblowing) aftershow at Paisley Friday. The friends that I got to see again (you all know who you are) filled that hole inside me that's been empty since the Champaign show and last year's dance parties at Paisley.

I really wish somebody would take seriously our BRILLIANT idea to just switch Ohio and Wisconsin...it really shouldn't be that difficult, and it would bring me closer to the people who make me feel luckier than Kip Blackshire must have felt when Prince asked him to play with the Arsenio Hall house band at Paisley Park.

Oh: and Tina Graham is a skanky crack whore with absolutely no dignity whatsoever. And yes, I would be more than thrilled to say that directly to her or Larry's or Prince's face.

P.S.: Sassy and LemonPie, although I really wish you would have let me get out of the car at that creepy old gas station in Wisconsin (I heard a sound inside there, I swear, and I really wanted to knock on the door, and then after it opened itself, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from going in and saying, "Hello? Is anyone in here? If there's anyone in here, say something!"), the ride from MPLS to Chicago was a blast. It's so damn good to be able to open up to y'all. Thanks.

CarrieMpls said:

i know that's right!! i was so tired form no sleep and too much driving...i thought i'd see you later, either at darrin's or the show or the atershow. no such luck though. definitely next time!

theblueangel said:

uh huh...you really would be the silly white girl who goes to investigate a strange noise! nope, not me. the whole "you have enough gas" thing...just as the fuel light pops on...was too fucking freaky!!! i really expected ol' leatherface to bust up outta there, LOL.

endorphin74 said:

i wish i had skipped the shopping and just smoked with y'all. it would have been much more productive and more fiscally beneficial, lol! though i do love ronnie's new shoes!

l-o-v-e edit
[This message was edited Tue Jun 22 13:09:28 2004 by SassyBritches]

SassyBritches said:

DUDE that was the smokin party of the century. I can't believe blue and I sat on my proch for like 6 hours just smoking and talking.

it was niiiice after the previous days of insanity