Prince’s most famous band, the Revolution, used their performance Friday at the second day of Paisley Park’s Celebration 2017 to kick off a North American tour that runs through July.

The group – Wendy Melvoin (guitar, vocals), Lisa Coleman (keyboards, vocals), Brown Mark (bass), Bobby Z (drums) and Matt Fink (keyboards) – decided to reunite soon after Prince’s death, one year ago Friday. They tested the waters with a trio of sold-out First Avenue shows in September before deciding to hit the road together for the first time in more than 30 years.

It may seem like the band that played on many of Prince’s biggest hits, and co-starred with him in “Purple Rain,” experienced a homecoming when they took the stage at Paisley Park. But actually, it was their first time, as Prince’s Chanhassen studio/residence didn’t open until after he broke up the band at the end of his 1986 tour.

The Revolution performs on the Paisley Park sound stage during the second day of Celebration 2017 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen. (Courtesy of Steve Parke / Paisley Park Studios)

Still, the song “Paisley Park” ended up offering the Revolution a beyond-the-grave connection to Prince. By sheer coincidence, the arrangement the group worked up during rehearsals turned out to be similar to the one Prince himself used during his final Paisley Park concert, a solo piano performance in January 2016. “I told you guys we had to do it,” Melvoin said from the stage.

While there was an emotional rawness to the First Avenue shows last fall, Friday the Revolution took a much more celebratory approach with a set list focused almost entirely on upbeat, party songs like “1999” and “Raspberry Beret” and avoided the likes of “Sometimes it Snows in April,” which had audience members in tears at First Avenue.

The crowd responded in kind, rose to their feet and spent the entire show singing and dancing along. A few songs in, Melvoin’s twin sister Susannah – who was in both the Family and the final lineup of the Revolution – joined in on backup vocals. Stokley Williams of the St. Paul R&B band Mint Condition also sat in for several numbers including “D.M.S.R.” (a song that didn’t make the cut for the Revolution’s First Avenue shows) and “Let’s Work.”

The Revolution even took a quick dip into Prince’s legendary vault of unreleased material and played “Our Destiny” and “Roadhouse Garden,” a pair of songs Prince and the Revolution debuted on stage at a June 1984 First Avenue concert.

Wendy Melvoin of the Revolution. (Courtesy of Steve Parke / Paisley Park Studios)

The band also seemed to have figured out how to handle the Prince-sized hole in the vocals department. Multiple band members sang many of the songs together and the added power of the audience’s own voices gave the evening a congenial, familial vibe. The Revolution played with Prince, the fans filled the seats and they all sang as one in honor of the extraordinary talent that brought them together in the first place.

When it came time for the end of the set, a hush fell over the room at the first note of “Purple Rain.” It felt like every soul in Paisley Park suddenly remembered Prince had died in this very building one year ago. But that sadness turned into triumph by the end of the power ballad, with Melvoin’s searing guitar solo warming the hearts of all in attendance.

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The second day of Celebration 2017 opened with the event’s host Damaris Lewis, a backup dancer for Prince, introducing four of the Purple One’s siblings: Alfred Jackson and Tyka, Norrine and Sharon Nelson. The audience held hands for a minute of silence followed by a minute of applause. Then, footage from the first half of Prince’s aforementioned solo piano concert aired on the big screen.

Audible gasps emerged from the crowd when the screen went dark, with many clearly wishing they could view the entire show. Lewis said the same thing she later repeated when fans clamored for one more song from the Revolution. Now that Prince is gone, she told everyone, “You are the encore.”